There’s no great mystery about how the textile services business began in the United States. In essence, entrepreneurs in the latter half of the 19th century saw an opportunity to provide clean towels and other textiles to businesses in exchange for a fee. At first, the customers were other small businesses, such as barber and butcher shops. Later, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, factories and individuals took advantage of this opportunity to rent towels or other items, or have their own goods laundered/pressed and returned.
 
Very few of the industry’s earliest companies survive today in a recognizable form. A ...