On May 15th, 1888, two teenagers, Aaron and Henry Belber, left Europe and traveled to Philadelphia with their father Selig. Sailing on board the Cumberland from Hamburg they reached the city that would soon see their dreams come true.
In 1891, the brothers started making and selling luggage in their Philadelphia home basement and Belber was officially born. The first factory opened in 1903 and two more brothers, Maurice and Herman joined the team in the early 1900s.
With their motto, “As Modern as Tomorrow”, the Belbers became real experts in luggage engineering and innovation as well as new business pioneers. Strong customer service approach, affordable prices, beautiful and original craftsmanship and attention to detail were key pillars in every collection and campaign they produced.
Success led to expansion: between 1919 and 1926 Belber acquired the Oshkosh Trunk Co., the Larking building on Arch St., Schmidt Bros. Trunk Co. and Eagle Trunk Co. In this time, the company opened manufacturing plants in Woodbury, Newark and Oshkosh as well as warehouses and offices in Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. In 1930 Belber increased once more their brand portfolio with the acquisition of Innovation and Neverbreak trunk makers.
By 1937, the company had more than 80 registered patents in the US, for numerious technical product innovations.
In the mid 1940s, Belber partnered with Hollywood celebrities Ray Milland and Alan Ladd to advertise their products. The brand was already a prominent advertiser in all the main newspapers of the day on both sides of the Atlantic.
Today, Belber steps into the 21st century as a refreshed leather goods house with a new angle: urban nomadism, a concept that encompasses urban mobility, frequent travel and a dynamic city lifestyle. The Belber brothers taught customers that travel goods are not only about functionality or durability but also represented a way of life and each individual’s personal style. This is very much alive at Belber today, the concept of beautiful functionality being more relevant than ever.