As you are reading this, I am in a 2002 Chevy with five other dudes heading towards Bristol, Tennessee in search of the American Dream, AKA the Food City 500 Nascar race. Few things are more American than beer, tailgating, barbecue, living beyond your means, and racing cars. I can't wait.
For the next week I will be out of internet contact gathering content. Here is a rough plan for our trip.
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The majority of our time at the LL Bean Arts and Archives department was spent sorting through racks of clothing. I was like a boy in a candy shop, well actually more like a boy in a camera shop. Here are some great pre-war, except for the 29 year old River Driver shirt, finds from the archive. Enjoy.
You can get a new one these here, but it wouldn't be made in the USA.
My mom had one of these that she wore for years.
Amazing label.
Ruth told us that US airman during the war wore LL Bean jackets like this one to keep themselves warm in the unpressurized cabins of Allied bombers.
Shearling lined cotton jacket.
Blaze orange, hunting pea coat from 1940, how sweet is that?
I wish all my tags looked like that.
Amazing.
Its hard to tell, but these buttons read LL Bean, Freeport Maine. I also really like the pocket's leather lining around the openings. This jacket had awesome details.
This shearling-lined jacket weighed a conservative 15 pounds and smelled like your great grandmother's quilt.
Ruth Porter swipes her fob and types in a four digit access code. The mandatory white gloves absorb the sweat from my palms as I grip my heavy Canon. The air-tight door opens with a sound like the popping of a can of Pringles. The stale air, erie tangerine light, and all-white surroundings make me feel like I am preparing to negotiate with Hal for the survival of the human race, not go play in LL Bean's Art and Archives department.
These go for around 25 dollars on Ebay for an original one. They are also available here on Google books.
Special Pipe Tobacco for Hunters and Fisherman.
A lunch box and leather case from the 40's.
Geese decoys from the 30's.
For her, Manolo Blahnik originally purchased at Barneys in 1978 by Leon Gorman himself.
They even have triple stitching, good luck finding these.
I felt like a guy from CSI taking photos of these Vibram soles with my huge camera and flash.
For him, Bean Boot Roller blades from the mid 90's.
LL's office chair.
LL Bean's stamp that Mr. Bean used at the bottom of the introduction of the old catalogs.
Visiting the LL Bean Arts and Archive was the highlight of my day. I could have spent weeks in there and I am sure we just skimmed the surface. Max posted a bunch of vintage footwear on All Plaidout. Check back in tomorrow to see clothes from the Archive.
Here are some more links,
Hunting-Fishing and Camping by LL Bean (Google books),
From the LL Bean Archive (Picasa),
All Plaidout,
After overstaying our welcome at the Brunswick factory, we headed down to Freeport to see the headquarters and meet with Jim Hauptman in design and Anne Smith in footwear. Here is some artwork from the hallways of LL Bean that caught my eye.
LL Bean is a brand very much anchored in creating great, long-lasting footwear. Our tour of the offices started with a sit down chat with Anne Smith to discuss the Bean boot, LL Bean's current offerings, and what's in the pipeline. Here are some things that caught my eye and be sure to check out Max's article on LL Bean's American made work boot.
I have always liked the silhouette of the high top deck shoe (My love for Rogues' boot prompted me to pursue an internship there). For fall '09, LL bean is releasing this full-grain deck boot. Unlike with many other high top deck shoes, LL Bean makes no compromises on comfort or support.
I am thinking about getting a pair of these to wear in the winter along side my Danner Mountain Lights II.
Full grain Bison Chukka Boot available here for $99.
After chatting with Anne for half an hour we walked over a couple cubicles to chat with Jim Hauptman, LL Bean's man in charge of design.
Max and Jim discussing LL Bean's plan to expand retail locations and what it's like to run design for a company that until 6 years ago, didn't have an official design department. We also discussed LL Bean's unwavering stance on the current heritage craze in menswear. Check out Max's article for more on this.
Be sure to check out Max's article later this afternoon for more on out visit.
Here are more links,
LL Bean Chukka Boots,
I left my job in New York in the summer of 2011 and moved into a camper. Since then, I have driven 100,000 miles around the west, surfing and camping. During the summer of 2014, I set up a home base in the Columbia River Gorge. These are some of my stories and photos.
