Incorporated in New York on April 14,1978, Warden Brooks Ltd proudly lays claim to a pivotal place and time in the history of corporate America. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered at 805, poised for growth that was beyond all imagination. Warden Brooks founder, Joan Killian Gallagher, spent four years selling corporate ties for the venerable old line firm of GS Harvale and she felt the rumblings of change on the horizon. Companies would not buy ties every year. Clients were asking for more.
And at 28, with a small loan from her parents, she set out to give them more. The concept of branded merchandise for American businesses, kept in stock, and fulfilled as needed in small or large quantities, was completely unheard of. In less than a month after incorporating, The EF Hutton Country Store was born. As a young woman, newly married armed only with a degree in Journalism and four years experience, Joan knew that no bank would give her the capital needed to buy the merchandise. She accepted the challenge to build an instock program as long as Hutton would prepay the $75,000 needed to get the inventory started. And she never looked back. Dow Jones followed with its own collection of WB custom designed and manufactured merchandise. The market just kept exploding. In less than a year, the sales soared to over a million.
In response to the growing market’s need for quick turnaround, Joan designed a line of canvas bags that featured the Warden Brooks design trademark…. jacquard woven ribbon incorporating the clients logo. Seeing the uncut samples of WB labels, she realized the same application would work for clients’ logos. It was a perfect way to showcase the logo in a elegant and subtle repeating pattern and most importantly, the rolls of ribbon were on the shelves and ready when needed for production. The timeless good look of the rich dyed to match 18 ounce canvas and the woven ribbon was a home run.
And right out of the gate, there was one bag that emerged as the clear favorite, the classic canvas Wall Street duffle. Forty years later, it is still talked about around the world and recognized as a symbol of corporate America. It is sometimes called a banker bag, or a deal bag, and knockoffs abound.But there is only one original Wall Street Duffle. Designed in 1978 and made in America every year since, it carries the Warden Brooks label.
Warden Brooks expanded into manufacturing within the first year, realizing that they had to be master of their own destiny in order to be able to respond to clients’ needs. The golf market was a natural progression. Warden Brooks designed a full range of merchandise for the 1980 US Open at Baltusrol, followed by the Masters in Augusta. Fortune 500 companies and trade associations jumped on board and there were new markets popping up all over the world. It was critical to stay focused on our core belief that quality at every level was the cornerstone of our success. All this was happening at a time when international communication was done by telex!!
After a proud run of forty years, there are again rumblings of change. Joan Killian Gallagher has handed over the reins to her daughter, Caroline Gallagher Lynn. There are new horizons and new design directions in the global marketplace. While maintaining our core business of classic canvas duffles and totes, we are adding some fun components to the otherwise serious business of custom designed corporate gifts.
Joan is the proud recipient of the Enterprising Women of the Year award and continues to enjoy being a long time member of the EW Advisory Board and the Women Presidents’ Organization.