PaineWebber

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

PaineWebber began in Boston in May 1881, when William A. Paine and Wallace G. Webber opened a brokerage business on Congress Street. Charles H. Paine soon joined them, supplying the extra surname, commas, and old-money atmosphere needed for Paine, Webber & Co.

The firm merged with fellow Boston brokerage Jackson & Curtis on June 29, 1942, becoming Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis. Its head office moved from Boston to New York in 1963, trading bean-town roots for Wall Street gravity and a much bigger national stage.

By the 1970s and 1980s, PaineWebber was publicly traded and growing through acquisitions, including F.S. Smithers, Mitchell Hutchins, Blyth Eastman Dillon, and Rotan Mosle. In 1985 it relocated its New York headquarters to 1285 Avenue of the Americas, where its illuminated name became an unmistakable Midtown skyline accessory. The famous “Thank You PaineWebber” campaign politely suggested that finance could, in fact, have manners.

In 1995 it acquired Kidder, Peabody & Co.; in 2000 it added J.C. Bradford & Co. UBS completed its acquisition of PaineWebber Group on November 3, 2000. The UBS PaineWebber name followed before the PaineWebber identity was retired in 2003.

Our PaineWebber collection celebrates the buttoned-up bravado of brokerage culture: Boston beginnings, New York nerve, glowing office towers, and the rare corporate sign-off that managed to say thanks while charging ahead.