Karl Wilhelm Karlsson, also known as KW, started in 1918 a small textile trading company together with Algot Johansson. The business was set up inte parish of Gällstad in the province of Västergötland which held the heart of the Swedish textile industry. When the company started to grow after the first world war the company was turned into a incorporated company, AB KW Karlsson. The positive development continued and new factories were built as the same time as the number of outworkers grew.
In the 1950's the company made business with several European countries. The machines could meet the demand from the shifting fashion industry. In the 1956 winter Olympics the Swedish team wore clothes made by AB KW Karlsson. The blow came in the 1960's and 70's when the Swedish textile industry started to decrease and the company was shut down in 1974.
KW was born 1892 in Gällstad parish. During his life he held several important positions in the local community. He died in 1980 after being a widower for 20 years.
The eight children of KW and his wife Sofia took the sirname Kåvestam, after how the initials K and W sound together when pronounced in Swedish together with the word stam which means trunk of a tree . Their son Åke married my grandmother's cousin Svea.
Source:
Gällstad: Knalle-, bonde- och indsutrisocken by Gällstads Hembygdsförening, published in 1986
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