Arbi Monograms
128 Antigua Street, PO Box 22-257,
Christchurch, New Zealand
ph (03) 366-5850
0800-11-30-30,
fax (03) 366-5609

THE HISTORY OF ARBI

Arbi Monograms has a history reaching way back into the 1920s. Then it was known as The Cap Factory and was a subsidiary of Kaiapoi Woollen Mills. It was one of the first embroidery companies in New Zealand suppling cloth badges from one end of the country to the other.

In those days the company was a major supplier of military headwear for the Army, Navy and Airforce with the embroidery division producing both metallic wire hand made badges as well as embroidered badges.

There were only four hand-operated foot treadle machines in the 20s. Charlie Fielding an in-house mechanic at the mill, built the treadle machines by joining old Singer sewing heads with chains and gears. Over the years the plant was slowly built up.

It was in the late 50s under the management of Jack Power that the first automatic machines, known as jacquard card, were introduced. These machines were run on an eight-track binary card which gave individual co-ordinates to a pantograph. The garments were held in individual hoops attached to the pantograph which moved back and forth under the sewing heads. These machines revolutionised embroidery.

Kaiapoi Woollen Mills was bought out in the early 70s by Mosgiel Woollen Mills from Dunedin. The embroidery division was relocated to 367 Tuam Street. Managers Richard and Noeline Bowden ran the plant. Mr Bowden's initials, "R.B.", gave the company its new name, Arbi Monograms. The company was sold to present owner Garry Clarke in 1980. It was registered that same year as Arbi Monograms (1980) Ltd.

Today, computer-controlled machines can work on up to 15 identical tasks simultaneously adding between 650 to 750 stitches a minute to each embroidery. Back in the "dim dark ages" staff with foot treadle machines achieved only about 100 stitches every 60 seconds producing six monograms at a time.