"We get nine months of winter, followed by three months of damned poor sleddin'."Maine's challenging winters are long indeed, and the state has the worst "mud season" in the lower 48. (Don't say that to a Vermonter.)
My trips "Down East" always included a stop in the coastal town of Freeport, site of L.L. Bean. The company traces its origins to 1912, when Leon Leonwood Bean first offered his Maine Hunting Shoe.
A few things in that video stand out to me.
The moccasin-inspired Maine Hunting Shoes -- a.k.a. Bean Boots -- are still made in the USA, still made in Maine. Human hands touch them at each step of manufacturing and assembly. The workers understand history and loyalty as well as quality, taking justifiable pride in their craft.
Most striking, I think, is the revelation that the first run of 100 pairs of Maine Hunting Shoes had a return rate of 90%. Undeterred, Mr. Bean stood behind his product.Nearly 100 years later the basic design of The Maine Hunting Shoe hasn't changed. Neither has the guarantee.
Discount outlets are full of cheap Chinese knockoffs, of course. They cost between $15 and $40, generally -- as opposed to $104 to $174 for a pair of genuine Bean Boots -- but the only guarantee they come with is the promise of wet, cold feet.
I bought a pair of real Beans back in the '80s, inadvertently leaving them behind when I moved. (My ex-wife declined repeated requests to forward them. Go figure.) Today I own and love (and recommend) other top-quality American-made boots -- insulated Red Wings for winter, leather-lined Wescos for summer.
I do miss my old Maine Hunting Shoes, though. One of these days...
(That's a young Leon Leonwood Bean on the left, posing with his hunting buddies. Check out Taylor Stitch's blog post about The Maine Hunting Shoe here.)
