L.L. Bean

Today is the birthday of the American inventor, author and founder of the company that bears his name, Leon Leonwood Bean (L.L. Bean) (books by this author), born in Greenwood, Maine (1872). His father was a horse trader, and Leon grew up hunting, trapping, and working on farms. Both his parents died just days apart when he was 12 years old and he was sent to live with relatives, where he showed an entrepreneurial spirit at a young age, peddling soap door to door to support himself. He didn't get far in school, but he took a few business courses that he paid for with his own money. Bean got the bulk of his education in the woods of Maine, and it was frustration with soaked feet from the wet snowy winters of New England that led him to his first invention. In early 1912, he imagined a boot with a waterproof rubber sole combined with a genuine leather upper and soon commissioned a local cobbler to construct the first "Maine Hunting Shoe." He got his hands on a list of those with nonresident hunting licenses and prepared his own direct mail ad guaranteeing the quality and workmanship of his new hybrid boot. Out of his first 100 orders, 90 of them were returned by customers when the soles split. Though it almost broke him, Bean kept his word, returning the money and improving the shoe. He quickly garnered a reputation for his personal integrity and orders began to flow.