Genealogy: An Enduring New England Pastime

“This obsession with family and genealogy became an enduring part of New England’s culture.”   

- David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America

“The builders of the Bay colony thought of themselves as a twice-chosen people:  once by God, and again by the General Court of Massachusetts.  Other English plantations eagerly welcomed any two-legged animal who could be dragged on board an emigrant ship.  But Massachusetts chose its colonists with care.  Not everyone was allowed to settle there.”  

- David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America

Founders Memorial, Boston Common - William Blackstone Greeting Our 9th Great Grandfather Governor John Winthrop and Company.  (Puritans, not Pilgrims.)

L.L. Bean’s grandson Leon Gorman is retiring as company chairman...

Here is something rarely copied from the L.L. Bean archives.

According to the Associated Press  (and featured in The Times Record), L.L. Bean's grandson, Leon Gorman, is retiring as chairman.  The founder's great-grandson, Shawn Gorman, will be the new chairman.

I suspect that the various newspapers will run stories on Leon Gorman's record.  I will be genuinely curious if any reporters decide to dig beyond the PR press releases and consider the changes that have happened to the American clothing industry during, and in part driven by, his tenure.  However, any facts contained in this comment section may help some overworked and underpaid reporter on a tight deadline.

While Shawn Gorman will no doubt receive a lot of advice, he could do worse than add Is L.L. Bean on the right track? to his reading list.

Then, while I am sure Shawn Gorman has read the thoughts of Leon Gorman and Chris McCormick in Leon Gorman's book, L.L. Bean: The Making of an American Icon, here are some especially interesting quotes from each:

Leon Gorman:

• "Our overall strength was functional value – products that did what they were supposed to do, did it every time, and did it for a long time, all for a reasonable price.  This was what L.L. Bean was known for."

• Quoting Gentlemen’s Quarterly – “…emphasis on simplicity, practicality and durability.  Unlike “high fashion” where “look” is foremost and function secondary, the appearance of Bean apparel is guided by what the clothes are intended to do.”

• “We also never put a lot of editorial content or outdoors imagery in our catalogs.  We relied on our products and their descriptions to tell who we were.”

• “L.L. Bean as fashion was a mixed blessing for us, and we all knew it.  Our sales increased markedly in the near term but were unlikely to be sustainable long term.  In addition, being fashionable was a serious contradiction of our character and brand positioning.  It confused our positioning internally as well as in the marketplace.”

•  “We continued to use our employees and their families, friends, and dogs as models.  We didn't want to come across as slick or sophisticated (and we didn't want to pay expensive fees for professional models)."

Chris McCormick:

• "I don’t want to overstate it but we were lagging on our sourcing competencies.  I'm guessing 60 or 70 percent of our items were probably sourced in the (United States) then.  Maybe a little bit less than that but not much.  What the consultants pointed out is that the world had moved offshore.  Yes it would be nice if we could keep sourcing products in the (United States), but, realistically, all those jobs were going offshore anyway.  The competencies were leaving this country and from a competitive standpoint we really had no choice.  The quality, by the way, would be just as good, if not better than the (United States).  So we created the sourcing department and gave them marching orders to improve our margins and reduce our cost of goods sold."

• "To this day (sourcing) was probably the most successful thing that came out of the Strategic Review.  Today maybe 20 percent of our items are made in the (United States), and the rest are offshore… The cost of goods initiative was probably the single biggest reason the year 2000 was as successful as it was.   That’s when our business really turned around.  It wasn't so much sales growth that drove the performance of that year, it was improving margins that improved profitability of that year."

Or, if all of this is too much for him, he can just be satisfied with the coverage of the transition to date:

• Bangor Daily News (Repurposed press release?) : http://bangordailynews.com/2013/05/20/business/leon-gorman-l-l-beans-leader-for-45-years-steps-down-as-chairman/

Some of our Bean's items from about 40 years ago.  How many companies produced clothes in the 1970's that are still wearable today?  

** Added after the original post **

Dave T asked in the comments section what kind of jacket was in the photo above.   It is their Warden Jacket, and we all had one in my family.   So I have added a few photographs.  

Below are two photographs of my father in his, in Kenya, along with his chukka boots from Barrie (which was adjacent to the J. Press store in New Haven).

Below is a photograph of my mother in the late 70s in Damariscotta in hers, along with her sailboat wrap around skirt and her Jacques Cohen espadrilles.

The Lacoste Shirt, 1962

Both Photographs Taken in 1962 By My Father

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“The sports shirt of choice is the Lacoste.  Only the all-cotton model will do, the one with the cap sleeves with the ribbed edging, narrow collar, and two button placket (never buttoned).”  

- The Official Preppy Handbook, 1980

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I prefer two button over three button plackets, and in contrast to the advice of the authors of The Official Preppy Handbook, the bottom button fastened for men.  I always wear mine with both unbuttoned.

For contrast, here is a three button (non-Lacoste) shirt.

Who Made these Ties?

My father always wore these ties with his Orvis Battenkill tattersall shirts, such as this one.  The company that made them (in the late 1970's) might surprise some.

*** Update ***

The answer to the question is Sero.

I found this interesting for a few reasons.

• First, there is some renewed interest in Sero today.
• Second, few knew that Sero made ties.  
• Third, it seemed amusing to have the only two "What made this..." entries have exactly the same answer (the other is Who Made this Shirt with the follow up Sero Shirts).  

The Red Lion Inn and Stockbridge, Massachusetts

(We were again in Stockbridge today on our annual trip, enjoying the beautiful weather and spectacular Berkshires, so I thought I would re-post this entry. I thank the owner of the Red Lion Inn for providing the picture captions.)

A business trip brought us to the Stockbridge area and the Red Lion Inn.

Tiffany lamp and Steinway baby grand piano are tucked into the stairwell.

A Corner of the Side Parlor

The Plumb Room - one of several private rooms for meetings or family dinners (with old switchboard in the back).

The lobby stairway has the original old elevator from 1897.

The feel of the lovely Red Lion Inn has changed so little since my first visit 40 years ago.

The First Congregational Church. Jonathan Edwards preached to this congregation in the 1700s.

We went to Berkshire Botanical Garden's Annual Plant Sale.

Then we dropped by the Normal Rockwell Museum.

(These pictures taken by my father always reminded me of Normal Rockwell.)

Linwood House, boyhood home of astronaut Story Musgrave and currently part of the Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

And we were able to enjoy more of the beautiful Berkshires.