Union Label Dating: How to Date a Vintage Tag
A union label can date a garment to a window of roughly a decade or two, not to a single year. The design of the ILGWU label changed several times between 1959 and 1995, and the union initials, the words "Union Made," the colors and the presence of "Made in U.S.A." each narrow the range. Pair the union label with the other tags sewn into the garment, such as the RN number, the care label and any ZIP code, and you can usually place a piece within a few years. This guide walks through each clue in the order most people find them, and it is honest about what a tag cannot prove.
What a union label actually tells you
A union label is a small woven or printed tag that says a garment was made in a shop whose workers belonged to a labor union. In American clothing, the two names you will meet most are the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA).
The ILGWU was founded in 1900 and adopted a label almost immediately, but the label stayed rare for decades. Cornell University's Kheel Center, which holds one of the largest collections of ILGWU labels, notes that widespread use did not take hold until the 1930s, when the coat and suit trade was the first apparel sector to adopt a label. Because the ILGWU mostly represented women's wear, you will see its label far more often in dresses, coats, skirts and blouses than in menswear.
The ACWA covered mainly men's clothing and was formed in 1914. In 1976 it merged with the Textile Workers Union of America to form the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU). A label that names the ACWA therefore points to a garment made before 1976, and an ACTWU label points to 1976 or later.
The label does one more useful thing. Union shops were unionized factories in the United States or Canada, so a union label is also a sign of where a garment was made, which matters when you read the other tags.
ILGWU label eras
The Kheel Center timeline, the Vintage Fashion Guild's union label guide and vintage dealers who have studied the labels agree on the broad outline. Treat the years as ranges, because old stock and slow changeovers blur the edges.
| Era | What the label looks like | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1959 | Varied designs, including the Blue Eagle label of 1933 and the New York Dress Institute label of 1941 | Pre-1959 union labels vary a lot, and each needs its own lookup |
| 1959 to 1963 | The ILGWU union label launched on January 9, 1959, a small blue fabric rectangle with the needle and thread emblem | Garment made in 1959 or later |
| 1955 onward | Any ILGWU label that includes "AFL-CIO" | The AFL and CIO merged in 1955, so the garment is from 1955 or later |
| 1963 to 1974 | Redesigned in 1963 to emphasize the words "Union Made," with a scalloped circle | Garment from about 1963 to 1974 |
| 1974 to 1995 | Red, white and blue colors with "Made in U.S.A." added | Garment from about 1974 to 1995 |
| After 1995 | The ILGWU merged with the ACTWU to form UNITE, and the label became a plain "UNITE" | Garment from 1995 or later |
Some collector guides draw the dividing lines slightly differently. For example, one dealer guide places the version without a registered trademark symbol at 1955 to 1963 and the version with it at 1964 to 1973. That is why a good rule is to use the label to find the era, then confirm with a second clue instead of trusting a single year.
Two details worth checking under good light:
- The colors. A label in red, white and blue is from the 1974 to 1995 period. The Vintage Fashion Guild ties the change to the "Buy American" campaign of 1974. A plain blue or black and white label is older.
- The wording. "Union Made" set into a darkened center circle is the 1960s design. The words "Made in U.S.A." on the label itself appear with the red, white and blue version.
Other union labels you may see
Not every union label is ILGWU. The Vintage Fashion Guild also lists labels from the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union, the Coat and Suit Industry National Recovery Board and others. Canadian garments carry their own union labels. The Guild's label resource gives a Canadian ILGWU label as in use from 1968 to 1984, for example, so a Canadian label has its own timeline that does not match the American one exactly.
When a label is unfamiliar, the fastest route is a search of the Vintage Fashion Guild's label resource and the Kheel Center's online timeline, both of which show photographs of the actual labels by era. Comparing your tag against a picture beats comparing it against a description.
RN numbers: a start date, not an age
The Federal Trade Commission issues Registered Identification Numbers, called RN numbers, to businesses that make, import, distribute or sell textile products. A business can print its RN on a label in place of its name. The Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, passed in 1958 and in force from 1960, requires labels to show the fiber content, the country of origin, and either the maker's name or its RN.
Two facts help with dating:
- Lower numbers belong to an earlier system. Wool Products Labeling numbers, called WPL numbers, run from 00101 to 13669 and were issued from 1941 until about 1959. RN numbers continued from 13670 on after 1959. A number of 13670 or higher is therefore a 1959 or later number.
- A number only gives an earliest date. The Vintage Fashion Guild's moderators stress that an RN or WPL number is a "no earlier than" date. A company could be issued a number in 1941 and still print it on labels in the 1970s or later. The FTC itself notes that many WPL numbers are still in use.
You can look an RN up in the FTC's public database to see which company holds it. If the company says it started in 1965, no label with that RN is older than 1965. That is real evidence, but it is a floor, not a date.
Care labels
The FTC's Care Labeling Rule was issued in December 1971. It requires makers and importers of clothing to attach a permanent care label with instructions for at least one safe method of care. That makes a sewn-in label with washing or dry-cleaning instructions a mild signal of 1971 or later.
Be careful with the reverse. Many earlier garments carry a care tag too, because some makers included one voluntarily, and an owner may have cut a tag out. The presence of a care label is a hint, and its absence proves almost nothing.
Country of origin and ZIP codes
The country named on the tag can narrow the era when it is paired with the union label. A "Made in U.S.A." union label with no other country on the tag fits a garment made in a union shop in the United States. If the tag names a country abroad, the union label is probably older stock, a different garment's label, or a replacement.
The United States Post Office introduced ZIP codes in 1963. A maker or store address printed on a tag with no ZIP code suggests a date before 1963. That is only a lean, because use of the codes was not required for some time after they were introduced, so a missing ZIP code does not prove a pre-1963 garment. A ZIP code, on the other hand, does set a floor: the tag was printed in 1963 or later.
Putting the clues together
Use the clues as a stack, from the strongest floor to the narrowest window.
- Start with the union label. Match it to an era in the table above. That gives you a window of roughly ten to twenty years.
- Check the floor from the RN or WPL number. If the number is 13670 or higher, the tag is 1959 or later. A lookup tells you when that company began.
- Look for a ZIP code. If one is present, the tag is 1963 or later.
- Look at the care label. A permanent care label is more likely 1971 or later.
- Read the construction. Zippers, seams, linings, fabric and cut tell you as much as the tag does, and they can contradict it.
When every clue lands in the same window, you can be fairly confident. When they disagree, believe the latest date, because a garment cannot be older than its newest tag, and then think about whether a tag could have been added or replaced.
A worked example: a dress with a red, white and blue ILGWU label, a permanent care label, an RN number of five digits above 13670 and "Made in U.S.A." can be placed in the 1974 to 1995 band. If the construction and style fit the late 1970s or 1980s, you can say so with reasonable confidence.
What tags cannot prove
Tags are useful, and they are also easy to over-read. Keep these limits in mind.
- A tag is not a date stamp. No union label, RN number or care label carries the year of manufacture. All of them give ranges or floors.
- Old stock is real. Factories used up label stock for years, so a garment can carry a label that was already a few years out of date.
- Tags get moved. A label can be cut out of one garment and sewn into another, especially on pieces that have been altered or restored. If the stitching on the label looks newer than the seams around it, be suspicious.
- Reproductions exist. Because "vintage" sells, some modern garments carry vintage-style labels. A label that looks too crisp for its supposed age, or whose fiber content and construction do not match the era, deserves a second look.
- Forum advice conflicts. The Vintage Fashion Guild's own moderators warn that online guides disagree and that you always have to look at several factors. Use the primary sources, such as the Kheel Center timeline, over a blog's summary.
An honest listing says "Union label from about 1974 to 1995" rather than "made in 1982." Buyers trust a range you can defend more than a precise year you cannot.
Why dating matters when you sell
A date range changes how you describe a piece and who will want it. A 1960s dress with the "Union Made" label appeals to buyers of mid-century style, while a 1980s piece with the red, white and blue label draws a different audience. Getting the era right keeps you out of returns and makes a listing easier to find. Our guide to selling vintage clothing online covers photographing and pricing the pieces once you know what they are, and our guide to Y2K clothing explains how a much later era is judged.
Dating by tag also helps when you are buying. Seeing a piece turned in the hand, with the label shown up close, is the best check on whether the tag fits the garment. That is one reason vintage works well in a live format. Sharon8107, from Astor, Florida, sells bags and clothing on ShopBidz, and BecksBoutiqueBargains sells clothing, shoes and accessories on ShopBidz. Watching either seller live lets you see a garment on camera, ask them to show the label and the inside seams, and ask what is printed on the care tag before you bid.
Bottom line
A union label places a garment in a window of about a decade or two, not in a single year. The ILGWU label launched in January 1959, was redesigned in 1963 to stress "Union Made," turned red, white and blue with "Made in U.S.A." in 1974, and became UNITE after the 1995 merger. An "AFL-CIO" mark means 1955 or later, an ACWA label means before 1976, and an ACTWU label means 1976 or later. RN numbers of 13670 and up are 1959 or later but only give a floor, a ZIP code means 1963 or later, and a permanent care label hints at 1971 or later. Stack the clues, trust the latest date, check the construction, and describe the result as a range.