Crystal Clothing
Crystal Clothing was a major manufacturer of clothing particularly men’s shirts and pyjamas. By 1959, their factories at Wollongong and Dapto were producing nearly two half million shirts and pyjamas annually.. David Chrystal and his son, David Dryburgh Chrystal, started the business as a private company in the early 1930s. Their first clothing factory was at Belmore in Sydney and during World War 2, they were encouraged to establish a second factory in Wollongong in 1942. They later established a factory in Marshall St, Dapto.
In 1970, David Chrystal senior died and the business was later sold to Joe Gazal. The business was threatened by cheaper imported clothing. Crystal employed 200 workers in 1986 down from 550 employed in 1959. In 1990 the company sold the machines that had produced millions of garments and retrenched its mainly female workforce.
| Illawarra Historical Society Bulletin article Jul-Sep 2020 | |
| 'Contact' article Jan 1949 p22 |
