The Royal Worcester Corset Company, was founded as The Worcester Skirt Company by David Hale FANNING in 1861 in Worcester, MA, and first specialized in making hoop skirts. In 1872 the company changed its name to the Worcester Corset Co., to reflect its change of direction from hoop skirts to torso shaping. In 1876, the 'Bon Ton' corset was awarded the bronze medal at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The company changed its name again in 1901, to the Royal Worcester Corset Company. In 1949 the company dropped the word 'corset' from its name and became known as the Royal Worcester Company, in response to falling interest in corsets. The company had by then switched production away from corsets to girdles. Founder David Hale FANNING died on Thursday, January 21, 1926, four days after retiring as active head of the company. In 1950, then-company-president E.A. MEISTER, after the closing of the manufacture, donated a collection of 171 corsets to the Brooklyn Museum. The collection had been assembled by Isidor ROTH, his father-in-law and former president of the company.