A New Chapter
Manufacturing in the U.S. Since 1922
Standard Merchandising Co. was founded in 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For three
generations the Tarnoff family built SMCo into one of America's most respected sock
manufacturers — Jeff and Lee Tarnoff ran the business for over 40 years, continuing
what their grandfather and father started.
In 1978, SMCo expanded from its New Jersey headquarters, opening a knitting plant in
Reading, Pennsylvania to make headbands and wristbands for the tennis market. They knit
their first sock in Reading shortly after, and socks quickly grew to dominate the business.
Over the next four decades the Reading facility expanded to seven times its original size.
When they started, there were perhaps 15 knitting mills in what was then a small regional
knitting center. Most are gone now. SMCo stayed.
The brand lineup told the story of a company that cared about range: B.ella
for luxury women's hosiery in cashmere, merino, and alpaca. Red Lion for
bold, colorful athletic socks — the brand that started the novelty athletic sock trend
in America. E.G. Smith, the original boot sock. Nouvella
and QTFeet for adventurous everyday wear. Alchester & Sons
for classic men's styles. All made in the USA. No outside contractors.
In 2015, Standard Merchandising was brought into the
Fox River
family of brands. In 2025,
Nester Hosiery
acquired Fox River's assets, bringing SMCo's legacy home to Mount Airy, North Carolina.
The commitment hasn't changed — American-made quality, honest materials, socks you
can count on. What's new is the lineup. Here are the brands carrying the standard forward.
Farm to Feet
Damascus Light Targeted Cushion
$25.00
Farm to Feet's whole thing is a 100% American supply chain — from the sheep ranch to the finished
sock, nothing leaves the country. The Damascus is their flagship trail sock and it's easy to see why.
It's a lightweight 3/4 crew with cushioning placed exactly where your foot hits the ground hardest.
Six colorways, and the Charcoal is one of those colors that works with everything. This is the sock
we hand to people when they ask what to wear hiking.
Shop at Farm to Feet →
Fox River
Classic Wool Crew Everyday Sock
$13.00
This is about as straightforward as a sock gets, and we mean that as a compliment. Fox River
has been making socks since 1900 — longer than almost anyone — and the Classic Wool Crew is the
kind of sock that explains how a company stays around that long. Medium weight wool, natural
color, crew height. Put it on, forget about it, go about your day. At thirteen dollars it's
almost aggressively good value.
Shop at Fox River →
Ballston 1918
Lightweight Merino Wool Crew
$28.99 · 4-pair pack
Ballston keeps it simple: high wool content, American knitting, honest pricing. The lightweight crew
is 81% merino wool, which puts it well above most competitors at this price. They're thin enough for
three-season hiking and thick enough to feel like a real sock around the house in winter. The 4-pack
format means you can just throw out your old socks and start over. Sometimes that's the right move.
Shop at Ballston 1918 →
Pistil Designs
McKinley Trucker Hat
$38.00
Not a sock, but we're including it anyway because Pistil makes some of the best hats going. The
McKinley is their top-rated trucker — 4.9 stars from nearly a hundred reviews — and it comes from
their studio in Hood River, Oregon. It's the hat you see at every trailhead in the Pacific Northwest,
and the details (embroidery, fabric choices, fit) are a notch above the usual. Comes in Gold, Navy,
and Fig. We're partial to the Gold.
Shop at Pistil Designs →
