Corey
OverCamping Specialist
OK old timers, how many of you remember them?
I remember getting turned onto REI by my sister and brother inlaw back in the last 70s.
Also back then was Eddie Bauer and another outfit called Early Winters.
I use to drool over the gear in the Early Winters catalogs, especially the single wall Gore-Tex tents which were touted as being completely waterproof yet breathable.
They had some really nice gear, but I think the only thing I bought from their Seattle store was a wool sweater with leather patches on the elbows, and some of the thermometer zipper pulls like REI sells still.
I always wondered over the years what happened to them, but forgot to do an Internet search for more information.
Well today I did a search and found some information at Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Winters
Seems founder William S. Nicolai was the first company to incorporate Gore-Tex fabric into a consumer product in a two-person tent called The Light Dimension.
I remember that tent, one of the ones I drooled over looking at their gear in the catalogs.
Walking into their store always made my eyes dart everywhere to scope out the latest products they were bringing to market.
If I remember correctly, they were not far from the original Seattle REI location before REI later moved.
Well Nicolai ended up selling his store to Orvis in 1984.
http://www.orvis.com/
Then awhile later was sold to the Norm Thompson group in Portland, Oregon who later renamed the company to Sahalie.
http://www.sahalie.com/
Of the other two companies above, it seems Orvis has some really cool stuff.
I am digging the Akubra Territory Hat.
Does anyone else remember getting the Early Winters catalogs too?
If you were in Seattle at the time they were in business, did you get to explore their store?
Here is some more info I dug up with Google.
http://www.oregonphotos.com/Early-Winters-1.html
I remember getting turned onto REI by my sister and brother inlaw back in the last 70s.
Also back then was Eddie Bauer and another outfit called Early Winters.
I use to drool over the gear in the Early Winters catalogs, especially the single wall Gore-Tex tents which were touted as being completely waterproof yet breathable.
They had some really nice gear, but I think the only thing I bought from their Seattle store was a wool sweater with leather patches on the elbows, and some of the thermometer zipper pulls like REI sells still.
I always wondered over the years what happened to them, but forgot to do an Internet search for more information.
Well today I did a search and found some information at Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Winters
Seems founder William S. Nicolai was the first company to incorporate Gore-Tex fabric into a consumer product in a two-person tent called The Light Dimension.
I remember that tent, one of the ones I drooled over looking at their gear in the catalogs.
Walking into their store always made my eyes dart everywhere to scope out the latest products they were bringing to market.
If I remember correctly, they were not far from the original Seattle REI location before REI later moved.
Well Nicolai ended up selling his store to Orvis in 1984.
http://www.orvis.com/
Then awhile later was sold to the Norm Thompson group in Portland, Oregon who later renamed the company to Sahalie.
http://www.sahalie.com/
Of the other two companies above, it seems Orvis has some really cool stuff.
I am digging the Akubra Territory Hat.
Does anyone else remember getting the Early Winters catalogs too?
If you were in Seattle at the time they were in business, did you get to explore their store?
Here is some more info I dug up with Google.
http://www.oregonphotos.com/Early-Winters-1.html
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