During the 1920's, Julius Leventhal and his brothers, Harry and Norman, worked as sales representatives for Goodrich Tire, selling tires for shipment to Central America. Since there were a few roads and most people couldn't afford the luxury of an automobile, Goodrich gave the brothers permission to sell and export other items, in the addition to tires.
The Leventhal brothers found they could sell more shirts than tires and, in 1921, purchased a shirt factory in Lykens, PA. They developed the "Conqueror" brand and, for a number of years, Julius Leventhal & Bros. sold dress shirts and western style shirts to companies such as Sears Roebuck & Co., Montgomery Ward, J.C. Penney, etc.
During the mind 1930's, as uniforms came into "vogue", the company shifted toward the uniform industry. By the time World War II occurred, they were totally in the uniform business and made shirts for the military as well as civilian market.
In the 1950's, when the "second generation" came to the forefront, (Adolph Weber, Bob Leventhal, and Steve Leventhal), the company name was changed to Leventhal Bros. & Co., Inc. They soon achieved $1,000,000, then $2,000,000 in sales volume, quite an achievement for a company at that time. The Conqueror Brand was now an established name known for quality in the uniform and "style service shirt" industry.
As the company grew, focus became centered in the law enforcement, transit, postal, and security markets. Conqueror was the first shirt worn by UPS personnel when they began as a local delivery service for New York City department stores, and continued until they centeralized all uniform purchases as a "packaged" service.
In 1996, the Shamdasani family purchased the company and embarked on revitalizing the company under the name Leventhal Ltd. The Conqueror name endures, along with the "Lavigne" and "Zeus" brands. In the fall of 2007, Leventhal introduced the "Interceptor" line of quality-made, economically-priced uniform shirts and trousers.
