129 years of making handkerchiefs.

18/11/2020

On the 25th July 2020 it will be exactly 129 years since Spence Bryson Handkerchiefs Ltd first started producing handkerchiefs in Belfast.

In those days all the handkerchiefs were made from Irish Linen and all aspects of production from spinning to boxing were carried out in Northern Ireland. At its height there were over 150 people employed making handkerchiefs.

Slowly cotton replaced linen as the popular choice for handkerchiefs and in the 1990's production of cotton handkerchiefs started to be moved offshore to China where today 95% of our cotton handkerchiefs are produced. We still make linen handkerchiefs and bespoke cotton handkerchiefs in our Portadown factory.

We would be delighted to hear from any customers whose business with the group can be traced back to the mid 1900's or earlier.

The current owners took over in 2002 and would like to offer a very big thank you to everyone who buys from, supplies or generally supports the company in helping us to achieve such a huge business milestone.