To celebrate the state of Maine’s 205th Birthday, on Saturday we headed to an institution that has become synonymous with the state – L.L. Bean! Today L.L. Bean is known for its outdoor clothing and sporting equipment. Its catalogs are mailed around the world, there are stores across the country, and its flagship store in Freeport, Maine draws over 3 million visitors each year! Yet many are not familiar with its humble beginnings, that all began with a boot.
Leon Leonwood Bean was born in 1872 in Greenwood, Maine. Although Bean was an outdoor enthusiast and avid hunter, it was not his intention to start a clothing business. Instead, he drifted from odd job to odd job, often working for his brother’s dry good store. It was Bean’s passion for the outdoors, and his quest for personal comfort, that led to Maine’s most famous store.
At the age of 40, Bean was simply tired of having wet and uncomfortable feet when out hunting. So he took a pair of rubber shoes, normally worn by men in rainy weather, and had the local cobbler sew leather uppers to the soles. A few modifications for comfort, and Bean had developed the prototype for his iconic boots. Word spread quickly around Freeport about L.L. Bean’s boots, or “Maine Hunting Shoe” as he called them, and people started buying them. This made Bean realize that perhaps hunters everywhere would appreciate his boots.
In 1912 using a list of people with Maine hunting licenses, L.L. Bean sent out 1,000 fliers advertising his hunting boots. According to Bean, “Outside of your gun, nothing is so important to your outfit as your foot-wear. You cannot expect success hunting deer or moose if your feet are not properly dressed.” In fact, he believed in the superiority of his boots so much, Bean guaranteed “perfect satisfaction.” Priced at $3.50 per pair, the orders started coming in, 100 orders, in fact! However, there was a design flaw in these early boots. So out of those 100 orders 90 of them were returned and the people wanted their money back. And that’s exactly what L.L. Bean did. He returned their money, because he knew reputation and quality were everything, and he wasn’t about to sell inferior footwear.
Not deterred by that setback, Bean researched better materials, borrowed money from family and friends for production, and came back with the iconic boot that is still coveted by outdoor enthusiasts today! In 1917 the L.L. Bean retail store opened in Freeport, Maine, and shall we say, the rest is history! If you’d like to know more we recommend, L.L. Bean’s My Story: The Autobiography of a Down-East Merchant (1960), and L.L. Bean: The Making of an American Icon (2006), by Leon Gorman, grandson of L.L. Bean.
If you visit the L.L. Bean store in Freeport this summer, you’ll notice there is a lot of construction on site. That is because they are making their flagship store even bigger and better! But have no fear, you can still find all the clothing, sporting equipment, dog gear, and of course the iconic boots you’ve come to expect. Just ask one of their many helpful L.L. Bean ambassadors to point the way!
