Berkshire Hathaway Summary and Analysis

New Bedford, Massachusetts was originally a whaling community which ran out of steam as that industry declined. Wealthy whalers then built cotton mills and used their ships to bring cotton up from the South. This business thrived through World War I, largely through providing military uniforms, but was hit hard by the Depression. Most of the mills then moved to the South where labor was cheaper. The single exception was Hathaway Manufacturing. Seabury and Otis Stanton, two brothers, ran the mill and eventually prospered by the production of rayon for parachutes and eventually men's suit linings and curtains. Competition in the early 1950's hurt Hathaway, but, rather than fold, it merged with Berkshire Fine Spinning Association, another New England textile manufacturer based in Rhode Island, in 1954. Berkshire was run by the Chace family and produced fabrics for sheets, handkerchiefs...