Our Story

Hilts Willard:

Founded in Gloversville, New York, where the American glove industry began in the late 1700’s, Hilts-Willard continues to use the tradecraft first brought to America by master glovers from England and France.

The gloving process is almost unchanged from those earliest days, because the soft and stretchable glove leather of fine gloves cannot be processed by automation.

Unlike processing shoe or garment leather which has no stretch, each gloving skin is first dampened and then pulled and set to length, assuring that stretch will be across the hand for fit and comfort.

Then each hand is individually cut into a “trank” or rectangular blank that has further been stretched and measured for each size assuring consistent fit. These are then cut to shape with a die.

Each pair is sewn individually by hand sewing or individually by machines that have changed little since our founding in 1878 although the old foot treadles have been replaced by electric motors.

And before packing, each pair is pulled onto a properly sized, heated steel hand to give finished shape and to assure proper sizing.

Styles in the following pages represent more than a century of experience in glove design and craftsmanship. The company motto from 1878 still applies:

“LIKE OLD FRIENDS, THEY WEAR WELL”