Before Victoria had a Secret, Maidenform had a dream.

In it, women do everything from the exotic to the everyday wearing a Maiden Form bra. This dream was a post-World War II ad campaign, one of the most successful in Madison Avenue history. It elevated the Maiden Form Brassiere Company to the world’s biggest seller of women’s bras.

The driving force behind Maiden Form’s success and in creating the now multi-billion dollar brassiere industry, was the husband and wife team of Ida and William Rosenthal.

The pair immigrated to New Jersey from Russia in 1905 and soon established a dress shop in Hoboken.

At the time, women’s brassieres were mostly an afterthought. In fact, the Rosenthal’s originally gave away bras with the dresses they sold. But their uniquely designed bras, which were cut to the natural bust line and created “uplift,” became the rage of the fashion world.

In response, the Rosenthals began creating new styles of bras and founded the Maiden Form Brassiere Company in Bayonne (changed to Maidenform in 1960 and moved to Iselin in 2007).

William oversaw design and production until his death in 1958; Ida handled the financial side of the business and became president and later Chair of the Company’s Board. During these years, Maiden Form continued to lead the world in sales of women’s bras and later added other intimate apparel.

“If you really want to make it, become an entrepreneur,” Ida Rosenthal said in her later years, “Then you are in charge of your own destiny.”