Eaves-Brooks Costume Company (New York, N.Y.)

The Eaves Costume Company, founded in 1863, was family-owned and was originally located in lower Manhattan.

The Company moved to 151 W. 46th Street, centrally located in the Theater District. It advertised itself as "The World's Largest Rental Costumers" and rented to universities, community theatres, secondary schools, churches, etc. Eaves acquired the Brooks-Van Horn Costume Company in 1981. The newly merged collection became known as the Eaves-Brooks Costume Company, Inc., relocating to Long Island City and maintaining a facility on West 26th Street in Manhattan. Dodger Costumes Ltd., affiliated with Dodger Theatricals, acquired Eaves-Brooks in 1998. Dodger exited the costume rental and manufacturing business when Dodger Costumes closed its doors on February 25th, 2005. They continued on as a producing organization.

The costume plots, or templates, were sent to clients to indicate what a given play or musical might look like using costumes rented from Eaves-Brooks. In some cases the sketches are more or less faithful reproductions of the original Broadway designs. In other cases, they are indicative of what might be pulled from general stock. The plates were drawn by designers who were closely associated with Eaves in the 1960's and 1970's such as Don Foote and John Boyt. Better-known designers included Robert Fletcher and Lewis Brown.

From the description of Dodger / Eaves-Brooks costume plots, 1947-1965 (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 86111387

The Eaves Costume Company was founded as a family-owned company in 1863 and was originally located in lower Manhattan. The Company moved to 151 W. 46th Street, centrally located in the Theater District. It advertised itself as "The World's Largest Rental Costumers" and rented to universities, community theatres, secondary schools, churches, etc.

Eaves acquired the Brooks-Van Horn Costume Company in 1981. The newly merged collection became known as the Eaves-Brooks Costume Company, Inc., re-locating to an 11,000 square foot, six story facility in Long Island City. They also owned a facility on West 26th Street in Manhattan.

The costume plots, or templates, were sent to clients to indicate what a given play or musical might look like using costumes rented from Eaves-Brooks. In some cases the sketches are more or less faithful reproductions of the original Broadway designs. In other cases, they are indicative of what might be pulled from general stock, to costume, for example, a gypsy.

The plates were drawn by costume designers who were closely associated with Eaves in the 1960's and 1970's such as Don Foote and John Boyt. Better-known designers included Robert Fletcher and Lewis Brown.

Dodger Costumes Ltd., affiliated with Dodger Productions, acquired Eaves-Brooks in 1998. Dodger exited the costume rental and manufacturing business when Dodger Costumes closed its doors on February 25th, 2005. They continued on as a producing organization.

From the guide to the Dodger / Eaves-Brooks costume plots, 1947-1965, (The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.)