Draft:Bucilla Corporation

The Bucilla Corporation was founded as Bernhard Ulmann and Company in 1867. "Bucilla" is an acronym formed from "Berhard Ulmann Company, Incorporated (Lace, Linen and Accessories);" at first a nickname for the company, this eventually became the company's name. The company's founder, Bernhard Ulmann, was an American Jewish immigrant from a German textile merchant family, who came to New York City from Fuerth, Germany. His business was successful, and continued to expand and grow through the early 20th Century. By 1900's, the company's assets exceeded $1 million, and the business had expanded, manufacturing yarns, household products, and publishing books of designs with instructions. Berhnard Ulmann retired in 1914, after reorganizing his company as an employee-owned entity, the "Bernhard Ulmann Co". He died in 1915. Ulmann's daughter, Doris Ulmann was a well-regarded photographer.

Under the imprint "Bernhard Ulmann Co.," the company published instructional volumes and booklets on fiber arts, including an extensive volume on crochet in 1912. Instructional booklets from the 1930's through the 1970's include knitting and crochet for people of all ages and for all occasions, as well as patterns for home décor. From the 1950's, Bucilla began making kits, in response to changing interests of home fiber arts hobbyists. Indian Head Mills purchased the company in the 1960's ; it since has changed hands many times. Bucilla was in the news in 1968 when Julie Nixon completed a Bucilla kit of the Seal of the United States of America as a gift for then-president Richard Nixon and the New York Times documented a boom in handcrafting kits in the early 1970's. Since 1996, Bucilla has been owned by the Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation, as a part of their Plaid Enterprises division. Bucilla's focus today is on needlework kits (including crochet, embroidery, counted cross-stitch, and felt crafting) for a variety of holiday and home décor uses. Modern Bucilla crafters are active on social media, sharing their creations using both new and vintage kits.