MTFCA Forum

At our 2019 National Rally in Maryborough, I took delivery of three pairs of Bib overalls, courtesy of one of the US contingent. Thanks again Keith. Two pairs were US made, both new old stock bought on ebay, one pair of Dickies and another of Oshkosh. Dickies are now made in Mexico and Oshkosh only make kids clothes now.
Today I was checking the Roundhouse website for some replacements, and they noted that they were the only makers in the USA. That sent me to the website for Pointer brand overalls, and it seems they no longer make them. So, if you want some good ole USA made bibs, you'd better be prepared to support the last manufacturer left in the market.
All other US brands are made offshore, from Mexico to China and even Mauritius.

Allan from down under.

Allan, thank you for this info! I will place an order and support these people going forward. I noticed that they have a "hickory stripe stylish uptown bib" which may be of particular interest to Mr. Jeff when he steps out. Thanks again, Bill

I may look for Roundhouse Bibbs but i think i have enough pairs to last me. Since about 2004 Bibbs are all i ware. Bud.

Bill, I have two pairs of different hickory striped ones for "best" wear. Roundhouse have a two to three month wait on some sizes of hickory stripe bibs, so you might like to place an order now.

I found some on Ebay that are my size, used but hardly any use. Price is good, global shipping OK, but when you click on buy now, there is an added $11 or so in fees/taxes/duties payable on top. There are no state sales taxes payable at the US end on exports, no duties on used clothing at our end, and no Good and services tax collected on small value parcels either, so who gets the $11? I have a question for the seller about posting them directly to me and bypassing the middlemen.

Perhaps when covid is behind us and some of you folk come out to our 2022 national rally in Dubbo, we can circumvent them again.

Allan from down under.

Are the hickory stripe for formal wear such as weddings and funerals?? Bud.

Good to know that I will still be able to enter the Steve Jelf Look-Alike Contest at Chickasha next year.

Hickory stripe, Is that the excepted stye? My hair is turning gray. Never know maybe I could enter the Steve Jelf look a like hahaha

Roundhouse is my brand. They wear very well.

I have had trouble with the strap connectors, but I blame that for the overloaded condition I force on them. I need to take a minute to fix the other original.

I don't remember when I changed my daily uniform to overalls, but it has been many years. They are comfortable and have lots of pockets for toting accoutrements and/or impedimenta. I prefer blue rather than stripes. I buy new ones in the spring. I used to buy Oshkosh before they went yuppie and started making only kids' sizes, and offshore to boot. At that point I switched to Round House, made in Shawnee OK beginning when it was still IT (1903). I drive a half hour to Ponca City for them, as the stores here carry only foreign-made brands.

I have a couple of overall stories.

About 120 years ago my mom's uncle Jeremiah Tucker had aspirations of being a big time businessman. He dressed the part, always a snappy dresser, and bought himself a seat on the Board of Trade. According to my aunts, when Uncle Jerry was out working in the fields he wore his fancy duds under his overalls, and if he saw somebody coming down the road he would take off the bibs so they would see him looking spiffy.

The late Lyle Eaton owned the local electrical supply here. He always wore overalls. His son told me of going to a convention in Chicago with him. Somebody said, "Lyle, the dinner tonight is formal dress." Lyle replied, "In Kansas this is formal attire."

With Bryan Ostergren at Bakersfield, 2016. New bibs.

A couple of rubes at OCF: with Dallas Landers, 2018.

Lets face it, made in USA for clothes and shoes is done, and it isn't coming back. I am pleasantly surprised that some of the quaint features from over 100 years ago are still present on the foreign made bib overalls. My favorite is the hidden watch pocket on the left Brest pocket and the button hole for the watch chain, best thing about bibs as far as I am concerned. I have never lost a watch from that pocket, I have from the waist watch pocket.

Heck
The wait is 1 to 2 months for roundhouse on their site. Is that normal or a pandemic thing?

You know what? I have other clothes to wear and can wait for garments made in the USA. I'm all in with Roundhouse. Bill

Well, I just ordered 2 pairs of bibs. Only 2 weeks on my size, and they are stone washed.
I want to look like you guys and they go with my beater truck

My cousin gave me a pair of blue jeans a couple weeks ago. I wore them about 5 hours one evening and hope I never have to wear them again. I’ve worn bibs exclusively since I was in high school. I like Liberty because of the bib design. They stopped making hickory stripe several years ago but I find them occasionally on eBay. I’ve got several new pair in my closet for special occasions, even though I got married in a blue pair, but to be fair I got divorced in a blue pair as well.

Allan, You're very welcome. It was good to meet you and see your nice unrestored T Roadster Pickup too.

Cheers,

Keith

The dress for a former school principal's funeral was indicated as colourful, so I wore my hickory striped bibs and a red shirt. I haven't been to a wedding in them yet.
Roundhouse list spare buckles and fittings on their site, so spares are available.
I like their pockets. There's room for my outsize smarter than me phone in one , and a diary in the other.

Allan from down under.

Roundhouse certainly aren't cheap. A pair with a zipper fly is a 100 bucks.

Chris, go directly to their website and you will get TWO pairs, with free shipping, for $99.90. I don't know where you got that price.

Allan from down under.

I got my 2 pair

Mine are all old and well worn so i have two new pair on the way I will save them for church!! Bud.

I imagine you guys know this but Tractor Supply sells bibs. The line is called Liberty. Don’t think it’s US made.

From the Internet
Who Makes Liberty Bib Overalls
Liberty overalls were made in Birmingham, Alabama for many years and were made by the Liberty company. Back then they made overalls, jeans, coats, jacket, etc. Then in the 1990’s Liberty was bought by the Walls company out of Dallas Texas.
So who makes Liberty bib overalls now. Well in 2013 Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co, better known as just Dickies, bought the Walls company. So as of 2013, Dickies is the manufacture of Liberty overalls. Dickies has been making work clothing for many years and with adding the Liberty brand only adds to their already great line of quality products.
AND THEN FROM https://www.amazon.com/ask/questions/Tx ... _ql_al_hza
Company owned factories exists in both China and Vietnam. Therefore, the individual garment could come from either batch.

I read the line of patriotic BS on the Liberty site, but they very carefully sidestepped any mention of the country of manufacture. I asked them to confirm this in an email but I got the usual BS that they appreciate the interest............ etc, but no answer as yet. I thought they were Chinese made, but they will not admit it.
We have the same issue with Blundstone boots in Australia. Same inane BS about great Australian brand from the state of Tasmania. No mention that the boots are now made in Viet Nam. The spin and dishonesty by omission really gets my back up.

Allan from down under.

I think i started wearing bibbs in 2004 because of radiation and i wore several brands. A friend wore Roundhouse because of the USA made and far better quality. No exact date when i switched to Roundhouse but i never looked back! I wear bibb's every day of my life!! Bud.

Yup !

The last pair of Liberty I bought said they were made in Vietnam. I’ve bought some made in Mexico. I think they’re the only thing I’ve ever bought that said “Made in Russia”

The Tractor Supply ads only say imported. Not from where.

Shoot I've been wearing overalls my whole life. My Grandpas wore them and my Dad, in fact they are the uniform of farmers

for the cooped up guys

That’s not right

Hey Steve....thanks for posting the picture of the two of us. I think I'm in the running for R.V.'s idea of the Steve Jelf look-a-like contest. Dallas, I think I've got you beat. Your beard isn't white enough. As far as the overalls go, good to know that Roundhouse is U.S.A. made. Didn't know about them. Glad to now. Seems as though there's not much of that anymore. I like the Key Imperials for the flap pocket. I wore out the six pairs that I had a few years ago. Went to buy more...don't make my size anymore! Called their customer service department. "We'll make whatever size you want. Minimum order of 18 pairs. $29.00 per pair shipping included". Got 20 pairs hanging in my (full) closet. Should last a few more years. They're unfortunately made in Mexico, not U.S.A. At least it's not China.

I like the Key Imperials for the flap pocket.

The checkbook in my front pocket fell out when I bent over.

So I wrote to the company and got some snaps and made a strap. It's getting kind of worn. One of these days I'll have to make a new one.

Actually I think I started the Jelf Lookalike when I snapped a pic with Mark Ostergren (spl??) when he visited the Bakersfield Swap in 2016.

Liberty finally got back to me on the country of manufacture. All they said was they are not made in USA.
I guess they didn't want to admit the Chinese origin of some.
Allan from down under.

Two new pair of Roundhouse came yesterday and they need to be washed a couple of times before the Wife cuts and hem's them! Very Heavy!!! Bud.

Bud, now you have broken the ice, it will be a piece of cake to get the right size next time. I love the range of waist and leg lengths offered, and now know just what to order. Changing brands does have its problems though.

Allan from down under.

Allen i bought two new pair for church and i have only worn Round House for many years!! The cutting is because im short!! Bud.

Hey there George,
You spelled Ostergren correctly. You just got the first name wrong. No worries though. I've been called a lot worse. Just ask both of my ex-wives.

Bryan Ostergren

HA!! Thanks Bryan. Funny the two years before Steve hit town I’d seen you walking around and first you were step. So when Steve actually hit town I seeked you out for the now famous pic.

Being a "suspenders" guy for years, and ALWAYS short on pockets, I bit the bullet and bought a pair...42 X 30 - my size in regular dungarees.
Mistake for me...
My arthritis makes it too darned difficult to hook up....I miss the elasticity that suspenders offer.
Is anyone interested in buying my VERY SLIGHTLY used (looks like new condition) Roundhouse for $43.00 - Shipping to lower 48 included ?
S O L D - gone to a new home.

Seems that I failed picture upload class. Send me your email, and I can try to send pics to that.

Dave

Here's a contemporary photo of the Round House Overall factory sent to me by a friend who lives near the site of the old factory.

You guys are way out of style! The Bib Overalls outdate the T by many years. Attached is a picture of my great grandfather with beard and grandfather on left and a couple other brothers of my grandfather. This picture was made before 1895 because the family sold the sawmill in upstate New York and moved to Los Angeles about 1895. No Model T's until 1909.
Norm

My son is a Railroader and wears Carhartt Bibbs. They do have a couple of US factories. I'll check with him to see where the bibbs are made.

I’ll be darned if I’ll save a couple of bucks on anything by purchasing foreign made over USA made. We take pains in the small operation of ours to source USA made stuff. I believe we should all do our part, but that’s just my opinion.
Re/ the overused word LIBERTY. When I was growing up a local old timer farmer friend also had a sawmill on his property. Amazing man, and craftsman. The town had plenty of open space still but the local school board wanted his farm badly for a new elementary school. It wasn’t for sale, so they took it VIA eminent domain. They had the gonads to name it LIBERTY elementary school. He died of a heart attack sitting in church one morning soon afterwards.

John, when I was checking all the brands, the only two currently making bibs in the USA were Roundhouse and Pointer. Pointer have since ceased production. From memory, Carhartt were Chinese made, but possibly not all types were made here. I was fortunate to find a NOS pair of Oskosh bibs on ebay. They are US made, but no longer, only kids stuff these days.

Allan from down under.

aDave, is that 42x30 per leg or waist? Can’t use them if by waist.

Norman, none of those guys is wearing bibs. They have what we call carpenters' aprons. You can buy bibs which have a detachable apron, but theirs are full length aprons. Blacksmiths wore those, in leather, so they did not suffer burns.

Allan from down under.

I've never seen Gator wear anything else, well, almost never!

John T...

The overalls have gone to a new home already.

Dave