Big Yank (Reliance Manufacturing Company) · 1919 to the 1980s; revived in Japan in the 2010s
Reliance Manufacturing started in Chicago in the late 1890s (the sources say 1897 or 1898), and its founder, Milton F. Goodman, built it around work shirts. Big Yank, launched in 1919, became its best-known name. Reliance patented an asymmetric chest pocket in 1929, with a cigarette pouch on one side and a tall pen-slot pocket on the other, and later the five-sided mountain pocket, filed in 1942. It also made pants, coveralls and overalls, ran plants in Washington, Indiana from the 1920s, and during World War II turned to military work, parachutes included. The brand faded out in the 1980s. Collector Kinji Teramoto's 35 Summers revived it in Japan in the 2010s with reissued work shirts and coveralls.
3 models we cover.
Prewar labels can read A Reliance Product, and some 1930s pieces carry a separate NRA Code tag (1933–35). Mid-century pieces may say Union Made on labels or snaps. Shirts are the easy tell, with an asymmetric cigarette pocket or a pointed five-sided pocket. Modern revival pieces say Made in Japan.
Chicago, Illinois. Milton F. Goodman's Reliance Manufacturing Company, founded in the late 1890s, launched the Big Yank name in 1919.
Big Yank · Overalls
Bib overall1970s
$40–$70 typical ask
7 on eBay
Big Yank · Jackets and coats
Coverall1950s
$60–$150 typical ask
12 on eBay
Big Yank · Straight leg
Dungarees1950s
$35–$70 typical ask
51 on eBay