L.L. Bean Fall 1948.

I've been meaning to get a post up on this since approximately spring 1949. I got this catalog over a year ago now, wanted to post it, lost it, and have had no access to a quality scanner. So this weekend I busted my bike and figured I'd waste some time taking photos of a catalog, with my phone camera. Not seasonally appropriate, I understand, but this Bean catalog still has some gems, some all the more interesting since the company raided its own archives to design the L.L. Bean Signature line this spring. Let's see if any of these cool weather pieces make it into next fall's Signature catalog. More images and midcentury Mainer folksiness after the jump.


L.L. Bean Fall 1948.

It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.

Title quotes Benjamin Franklin; wise man, proud Philadelphian, manbag pioneer? The evidence on that last part is inconclusive. I need a new contrivance for carrying things. Books, gym clothes, lunch, small grocery run, six-pack of Bud tallboys, the occasional laptop or LP. I thought getting a new bag would be easy. My needs are not unique. I need a bag that's a comfortable carry, can fit the aforementioned stuff (not all at once), doesn't look stupid, is wearable on a bike, and doesn't cost more than, well, I don't know. I'm even flexible on the orientation--rucksack, messenger style, shoulder-slung briefcase--I can make a case for any of them. I flipped through Nylon Guys at Border's and they had an entire feature on backpacks, and I would use none of them. I almost said "wear them," there, which would be appropriate for most in the Nylon piece. I need a bag that sits midway between the utility of the fare at REI and the appearance of something RRL would make would be perfect. Warning, depending on your perspective I may come off here as a terrible cheapskate or a heedless spendthrift here. I took a vote and said maybe to the following:



1. Altadena Works Teardrop Pack

STATS: 18 x 13 x 7
PRICE: $225


PRO: Until recently, I was antibackpack. They ruin jacket shoulders, I thought; they make you look like a little kid, I thought. I've been using a borrowed old Northface pack for nearly a year now and those both hold true. But frankly I don't wear sportcoats all that often and the Altadena Works pack doesn't look middle school, just a little old school. The design is very clean for a functional pack--thoughtful but not too gimmicky. There's room in there for just about anything I'd carry. The raw materials are good quality--Horween leather, for example, and wool felted shoulder straps. Plus it's made in the USA.
CON: The big con, obviously, is that it's 225 goddamn dollars. I also question its rain resistance.

2. Archival Clothing Rucksack

STATS:Unknown, but looks plenty big
PRICE: Unknown, but I'd venture around $200
PRO: Plenty big, vintage inspired without being ridiculous (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll284/shoreman1782/duluthcanoepackfull.png), made in USA, and after reading Archival Clothing for quite a while I have a lot of trust and respect for the people behind it. I trust them to build something well and not be cute about it. Waxed canvas is waterproof enough for me, and the flap over design seems ideal for it.
CON: Although the price isn't yet public, it won't be cheap. (I'm sure the AC folks aren't ripping people off.) Also, all these earthy canvas bags with leather closures and thin, unarticulated shoulder straps are a little, I dunno, square. German backpacker in the wrong sense of the term. Just sayin.


3. Yuketen Triangle Pack

STATS: 18.5 x 12 x 8.25
PRICE: $420
PRO: I really really like them. Saw the wool felt version at Capsule and the safety orange canvas version looks blazingly cool too. There's a lot of 70s mountaineering stuff being resurrected now, and Yuki is looking further back than that. It's just so PRETTY. Solid metal hardware, zippers that will eat your hand, more Horween leather trim. Made in USA. Again, a small company I respect.
CON: Outrageously expensive--not that there isn't some value there, but it's still a lot of dough. Not available from a U.S. retailer (that I can find). Almost completely impractical--not waterproof, one giant pocket, will likely be uncomfortable when heavily packed. Almost too interesting looking, and I would prefer not to draw attention in that way. Yeah, maybe just strike this one for me, although it's a work of art.


4. Porter x Monocle Baby Boston Bag

STATS: 16.5 x 7.5 x 15
PRICE: $375
PRO: Porter is a Japanese bag maker of some repute. Their stuff is supposed to be indestructible. Monocle magazine helped design this one for short-term travel, and it has some thoughtful touches that would be handy on a day-to-day basis. I also like the color and the fact that it's not a standard shape.
CON: Dimensions seem oddly small for its type, although it's a different shape than most others here. Although I enjoy reading Monocle and their store sells things that are only in impeccable taste, there's an air of smugness, in-crowdness, and materialistic aspiration associated with it that's hard to pin down and that puts me off. Also, it's nearly $400 for a nylon bag. Wait, I think that pins it down.


5. Filson 257 (large briefcase)

STATS: 16 x 12.5 x 6
PRICE: $250
PRO: The size is ideal. Big enough for a laptop and some accessories, but not too big to carry daily. It looks good but won't draw attention to itself. You can trust it to age gracefully and not embarrass you in a year or so. Still made in USA. I own other Filson products and have been happy with their quality control and Filson's customer service.
CON: If it weren't for the Monocle-branded bags, this would probably be the standard issue for the post-metrosexual Monocle man. Even in DC, which tends to be the last boarder on the trend wagon, I've seen a bunch. And although it's probably not a bad value, it's still more than I want to spend.

6. Reload Bags Frontier Knapsack

STATS: 15.5 x 14 x 4
PRICE: $45 (sale price)
PRO: Waxed canvas in good, basic earthtone colors. Made in USA (in Philly, no less) by a good, small company that makes functional bags for a demanding clientele. Price is right--wouldn't be bad at the original price but the sale price is really solid.
CONS: Shape is basic and classic to the point of school-bag-y. May actually be too small for some of the things I need to carry, and I can't check before I buy. A $45 bag isn't a good deal if it doesn't work and you have to buy another bag. I had this one in my cart and ready to go but just wasn't certain if the combo worked.


7. Albam Summit Pack

STATS: Unkown
PRICE: $200
PRO: Styling is nice and the price is competitive, if not exactly cheap. I really like what Albam's doing generally--their product is unique in a crowded market, their Web site is clean, their blog is informative. I have stuff from Albam and it's stuff I like. Bag is made in England.
CON: I doubt the water resistance. May not be very practical and I don't know the size for sure. It's still $200.


8. Acontinuouslean/Pendleton/Property of... guy bag

STATS: 20 X 6.25 X 13.4
PRICE: $195 (sale price)
PRO: I like all the entities involved here. The bag seems well-sized. The Property of... bags are not ubiquitous to begin with and even less so in this makeup. It has a handful of practical pockets on the inside so my lunch and book don't mingle.
CON: Wool isn't waterproof. I like a lot of Pendleton wools but the colors here are borderline ugly; they look like seconds. It's a little purse-y.


9. L.L. Bean Downeaster canvas duffle, medium

STATS: 12.5 x 23 x 12.5
PRICE: $64
PRO: Price and local availability help, considering I wouldn't be able to check out any of the other bags here before ponying up. Size is great, I can take this to work every day or on a weekend trip.
CON: Canvas is not waterproof. The duffle shape, even with the shoulder strap, is not especially workable on a bike.


10. South2West8 Canoe Sack, small

STATS: 16.5 x 12.5 x 9
PRICE: $150+fees
PRO: S2W8 splits the difference between an old canvas canoe bag and a 1970s backpack by making their canoe sack a manageable size and doing it in colorful nylon. It's big and eveything's easily accessible. The design incorporates elements from when comfort and convenience were at least as much of a concern as durability.
CONS: Another piece I'd love to have but that I can't justify. The original price isn't terrible, but when you add tax, shipping, potential proxy fees (it only retails in Japan), etc. it quickly balloons to over $200--again, a lot for a nylon pack.

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Measurements are all approximate--some have been converted rudimentarily by me. Some costs have also been estimated and converted.

Field notes.

Spent Sunday doing two things most people would probably prefer to avoid, generally--running 8 kilometers (in DC's St. Patrick's Day 8k) and then going to the mall. All in the name of research. The Tyson's Corner, Virginia L.L. Bean store  is the first to carry Bean's new Signature line, which I had been keeping an eye on (thanks to Off the Cuff for the tip). The line, headed by Rogues Gallery  creative director Alex Carleton, tries to take advantage of Bean's current, uh, currency and offer something to the nonretired set. I took the opportunity to test out my new phone photo app, Vignette, and I would say that the results of both the line and the app are mixed. More pics after the jump...

Everyone I know has a big "but."

Also on board with the red chamois--Andy from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Sham wow.

American chamois shirts must confuse the hell out of Europeans—a French dude (I’m thinking mustachioed and chapeau’d, De Gaulle style) shaking his head in disbelief—“Zut alors! This is not shamwa!” True, a chamois is a European mountain goat and chamois leather is light and, oddly enough, gentle and water absorbent—hence its use to dry car finishes.

Chamois, to most Americans, means a thick, strong, flannel-esque cotton weave. When LL Bean ruled the yuppie land with a hunter-green fist, one of their most popular products was the chamois shirt. My dad had a handful of solid cotton flannel shirts in the standard greens and a tan/gold color he just called “shammy”—that’s the closest in color to natural chamois leather. I started looking for a new equivalent last spring, as today’s Bean shirts are cut very large and are made abroad. A chamois shirt should not fit slim, but jeez the new shirts are big. Cabela’s and other usual outdoor suspects also sell oversize versions as hunting shirts—like other “heritage” natural fabrics, cotton chamois is extraordinarily quiet in the field. Unfortunately my hiking boots squeak like seals. Fortunately I stalk mostly microbrews and indie bands.

I settled on a Cruzer flannel from Post Overalls. Post Overalls (or Post O’alls) has been making new clothes with old DNA since 1993. Not surprisingly, the designer is Japanese—Takeshi Ohfuchi. Takeshi has been collecting vintage garments since the 1980s. It’s tempting to draw some parallels between Post O’alls and Engineered Garments—but that’s for another day. Check out Takeshi's blog. The Post O’alls Cruzer flannel shirt in red (hell yes red) cotton.



A chamois spotted at the Rose Bowl flea market by Mister Mort. Not my ideal ensemble, but...

Save the Bay.

Looking through some WWII-era LL Bean catalogs I picked up, a constant on the few color-print pages was a white blanket with stripes in primary colors. Although my family never had one of these around (grandparents preferred loose knit afghans), I vaguely remembered them from friends’ homes as a kid (and the Preppy Handbook, guide to many things both cool and Bean). These are Hudson’s Bay blankets, a Canadian classic with some weird connotations.


The blankets are basically synonymous with the Hudson’s Bay Company, the centuries-old organization that ran large-scale trading (essentially for beaver pelts) in Canada from the 17th through 19th centuries. The Bay, as it’s colloquially known, is still around—how’s that for heritage? Suck it, Woolrich.

The blankets were one of the primary bartering currencies when English and French traders conducted business with indigenous Canadians. Allegedly, the white color was good camouflage in the snow, although that seems to conflict with the primary colored stripes that are often woven into the blankets (the ubiquitous multicolor blanket is sometimes called a chief's blanket). The blankets’ quality (or size, sources are vague) was defined by “points”—marks (not the multicolor stripes) sewn on the blankets that denoted their value.

Today, Hudson’s Bay blankets and similar blankets made back in the day by English and French weavers are sought-after collector’s items. In the US, you can still buy the real deal from Woolrich (or, maybe, from Bean, who is a little vaguer about the origin of their blanket—it best be real for that amount of cash!). Bemidji Woolen Mills also carries them. In 1948, a 72" x 90", 6-pound blanket ran $19.85 postpaid from LL Bean. Today, a similar blanket is $289. Considering Bean boots were $6.95 at the time, that's really not a bad price.

The Bay blanket doesn't just appeal to a vague nostalgia for something I never experienced at the time--a wool blanket with some heft is a nice change from today's lightweight, pilly fleece slankets. Often re-purposed on the Canadian frontier as coats, packs, or whatever needed to be made with durable, natural fabric, the blankets are also undoubdedly influential when it comes to non-blanket style. Did the primary colors used in the blankets inspire LL Bean’s 90s palette? Are this year’s striped fabrics from Woolrich Woolen Mills echoing Bay blankets?