Real white collars were invented by a woman named Hannah Montague in 1827. They were detachable, so they could be washed separately from the shirts to save laundry time. By the end of the century, 25...

Real white collars were invented by a woman named Hannah Montague in 1827. They were detachable, so they could be washed separately from the shirts to save laundry time. By the end of the century, 25 million white collars were being manufactured in the United States every year. Too expensive for manual laborers, they became a status symbol for the new middle class.