The Hanan Company was among the first to stamp its firm’s name on every shoe, a daring idea at a time when most people still sought shoes handmade by the dealer. The firm was successful and in 1888 Hanan began opening retail stores to sell the factory’s product directly to consumers.
This factory at Jay and Bridge Streets was built in 1893. By 1913 the company employed 1,131 people in its Brooklyn factory (871 men, 210 women, and 50 office workers). John Hanan also owned shoe companies in other cities and served as president of the National Boot and Shoe Manufacturers’ Association.
Hanan, though, went bankrupt in 1935 and the building was used by other manufacturers until its recent conversion to residential.
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