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Rita Barber, Inc. Celebrates 80th Anniversary

February 22, 2008

ABILENE, TX – It was 1928 in the small Texas farming community of Stamford when Rita Williams Barber, recently widowed and the mother of an 16-month-old son, went to work as a bookkeeper for Kinney Funeral Home.

As she settled into her new job, she noticed the funeral director was using drab and unappealing clothing to drape over the deceased, a practice that hadn’t changed much since the turn of the century. In those days the old burial shroud was still accepted for the simple reason nothing else was available.

“After seeing so many of the old burial shrouds,” Mrs. Barber told a newspaper reporter decades later, “I saw a need for better burial clothes.”

After convincing her boss at the funeral home to allow her to make some more attractive clothing, she designed and produced several negligees and gown-type dresses, which promptly sold.

An expert seamstress with exquisite taste in clothing, Barber believed she could make substantial improvements in the shroud-like garments being used at the time, so she went to work each night, after her son had gone to bed, sewing what she would call “burial garments.”

Barber knew, instinctively, that the garments needed high necklines and long sleeves.  As she fashioned those first garments, she also added more fabric in the sleeves and other portions of the finished garment to add softness and used a variety of sewing notions, such as lace, buttons and pearls to add beautiful and unique touches to the pieces she made.

Her final product, which the funeral director agreed to use in Stamford, not only marked the beginning of Rita Barber, Inc., but it also began a movement away from old-fashioned shrouds toward a more tasteful and appropriate garments to be used for burial.

Shortly thereafter, a casket salesman saw the garments and offered to buy material for her to make dresses, which his company would sell. In 1928, Mrs. Barber filled her first “big” order, and the business was launched.

Ola, Barber’s sister and a capable seamstress, as well, helped Rita sew enough garments to fill the orders that began coming in and went on to be a part of the business for many years.

“Mother began this business because she thought she couldn’t make the money she needed back then as a secretary,” explained Harwell Barber, Rita’s son and chairman of the board.  “She got into something – I think it surprised her – particularly when a casket salesman noticed her garments and bought a few of them.  There wasn’t much style back then, so she started there.  She really didn’t try to promote her garments, but eventually people would call, asking for burial garments and that’s how the business grew, initially.”

Seeing the opportunity to expand her market and, eventually, her business, Mrs. Barber began traveling Texas and neighboring states to make sales contacts and take orders.

“Mother bought a lot of Plymouths,” said Harwell Barber.  “When she started traveling, she traveled by car.  She was a rather quiet personality and she often hoped the funeral director she was calling on wouldn’t be at home,” he said.

By 1934, Rita Barber was serving customers in 16 states, and as she needed more space for her business, she moved into a large house in Abilene.

“My aunt Ola, who handled the manufacturing end of the business so Mother could sell, had a daughter who had just turned 18,” Harwell Barber explained. “Her daughter wanted to go to Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University) and, at the same time, we needed more space.

“Abilene was the next largest town and it would expedite our shipping, so with that combination of reasons, we moved the business to Abilene and never looked back,” Harwell Barber continued. We never regretted the move. Abilene was a good place to rear a family, not far from Dallas and it also was a good place to continue building the business.”

Times and things have changed since Rita Barber expanded her business into Abilene, where she began serving customers, nationwide.  After Mrs. Barber’s death in 1988, the traditions of quality, service and customer care have been continued by her son and his son-in-law Lee Hampton, the next generation of the Barber family.

Today, Rita Barber, Inc., continues to be one of the oldest, largest, most respected manufacturers, and supplier of “Tribute Fashions®” in the country and it’s also moving to include the latest in technology into its business plan.

“Like many businesses, our marketing is moving more toward Internet,” Hampton said, “and we have a greater online presence than ever before. We have a current and up-to-date catalog on our Website at www.ritabarber.com.”

As the business has expanded to include the entire nation, Rita Barber has continued its high level of service through its numerous sales representatives and distributors throughout the U.S.  Additionally, by shipping “Next Day Air,” Rita Barber can accommodate directors with garments of special sizes, colors and styles.

Rita Barber’s corporate offices and manufacturing plant are located at 133 Wall Street in Abilene, Texas.  The company processes customer orders via phone toll free at 1-800-284-8407 or fax at 1-800-460-2397.  Orders are also accepted 24 hours per day, seven days a week online at their website.  Customers can request and quickly receive a unique password to make online ordering possible.  Overnight shipping is available on special orders as requested.

In addition to an extensive line of “Tribute Fashions®” dresses, suits for women, and suites for men.  Rita Barber also is a supplier of men’s dress shirts, neckties, undergarments, plastics, hankies, jewelry bags, gloves and more.  The company also markets through its “Harwell Barber Collection” a complete line of career fashions for the funeral industry professionals.