Eddie Bauer, inventor of the down parka, made his name synonymous with high-quality outdoor clothing and sporting goods. An avid outdoorsman, Bauer opened a small sporting goods store in downtown Seattle in 1920. His own brush with hypothermia while on a fishing trip a few years later led to his experiments with down-filled clothing. By the time he retired, in 1968, he had turned an initial investment of $25 for goose down into a multimillion-dollar business.
Bauer sold the company to a group of Seattle investors who, in turn, sold it to General Mills. In the hands of General Mills, and later Spiegel Inc., Eddie Bauer Inc. expanded from one store and a catalog division in Seattle to more than 600 stores in the United States, Germany, and Japan. By 2004, however, its parent company was bankrupt and the future of the Eddie Bauer chain uncertain.
Eddie Bauer was born October 19, 1899, on Orcas Island in Puget Sound. He developed a deep love for the outdoors at an early age. He turned his avocation into a vocation in 1920, opening a sporting goods store called Eddie Bauer's Sport Shop. Initially specializing in tennis rackets, he soon expanded his line of merchandise to include his own hand-made golf clubs and fishing tackle. Later, he developed and patented a regulation badminton shuttlecock. The Bauer Shuttlecock popularized the game of badminton in the United States and remains the standard for the sport today.
Bauer had heard stories about the goose down clothing worn by his uncles in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). He bought $25 worth of down and began experimenting with various designs. The down was insulating and light weight, but bulky. Bauer tamed the bulkiness by adding quilting. He made several jackets with down insulation for himself and a few friends. In 1936, he introduced the "Skyliner," a quilted, down-filled jacket that soon became standard gear for outdoorsmen. James W. ("Jim") Whittaker of Seattle wore one when he became the first American to climb Mount Everest in 1963.
Bauer sold the company to a group of Seattle investors who, in turn, sold it to General Mills. In the hands of General Mills, and later Spiegel Inc., Eddie Bauer Inc. expanded from one store and a catalog division in Seattle to more than 600 stores in the United States, Germany, and Japan. By 2004, however, its parent company was bankrupt and the future of the Eddie Bauer chain uncertain.
Eddie Bauer was born October 19, 1899, on Orcas Island in Puget Sound. He developed a deep love for the outdoors at an early age. He turned his avocation into a vocation in 1920, opening a sporting goods store called Eddie Bauer's Sport Shop. Initially specializing in tennis rackets, he soon expanded his line of merchandise to include his own hand-made golf clubs and fishing tackle. Later, he developed and patented a regulation badminton shuttlecock. The Bauer Shuttlecock popularized the game of badminton in the United States and remains the standard for the sport today.
Bauer had heard stories about the goose down clothing worn by his uncles in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). He bought $25 worth of down and began experimenting with various designs. The down was insulating and light weight, but bulky. Bauer tamed the bulkiness by adding quilting. He made several jackets with down insulation for himself and a few friends. In 1936, he introduced the "Skyliner," a quilted, down-filled jacket that soon became standard gear for outdoorsmen. James W. ("Jim") Whittaker of Seattle wore one when he became the first American to climb Mount Everest in 1963.
Eddie Bauer, inventor of the down parka, made his name synonymous with high-quality outdoor clothing and sporting goods. An avid outdoorsman, Bauer opened a small sporting goods store in downtown Seattle in 1920. His own brush with hypothermia while on a fishing trip a few years later led to his experiments with down-filled clothing. By the time he retired, in 1968, he had turned an initial investment of $25 for goose down into a multimillion-dollar business.
Bauer sold the company to a group of Seattle investors who, in turn, sold it to General Mills. In the hands of General Mills, and later Spiegel Inc., Eddie Bauer Inc. expanded from one store and a catalog division in Seattle to more than 600 stores in the United States, Germany, and Japan. By 2004, however, its parent company was bankrupt and the future of the Eddie Bauer chain uncertain.
Eddie Bauer was born October 19, 1899, on Orcas Island in Puget Sound. He developed a deep love for the outdoors at an early age. He turned his avocation into a vocation in 1920, opening a sporting goods store called Eddie Bauer's Sport Shop. Initially specializing in tennis rackets, he soon expanded his line of merchandise to include his own hand-made golf clubs and fishing tackle. Later, he developed and patented a regulation badminton shuttlecock. The Bauer Shuttlecock popularized the game of badminton in the United States and remains the standard for the sport today.
Bauer had heard stories about the goose down clothing worn by his uncles in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). He bought $25 worth of down and began experimenting with various designs. The down was insulating and light weight, but bulky. Bauer tamed the bulkiness by adding quilting. He made several jackets with down insulation for himself and a few friends. In 1936, he introduced the "Skyliner," a quilted, down-filled jacket that soon became standard gear for outdoorsmen. James W. ("Jim") Whittaker of Seattle wore one when he became the first American to climb Mount Everest in 1963.
Bauer sold the company to a group of Seattle investors who, in turn, sold it to General Mills. In the hands of General Mills, and later Spiegel Inc., Eddie Bauer Inc. expanded from one store and a catalog division in Seattle to more than 600 stores in the United States, Germany, and Japan. By 2004, however, its parent company was bankrupt and the future of the Eddie Bauer chain uncertain.
Eddie Bauer was born October 19, 1899, on Orcas Island in Puget Sound. He developed a deep love for the outdoors at an early age. He turned his avocation into a vocation in 1920, opening a sporting goods store called Eddie Bauer's Sport Shop. Initially specializing in tennis rackets, he soon expanded his line of merchandise to include his own hand-made golf clubs and fishing tackle. Later, he developed and patented a regulation badminton shuttlecock. The Bauer Shuttlecock popularized the game of badminton in the United States and remains the standard for the sport today.
Bauer had heard stories about the goose down clothing worn by his uncles in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). He bought $25 worth of down and began experimenting with various designs. The down was insulating and light weight, but bulky. Bauer tamed the bulkiness by adding quilting. He made several jackets with down insulation for himself and a few friends. In 1936, he introduced the "Skyliner," a quilted, down-filled jacket that soon became standard gear for outdoorsmen. James W. ("Jim") Whittaker of Seattle wore one when he became the first American to climb Mount Everest in 1963.
