In 1973, Pam Kline was an antiques dealer.  Of all the objects she handled, Pam loved antique quilts the best.  Collectors shared her enthusiasm, and the quilts sold as fast as she could find them.  Success however, brought its own problems. By the time the Museum of American Folk Art mounted the first-ever exhibition of Amish quilts, genuine antiques had become extremely scarce.  The Amish, fortunately, never throw anything away, including scraps of old fabric.  For the Museum shop, Pam commissioned new quilts made from old fabric by the Amish women, and Traditions was born. 
Eventually, the old fabric scraps in Amish closets and sewing baskets were used up, and demand for the quilts was growing ever faster. The fledgling business was seriously at risk of not being able to fill those hard-earned orders.  Pam searched with no success for a renewable source of appropriate fabric.  Ironically, it was her doctor who provided Pam with an answer. His brother in India was in the fabric business.  
Samples soon arrived from the doctor’s brother, and, unbelievably, they were exactly what she needed.  Pam was so excited by her discoveries that she decided to take a booth at the New York Gift Show.  Just to demonstrate the versatility of these antique homespun reproductions, she made up a few pieces of clothing--a blouse, a jumper and two outfits for children. By the end of the show, she had sold not a single yard of fabric, but had enough clothing orders to set her up in the garment trade.  Traditions’ clothing business continued for many years out of a showroom on Seventh Avenue in New York.   
As the clothing lines developed and the customer base grew and grew, Pam remembered that, when she was living in Germany, they’d slept under down quilts called duvets with pretty washable covers.  Never one to rest on her laurels, Pam decided to introduce a bedding line that could be made from the same homespun fabrics that she was already using in her clothing collections.   
Pam knew that most of the players in the linens business--Springmaid, Wamsutta, Martex--were enormous and that she could never compete with them on price.  “I decided that I’d make anything anyone wanted, offering custom design, high quality and unsurpassed customer service.”  By the early 1990’s the bed linens division had overtaken the clothing division and eventually became the main focus for the company.   
In 1994, the future of Traditions once again followed a fortuitous course.   That summer, Pam’s son Travis met a spirited girl called Shari Marder who, having earned a degree in fine arts and sculpture at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, was working for a group of artists in Maine. When his mother bemoaned the lack of available talent, Travis mentioned his new acquaintance, and the rest is history. 
Shari began as a salesperson and a swatch cutter and worked her way up through order entry, credit manager, print catalog designer, National Sales Manager, Vice-President, and finally, in 2003, to President of Traditions by Pamela Kline.  Along the way, she and Travis married, and sons Gavin and Tait were born. 
Traditions’ management today is the living example of the possibility of impossibility.  Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law share an office and the responsibility for running the company.  They spend every day at facing desks in the company headquarters that now houses their factory store, design studio, and executive offices.  Pam and Shari speak of each other with evident fondness and respect.  “Shari has brought a new viewpoint to the business,” Pam explains.  “We’re more international, sophisticated and diverse.  And she has freed me up to spend more time designing.”  “I’m the detail person,”   Shari adds, “I do the operational stuff.” “I design; she makes it work,” Pam shoots back. “Sure,” says Shari, “I make the rules so Pam can break them!” They agree that having worked together for several years before Shari and Travis married has made it possible to keep their business and personal relationships separate and harmonious, but it doesn’t hurt to have a sense of humor.   
The trend that started with those Indian cottons, now includes a roster of over 300 richly detailed prints, Belgian Linen Sheets, luxurious Kashmina Blankets, exquisite embroideries and Stonewashed Matelasse, Printed Sheet Sets and Wholecloth Quilts– all custom made to your specifications by a company who stands firmly behind its products and is committed to supporting both it’s local and the global community. 
From the company’s modest beginnings, Traditions is proud to supply fine linen boutiques and home accents stores, the interior design trade, along with the Neiman Marcus and Horchow catalogs.  Traditions products are available all over the U.S. and in Canada, Europe, South America and Asia. Traditions operates a freestanding outlet store in Manchester, VT, and their own factory outlet at the company’s headquarters in Claverack, NY.  Despite all this activity, the headquarters are inconspicuous, except on Thanksgiving and Memorial Day weekends, when shoppers from near and far descend on the factory store for its legendary annual clearance sales.  
Traditions continues to evolve, facing each challenge with consistent principals and maintaining the integrity of Pam Kline’s philosophy.   As we enter into new partnerships and licensing agreements, as we delve into private label work, and as we work to build and maintain our brand recognition in the marketplace, we keep at the forefront a commitment to uphold Pam’s standards of customer service, custom design, and high quality.   The future of Traditions begins with our commitment to you.