Category:Mary MacIntosh Services, Allentown, Pennsylvania

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English: Located at 1202 Allen Street in Allentown, the business began as the Allen Steam Laundry in 1904 by Owen S. Hunsicker at 35 South Seventh Street. In 1919 Owen Hunsicker passed and his son, Charles O Hunsicker, a former Mayor of Allentown had inherited the business from his father. Hunsicker knew little about the laundry business and was looking for someone to manage the business. W Bruce MacIntosh a 21-year old graduate of Muhlenburg College accepted the job for $30/week with an option to purchase a half-ownership. Most of the business centered on the laundering of starched collars and shirts. MacIntosh switched to "wet wash", family laundering service and commercial laundry service to hotels.

The business moved from the 7th street location to a larger facility, purchasing the Model Troy Laundry (Opened June 1915) at 39-41 North Tenth Street in September 1920. By 1923, the bushiness was thriving and needed to expand again. A new building was erected at Allen & Jefferson Streets. At the new location, the services expanded again when MacIntosh began to offer the world's first diaper service. Additional land was purchased at 12th & Allen Streets and in 1930, a dry cleaning plant was added. The Pennsylvania Laundry in Allentown was merged into the Allen Laundry business in 1943. In 1946, Brown's White City Laundry was acquired. In 1947, the diaper service was sold to Tidy Dy-Dee of Allentown

By 1965, after many expansions of the business in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and a large area of Southeast Florida, from West Palm Beach south to Miami, the business consolidated under the name of Mary MacIntosh Services with headquarters in Allentown.

By the 1970s, dry cleaning began to decline when polyester fabric clothing began to take over the marketplace. MacIntosh retired from the buisness in 1972, with control passing to his son, W Bruce MacIntosh, Jr. He passed in April 1977. During the 1980s, the business suffered a steady decline in dry cleaning, and MacIntosh, Jr., sold the company to James Rogers in 1994. Renamed Mary MacIntosh Linen and Uniform Rental in 1994, Rogers closed the dry-cleaning services and the large plant at Twelfth and Allen streets in October 1997. In the fall of 2018, the building was torn down after being vacant for over 20 years.

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