Coleman

Like Q-Tips® are to cotton swabs and Xerox is to copying, Coleman is to camping. Coleman IS camping, and has been for over 100 years. Look in any garage, any storage shed, or any cellar, and you're sure to find either a Coleman cooler, a Coleman lantern or a Coleman stove. In fact, you'll probably find all three! But, how did it all begin? How did one of America's most beloved brands come to be?

It all began in 1905, when W.C. Coleman (no relation to W.C. Fields) came upon his first gasoline-powered lantern in a shop window. Suffering from poor eyesight himself, W.C. Coleman set out to produce the best gasoline-powered lanterns which first were used to illuminate America's farms and ranches, and then eventually became a standard piece of camping gear. True Americana!

Did you know that we can thank W.C. Coleman for the first night football game, west of the Mississippi, thanks to the advent of the gasoline-powered lantern? With electricity still not an option in many rural areas across the nation, in 1909, W.C. Coleman started selling his portable table lamps that would soon become a fixture in most rural homes. Fascinating, right? And, to think, all we use a Coleman lantern for is for some recreational fun, or as a back-up in emergency situations.

During WWII, W. C. Coleman joined into the war effort, and helped to develop a compact stove that could operate within a wide range of conditions, for use by field troops. It could weigh only a few pounds and had to be smaller than a bottle of milk. The end product was considered to be one of the most important pieces of noncombat equipment in the war effort. Of course, this was the prototype of what would become a camping staple, for good times, rather than for wartimes.

With a loyal brand following, as GIs came home from war, the Coleman brand grew and flourished, in post-wartime America. And, it's continued to do so, for decades, with the traditions passed on through generations. As America prospered, so did their passion for leisure time and camping. We can thank W.C. Coleman for so many innovations, one of which is the modern-day cooler, born of necessity. A new process revolutionized cooler manufacturing from old steel rust buckets into the molded plastic bubble we know today which is lighter and more efficient. Coolers today use essentially the same process that that was developed back in 1957.

Today, it's possible to equip your entire campsite with Coleman brand products, from the original lanterns, stoves and coolers, to Coleman tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses, chairs, cots, tables, backpacks, and every accessory in between. It's nice to know that when you purchase a piece of camping gear with the Coleman name, you're buying a little piece of American history, and you're getting a hundred years of tradition and reputation along with modern technology and performance. Head out to the garage and dig out that old cooler and lantern. The great outdoors awaits.