The Inside Story of Cotton Batting and Wadding: The Stearns & Foster Company

The Stearns & Foster Company revolutionized the cotton wadding and batting industry during the second half of the nineteenth century. The company achieved success through innovative product development and by forming business alliances to influence and control the market, emerging as the industry leader in the twentieth century.  This study examines internal company documents of the Stearns and Foster Company’s first fifty years within the context of the late nineteenth century United States industrial history. This research gives a rare glimpse into the internal operations and business activities of the Stearns and Foster Company during a pivotal era of American History.