Making cotton history
Grower’s garment business
THIS week in Rural Weekly we take a journey through the history of Goondiwindi Cotton.
Goondiwindi Cotton was started by Sam Coulton in 1991 as a way of value adding to the business.
Mr Coulton’s family was one of the first two cotton growers in the Goondiwindi region back in 1977.
“This is year was the 40th cotton pick in Goondiwindi,” Mr Coulton said. “We planted the first crop in 1977 and picked it in 1978.
“We were looking to value add a product in the ’80s and we ended up making garments.”
Mr Coulton said they started making garments and selling them to their neighbours and at the riverside markets in Brisbane.
“We were also making clothes for a surf wear label in Newcastle, Piping Hot. We were helping them produce about 700,000 t-shirts a year.
“We had to learn how to make them so we joined up with a manufacturer in Newcastle. We were supplying the cotton and they were weaving it and dying it.
“At the same time we were making garments under the Goondiwindi cotton label.”
They then turned the focus to producing their own garments. The first step was getting the cotton fibre spun into yarn.
“The rolls of fabric would then arrive back in Goondiwindi where we’d have it cut, trimmed and sewed by girls we’d trained at the TAFE in Boggabilla.
“Then they bought their own sewing machines and started doing it themselves from home. It was perfect for them because they had a job before they left TAFE.”
They would then bring the garments back to the office where they were pressed and finished.
Mr Coulton said one of his first customers was Hanna’s.
“It was called Coorey’s in Goondi which was owned by the Hanna family. So I’ve been retailing to the Hanna family to about 1995,” he said.
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Photo: Contributed