Seven Gudebrod brothers emigrated from Germany in the mid-1800s and settled initially in Connecticut.
Finding employment in local silk mills, they became proficient in the manufacture and marketing of silk sewing threads. Christian Gudebrod and his brother Frederick soon acquired a small silk mill in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. In 1883, they purchased a much larger facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and moved the consolidated operations there. By 1895, the Company had relocated to Pottstown, Pennsylvania where it continued for over a century.

Diversification of the company's product line began more than 100 years ago. The Gudebrod brothers
developed a braided silk suture that was to become a standard for the medical industry.

Later Gudebrod perfected the best-selling unwaxed dental floss in The United States.

The Company evolved with the new synthetic yarns that became available after World War II. Moving beyond the use of silk as a basic fiber, The Gudebrod Brothers Silk Co., Inc., was renamed simply Gudebrod, Inc. In 1947, Gudebrod introduced flat braided lacing tapes to the wire harness industry, where the company maintained a long-standing preeminent position. Gudebrod's expertise and technology grew to extend across a wide variety of fibers and filaments, from metallic yarn to Kevlar®, dental floss to engineered super braids.