THE CHIBA STORY
This is a short chronicle of the Chiba Glove Company, so that you know who we are and the beginnings from which
we come.
The Chiba Glove Company was founded in 1853, by Alois Chiba. Alios
came from Vienna, the Austrian Empires capital, at the request of the Kaiser to bring work to his poor areas.
Alois started and founded the glove industry in an area named “Bohemia.
Within one generation the small town of “Abertham” ,with a population of only 4000 people, became the glove
capital of Germany. Nearly every house was a glove factory and the surrounding
area became prosperous. Tanneries were started, sewing girls were needed and
a complete infrastructure was built.
Chiba Gloves grew to have branches in England in the early 1900's and export of goods to the United States.
Business was booming, many people had work and food. The upward growth
trend was stopped by World War I. No raw materials were available anymore, since
most of the materials came from places that were now battlegrounds. The end of
World War I changed the face of the Austrian empire, it no longer existed. A new state was created, the Czech Republic. Nearly 5-million Germans became Czech citizen’s overnight. This
became a start to a new beginning. Through diligence and persistence new prosperity
and worldwide exports were brought about.
When World War II started our production switched from private use to military use.
By 1945 nearly 2000 workers were employed by the Chiba Glove Company. The
end of the war in 1945 also brought a total loss of everything Business, Home & Land for 5 million Germans including us. We were driven from our homes and had to start anew with nothing.
For us Bavaria became a new home. Today the Chiba Glove Company is
located in Germany, in a small village near Salzburg, Austria. Our production facilities owned and operated are in Indonesia. The current factory is 50,000 square feet with an additional 50,000 square foot factory
coming online. We have agents in nearly all countries of the world. While
our past was in the production of fine gloves, our present day production is in high quality sports gloves. We currently produce product for the Cycling, Motorcycling, Ski/Snowboard, Baseball/Softball, Fitness, Water
Sports, Law Enforcement and Fire Protection industries.
Chiba Gloves is proud to be one of the only few still existing companies of the 600 glove companies from 40 years
ago.
The (4th) Fourth Generation of the Chiba family is now taking over with the same persistence and know how of four
generations of glove makers.
The CHIBA Glove
Company
A 155-year old
glove company incorporating old world craftsmanship with
Today’s
technology and designs.
