Dating Vintage Jansport Backpacks Were Made In The Usa
- These bags are referred to as 'New York City' bags, they were made in the original Coach factory in New York City. That factory operated from the late 1960s through the mid 1980's. Notice the 'LEATHERWARE' in tiny block letters underneath the word Coach at the top of the creed.
- Vintage 90’s Jansport Burgundy Canvas Backpack Daypack USA Made. 5 out of 5 stars. Add to Favorites. NOS Suede Leather Bottom Forest Green JANSPORT 1990s 90s Backpack Back Pack Bag Vintage Back to School Free Shipping Like New Rare!
- Now Recycled Firefighter offers a range of bags and wallets, made by hand in the USA. The packs are crafted with 1000D Cordura, USA-made hardware and reinforced stitching in high-stress areas. Designed for everyday use and short trips, these tough packs offer an appealing mix of functionality and dependable durability you can count on for years.
The earliest American made trunks were from the late 1600s. They were made of various woods and covered with hides such as deer, horse or cowhide. In the 1700s the hide covered trunks continued and became a little more ornamented with handmade brass tacks, forged iron locks and handles and leather trim. In the late 1700s and early 1800s round.
Backpacks are a staple for many types of people: working professionals, travelers, hikers and, most of all, students. While the idea of strapping your gear to your back is older than we can say, the modern student backpack is quite young—only about 44 years old—and has seen many new fads and changes in a short amount of time. From leather straps to JanSport packs, here’s a look at how students have carried their books through the years:
The first vessels for students’ books weren’t pack-like at all, but rather a strap of leather or cloth (basically a belt) that was fastened around a stack of books to make them easier to carry. Straps remained in use for many decades (viewers of Netflix’s The Get Down, which is set in the 1970s, may have noticed that Ezekiel carries his books to school with a book-strap), but they eventually went out of fashion.
In 1938, when Gerry Outdoors invented the first backpack with a zipper, backpacks were still primarily in use for hiking, camping and alpine recreation. Between the 1930s and ‘60s, some kids also made use of canvas or leather bags with a single strap, miniature briefcases that were usually called satchels, for trips to and from school. Some students could also be seen carrying their academic luggage on their backs in squared leather bags, fastened shut with buckles.
But by and large students were stuck toting their supplies by strap or by hand. In the book The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder and Other Mountains: How JanSport Makes It Happen, the original JanSport salesman Skip Yowell wrote that in 1972, “students had no choice but to tote their textbooks and notebooks around campus with their hands. Some tied a belt around them or clutched them to their chests as they walked.”
Everything changed when the first lightweight nylon daypack was invented, blowing the door wide open for backpack redesign. Gerry Outdoors claims to have created the very first “modern nylon backpack in existence” in 1967 (the same year JanSport opened up shop). The smaller and lighter backpack caught on among other gear brands, and became immensely popular among outdoor enthusiasts.
JanSport, the world’s largest backpack maker, created their own lightweight nylon daypacks around this same time, designs that eventually evolved into the student backpacks we know today.
Yowell writes in his book that college students at the University of Washington began to use JanSport daypacks (smaller, lighter versions of heavy-duty backpacking packs) to lug their school-stuff around campus. The campus sporting goods store had been selling the packs with student hikers in mind, but students co-opted them for school luggage as well. Noting the trend, the school’s sports-shop manager made recommendations that prompted the company to create packs tailored to the needs of students. The trend stuck and spread far and wide, sparking a nationwide movement towards backpacks designed for students and their many supplies. By the 1980s, student backpacks were fully integrated into the checklist of necessary school supplies.
While the original student backpack came about organically in response to practical student needs, novelty backpacks that are made mostly with aesthetics in mind have become popular in more recent decades. Backpacks that feature shiny images of favorite children’s TV and movie characters demonstrate the ways in which back-to-school has been commercialized, and is marketed as a fun, sometimes whimsical time for young people. Backpacks aren’t just about the business of carrying things to school anymore. They’re a part of a student’s identity.
But things may be changing once again.
Now, in an age where schools are relying more and more on digital tools, designers are rethinking backpacks, creating smaller, sleeker bags with compartments for laptops and smartphones built in. Backpack companies are also beginning to sell accessories that supplant backpacks for students of the digital age, such as JanSport’s “Digital Burrito” designed for students who just aren’t carrying many books but need mobile storage for their devices.
The evolution of backpacks from a simple strap to back-to-school basic—and, possibly, to obsolete remnant of the pre-digital age—reveals that backpacks can carry a lot more than books: they’re also a symbol of changing expectations for students and for the education system as a whole.
- Elon Musk Is TIME's 2021 Person of the Year
- My Family's Hometown Was Destroyed by a Tornado But For Many It Had Already Been Lost
- How a County Clerk in Michigan Found Herself at the Center of Trump's Attempt to Overturn the Election
- Vaccine Scientists Are TIME's 2021 Heroes of the Year
- A Years-Long Backlog Puts Thousands of Abused Kids in Limbo
- The 10 Best Albums of 2021
- Simone Biles Is TIME's 2021 Athlete of the Year
| Product type | Backpacks |
|---|---|
| Owner | VF Corporation (1986–present) |
| Introduced | 1967; 54 years ago Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Previous owners | Blue Bell Overall Company (1967–1986) |
| Website | jansport.com |
JanSport is an American brand of backpacks and collegiate apparel, now owned by VF Corporation, one of the world's largest apparel companies.[1] JanSport is the world's largest backpack maker, and together, JanSport and The North Face, also owned by VF Corporation, sell nearly half of all small backpacks sold in the United States.[2]
History[edit]
JanSport was founded in 1967 in Seattle, Washington, USA by Murray Pletz, his wife Janis 'Jan' Lewis (for whom the company is named), and his father Norman Pletz.[3][4][5] JanSport innovated with a panel-loading daypack, unlike traditional top-loading packs.[6]
In 1975, JanSport introduced the first convertible travel pack, as well as its signature daypack.[6]
Dating Vintage Jansport Backpacks Were Made In The Usa
In 1972, the founders began inviting their friends to join their climb on Mount Rainier to what is now known as the longest consecutive group climb.[7] To this day, Jansport still holds the record of the most consecutive annual group climbs.[8] In 2018, was their 46th annual Jansport Mount Rainier climb consisting of a team of 16 employees, retailers, international distributors, non-profit partners and media.[8]
In 1986, VF purchased JanSport's then parent, Blue Bell.[9]
JanSport's corporate headquarters is in Greenwood Village, Colorado, at VF Outdoor headquarters, where it shares offices with divisional siblings Lucy and The North Face. A distribution facility in Everett, Washington, which had opened in 1971, closed in March 2012. JanSport's collegiate apparel warehouse in Appleton, Wisconsin closed in 2017.[2][10]
JanSport started by developing the external frame backpack which used a metal frame with a cloth packsack attached to it. The products made include technical day packs and internal frame backpacks. Up until the early 1990s all JanSport packs were made in the United States.[11]
Jansport Headquarters
Early 1990s JanSport D-3
References[edit]
- ^'Lizzie Jagger teams up with Wrangler for Denim Spa moisturizing jeans'. Daily News. New York City. January 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
- ^ abHorovitz, Bruce (2007-08-20). 'New 'badge' of cool: High-tech, high-fashion backpacks'. USA Today. p. 1A. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
- ^Netherby, Steve (December 1973), 'Who Is Jan Sport?', Field and Stream, 78 (8): 116–118
- ^Rachel Abrams (October 17, 2015). 'Skip Yowell, JanSport Co-Founder Who Blazed Trail for Backpacks, Dies at 69'. New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ^'JanSport: Unique and Fun, a Company with Personality'. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ^ ab'JanSport, Inc'. fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
- ^'About Us - Company History JanSport'. www.jansport.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ ab'45th Annual JanSport Mount Rainier Climb'. www.jansport.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^Schmitt, Eric (1986-07-28). 'Vf and Blue Bell Agree to $378 Million Merger'. The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
- ^FOX 11 News (April 4, 2017). 'JanSport facility in Appleton closing'. WLUK. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
- ^'JanSport Backpacks into Cost-cutting era'. Milwaukee Business Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
External links[edit]
- JanSport official web site
Backpack Bags
