In 1901, tailoring and the manufacturing of clothes was the second largest industry in Berlin, Ontario, after furniture and upholstered goods. Star Whitewear Manufacturing Co. manufactured bathing clothes, lingerie, bridal sets, and a variety of other clothes. The John Forsyth Company Ltd specialized in men’s shirts, as did the Williams, Greene & Rome Company.
Samuel James Williams established the Williams, Greene & Rome Company in 1881. In 1886, the company moved its plant from Toronto to Berlin when the company was officially incorporated. In the summer of 1914, Williams, Greene, & Rome was the first company to be contracted in the Waterloo Region to manufacture 10, 000 military service shirts.
(Waterloo Region Generations. “Charles August Ahrens.” www.generations.regionofwaterloo.ca; Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912.; “Busy Berlin Jubilee Souvenir 1879,” published by the Berlin News-Record, https://ia600303.us.archive.org/24/items/cihm_02113/cihm_02113.pdf)
