FUN HISTORY FACT: The Jan from JanSport doesn’t have a cent to show for it. The company got aggressively taken out from under her while she was going through messy family issues. She’s still alive tho and she can still make a mean backpack. Thread below:

RT’s appreciated
(1/22)

Here is the Jansport history as taken from the official Jansport page. This is all true....but they’re leaving out that Murray started the company with the help of his parents (Norman and Mabel), Murray married Jan, and that Skip (Murray’s cousin) joined at a much later date (2/

Murray bought Jan the sewing machine that she built the original prototype on in 1967. Murray designed the frame, but Jan, an accomplished seamstress, is the person who actually BUILT it. Together, they won the patent contest that allowed them to start JanSport under Bluebell (3/

Murray and Jan originally worked out of Norman’s transmission shop. Norman cut the aluminum pieces, Murray designed the frames, and Jan would design and sew the actual packs. Skip…was still not involved at this point (other than being a family member). (4/

In 1968, Jan and Murray (below) went to the UW bookstore and asked if they would be willing to sell their hiking bags. The store agreed, but only if they could call them “book bags”. Very quickly, college students at the UW were all using the JanSport hiking bags. (5/

After this, Jan was the one who pushed for designing packs specifically for SCHOOL and children (instead of just hiking). She tested these designs out at home, with her and Murray’s young daughter, and this would lead to the school backpack trend we still have today. (6/

Throughout the 70’s, Murray and Jan start printing out their own Jansport magazine (which Jan models for). The bags start selling relatively well and, though they aren’t making tons of money, Jansport is getting bigger. Murray’s mom Mabel takes over keeping the books. (7/

During this time period, Skip (below) is having difficulty holding a job, so Norman convinces Murray to bring him on as an employee to keep him out of trouble. Skip gets put on shipping, mailing out the bags from magazine orders (that are now selling throughout WA). (8/

And that’s how things progressed for the majority of the 70’s. The familial nature of the company created its own ups and downs, but everyone settled into their roles as the company grew. Jan created new bags, and Murray invented a brand new style of tent (the Dome Tent). (9/

The Dome Tent was a big deal, because it’s design prevented snow from piling up on top in frigid climbs. Murray debuted the tent on his yearly hike up Mt. Rainer (with Skip), a tradition that JanSport still celebrates to this day (albeit without mentioning Murray). (10/

In 1977, tragedy struck when Murray’s dad Norman passed away, leaving a gap in the company. Murray ended up taking on more building/designing responsibility, while trusting more and more of the sales to Skip. Jan still did the actual sewing/designing. (11/

In 1979, Jan and Murray had their second child, as sales started outside WA. The strain of this was compounded by even more familial issues (one of Murray’s brothers also passed away while his remaining brother struggled with addiction). Murray and Skip fought constantly (12/

This all came to a head in 1982. Due to pressure and constant fighting (with both Jan and Skip) Murray ended up leaving the company entirely and filing for Divorce with Jan. This occurred just at the company was gaining national corporate attention. (13/

Jan was now designing and building new packs while also raising both a toddler and an adolescent as a single mother (in the 80’s). She focuses more and more on family, trusting Skip to handle sales and marketing. Skip slowly accumulates more and more control. Jan remarries (14/

As Skip gains executive power, Newspapers start to report that “JanSport’s flavor is becoming mainstream”. Then, in 1986 (while Jan is giving birth to her third child), Skip sells entire ownership of the company to the VF Corp. when VF buys out their parent company, BlueBell (15/

With the change, Skip makes a fortune, becoming the “first” CEO of Jansport (as owned by VF). Jan on the other hand is stripped of all ownership and put in the Department of Development, where she would work until she left the company. (16/

Over the course of the late 80’s and into the 90’s, JanSport sales BOOMED under corporate ownership and mass production. Jan continues to work on designing although with far less say in how the bags are produced. Quality noticeably drops. (17/

In 2000, Jan is offered the position of Director of Development, on the caveat that she moves to Wisconsin with her then 14 year old son. JanSport is now a multimillion dollar company, and Skip is off touring the world. Jan agrees to the move. She works in a warehouse. (18/

In 2004 alone, JanSport makes an estimated 300 million dollars. Skip at this point has written a memoir on how he single handedly “revolutionized backpacking” and is hailed as a business God. Jan leaves the company in 2005 and moves back to the PNW to take care of her mother (19/

Skip passes away in 2011, and is immortalized in a NYT article as the man who “Blazed the Trail for Backpacks”. The LA Times mention Jan and Murray in passing as “Skip’s cousin and his girlfriend”. Neither Jan or Murray is contacted. (20/

I’m writing this because Jan Lewis and Murray Pletz are still alive today. Throughout all of this, Jan has continued to sew and design backpacks by hand for her children and her grandchildren (although almost entirely for school and not for hiking). (21/

She isn’t rich. She isn’t considered an outdoor revolutionary or a business guru. She’s just a grandmother, living in a modest house in the PNW. She is the namesake of the company SHE founded and has nothing to show for it except a few photos. And her backpacks. (22/End)