Moss Tent Works was founded in 1975 in Camden, Maine, under the name Tent Works Ltd by fabric artist and designer Bill Moss with his wife and business partner, Marilyn Moss. Over the next four decades, the company changed its name to Moss Tent Works, Moss Inc., and Moss Design International. Initially, the company designed and produced innovative, high-performance camping tents, backyard and beach products, and architectural canopies, but later expanded into trade show exhibits.

Charles William (Bill) Moss was born in 1923 in Detroit, Michigan. He studied art at the University of Michigan, the Layton School of Art, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Between 1949 and 1955, Bill worked as an artist for the Ford Times. During this time, Bill developed a new technology known as tension fabric, which he used in his design for the Pop-Up Tent (or Pop Tent) in 1955. After the success of this tent, he established his own design firm, C. William Moss Associates, in 1960 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1965, Bill founded and officially incorporated Moss Tents, Inc. with his business partner Paul F. Lohmann. In 1975, Bill and his wife and business partner, Marilyn Moss, co-founded Tent Works Ltd, which was soon renamed Moss Tent Works and incorporated as Moss Inc. in 1977. Bill left the company in 1983 and later worked as a painter and designer in Arizona until his death in 1994 at the age of 72.

Marilyn Moss joined C. William Moss Associates in 1961 and co-founded Moss Tent Works with Bill Moss in 1975. She went on to serve as president and CEO of Moss Inc in 1983 and a few years later diversified the business by introducing tension fabric technology to the worldwide trade show industry. This was so successful that the company eventually sold its tent division to REI in 1994 and began focusing exclusively on trade show exhibits. Moss Inc. grew to have 164 employees and revenues of $15 million, and in 2000 was sold in a successful equity investment transaction. Marilyn retired in 2001.