( In 1942, L.L. Bean, founder of the giant catalog compan...)
In 1942, L.L. Bean, founder of the giant catalog company, wrote and published this guide. The author gives practical advice on hunting, fishing, and camping based on his many years as a celebrated outdoorsman.
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(Book by Bean, L. L.)
Book by Bean, L. L.
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Leon Bean was born on November 13, 1872, in Greenwood, Maine, the son of Benjamin Warren Bean, farmer and horse trader, and Sarah Swett. His parents died when he was twelve and he, his sister, and his four brothers were cared for by relatives in South Paris, Maine. Later Bean lived with an uncle in West Minot.
Leon's formal education was limited and included a commercial course from 1891 to 1893 at Kent's Hill Academy and one semester at Hebron Academy.
Bean maintained that his life prior to age forty was uneventful, since he never stayed in one place long enough to establish himself. He worked as a farmhand, an itinerant soap peddler, and later a partner in his brother's store in Freeport, Maine. Bean's first break came in 1911, when he sought a practical way to keep his feet warm and dry on hunting trips. Leather boots gave good support but became heavy when wet; rubber boots were too clumsy. So he designed what he called the "Maine Hunting Shoe, " which had leather uppers and rubber overshoe bottoms. After testing the shoes himself, Bean began selling them in 1912. He obtained the names of Maine hunting-license holders and sent them a three-page brochure stating, "You cannot expect success hunting deer or moose if your feet are not properly dressed. " Bean fully guaranteed his shoes and refunded the purchase price on ninety of the first 100 pairs when the shoes developed cracks. To improve his product he visited the United States Rubber Company in Boston and got them to make a light, rubber, low-heeled shoe strong enough that he could attach leather tops.
By 1917 business was so good that Bean moved into the quarters on Freeport's main street that his firm would occupy until 1962. He hired people to cut and stitch the shoes and in 1918 obtained United States and Canadian patents. Mail orders provided most of his business. Slowly he added other products to an expanding catalog, and before long Bean was providing 70 to 90 percent of the business of the Freeport post office. The company had twenty-five employees in 1924 and recorded $135, 000 in annual sales. Its basic products were outdoor and casual clothing and footwear; hunting, fishing, camping, and winter-sports equipment; canoeing gear; and camp furnishings. In 1932 Bean expanded his factory and on July 1, 1934, he incorporated the business. All but three stockholders were members of his family. The business grew and in 1937 sales reached $1 million.
During World War II Bean served as a consultant to help design boots for the army and navy; his company received war contracts for military versions of the Maine Hunting Shoe and for other products. He also constructed a new building and warehouse. He poured profits back into advertising and expanded his mailing lists. The L. L. Bean Catalog, the showcase for his business, was also enlarged. By 1950 Bean employed more than 100 people, and sales reached $1, 848, 000. National magazines began to publish articles on this Yankee mail-order enterprise with its homey philosophy. Customers responded to the old-fashioned character of L. L. Bean, Incorporated, where the owner seemed "more interested in hunting and fishing than in shopkeeping. "
Bean's book Hunting, Fishing, and Camping (1942) ran through twenty editions by 1963. During the 1950's and 1960's Bean's retail store in Freeport was open twenty-four hours a day to accommodate the varied schedules of hunters and fishermen. The Yankee trapper who had started on a shoestring now had a concern doing $2 million in business each year. He resisted further expansion, holding instead to the personal language in his catalog and to the personal manner in which orders were handled. The business, however, was not adapting to new techniques and opportunities. By 1961 the average age of Bean's employees was over sixty, and Bean was spending most of his time in his winter home in Miami Shores, Florida. He died there in 1967. L. L. Bean, Inc. , continued as a family enterprise after Bean's death. Sales in 1980 reached $121 million and 1, 472 people worked for the company in a new factory and distribution center on the outskirts of Freeport.
(Book by Bean, L. L.)
( In 1942, L.L. Bean, founder of the giant catalog compan...)
Quotations: Bean's prescription for success was "Sell good merchandise at a reasonable profit, treat your customers like human beings, and they'll always come back for more. "
In 1898 Leon Bean married Bertha Porter. They had three children. His first wife died in 1939 and in 1940 Bean married Claire L. Boudreau.
