Prescribed forms of dress, including theatrical costumes, ritual articles of clothing and militaristic uniforms, were a singular and essential element in the phenomenon of the secret fraternal society movement in the United States in the years 1865 to 1918. The demand for fraternal regalia spawned a distinct and prosperous industry which flourished for eighty years. The story of the fraternal society movement is incomplete without consideration of the garments used by the secret societies, and of the companies that made them.
Since their inception, secret fraternal societies have used ritual items of dress imbued with symbolic meaning. In nineteenth century America, as fraternalism embraced twenty percent of the male population, the use of clothing increased and took on new meanings. Rituals increased in complexity and initiation rites assumed a theatrical quality. Fraternal orders added new degrees and side orders modeled on private militias, which required uniforms. Fraternal regalia evolved into three distinct categories reflecting the three aspects of the Great Fraternal Movement - sacred rites, theatrical dramas and public displays of patriotic militarism.
This story of fraternal regalia is told from the perspective of The M.C.Lilley & Co. of Columbus, Ohio. This firm manufactured, distributed and sold fraternal regalia from 1865 to 1953. It was the largest of the regalia houses and serves as an example of the industry that fraternalism supported in the years of the Great Fraternal Movement.
Regalia manufacturers used specialized marketing techniques and capitalized on political events to create demand for their wares. These companies were instrumental in organizing new lodges and devising new rituals in order to expand markets for their products.
The rise of the regalia industry in the United States paralleled that of the societies it served. Firms which identified themselves specifically with the fraternal orders, and which concentrated their product lines on items of dress, prospered as the movement grew. The fortunes of the secret fraternal societies and those of the regalia manufacturers were intertwined, and the interests of one organization informed and served the interests of the other.