![]() ![]() Later iterations would lead to the Maine Hunting Shoe. He took a size 7 1/2 galoshes and had a cobbler stitch a boot upper to them and the boot was born. Hunting boots in those days were leaky and they would stiffen and harden as they dried. The story goes that in 1911, Leon Leonwood Bean wanted hunting shoes that would keep his feet warm in the damp Maine Woods. So I am the perfect person to dispel some of the myths, to share some of its secrets, and to take you on a tour of these interesting and wholly original boots.Ī post shared by Janice Grabowski History of the Bean Boot My oldest pair I bought around 1992 and they are still going strong. Now, as recognizable as these boots are, there are many misconceptions about them. So, now that a colorful wave of sorority girl posts of Bean Boot wearing college students has subsided, is it safe to wear them again? Yes, and it always was as long as they are the classic ones. The Boot also has this essential quality of Maineness about it, the State where they were invented and are still made. The Bean Boot is representative of LL Bean, as anyone who has seen their marketing or the Beanmobile can attest. It is also symbolic of the brand that made them. It is symbolic of an imagined American wholesomeness that traces a roped-sole footprint path back into the past through the hunters and outdoorsman who originally used these boots in the early part of the last century, to its crossover to Preppy culture somewhere in the late 1950s, then its brief Instagram fueled viral popularity around 2011 and now unto us. It is symbolic of Autumn in New England, of thick wool sweaters over flannel shirts draped over jeans. It transcends this categorization to “symbolic.” Plus, given the raised heel and 8-inch shaft, you're guaranteed to keep dry even if the water level rises past puddle-height.It would be easy to call the Classic 8” LL Bean Men’s Bean Boot “iconic,” and accurate as well, but the Bean Boot does something more. ![]() These boots worked well in every situation, thus confirming their ability to keep your feet dry no matter how much (or which kind) of precipitation you get. As such, I had ample opportunities to test these: through light springtime mists, end-of-summer rain storms, dewy, early-fall mornings and mid-winter downpours, which we got in lieu of snow. Pittsburgh, where I live, and where I tested these boots, gets a lot of rain. Again, this is partly my own doing by suffering through what I'd assume is the wrong size, but I'm sure I'm not alone - hence this warning. During the first half-dozen wears, my heel consistently lifted out of the cup and rubbed on the rear spine, causing red spot that came just short of becoming a painful blister. With sizing issues comes shifting, which causes blisters. Those early pairs came apart, but this incident spurred perhaps the brand's most popular design feature - maybe behind the duckbill toe, though. As early prototypes, they came without Bean's now-famous triple-line stitching finish, which secures the rubber outsole to the leather upper. He grew tired of traditional boots that'd get soggy in the sole, therefore combining the comfortability of rubber-soled shoes with the durability promised by leather uppers.Īs the story famously goes, though, 90 of the first 100 boots sold were returned. ![]() (They're really just rain boots, though.) The brand's founder, Leon Leonwood Bean, first stitched them together for his own journeys, but eventually sold 100 pairs to close friends and family members - as well as others in Maine. Bean's iconic Bean Boots were then called the Maine Hunting Shoe, but have since adopted more colloquial catch-alls: Bean Boots or Duck Boots, for short. Bean Bean Boots: Testing Notes They're an iconic product with a timeless look.įirst built in 1912, L.L. ![]() Finding the right fit can prove difficult and may require wearing double socks.Heeled outsole is a little wobbly to walk in. ![]()
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