Hey, Curious Campers!

Ever wonder about the history of your camping gear? How long have people been using duffel bags to transport and store their belongings and various camping supplies? It’s a question that takes a good amount of consideration. After all, what qualifies as a duffel bag?

Perhaps to some people, a duffel bag need only be a bag for carrying what you never could with just your arms. In this case, any ol’ rucksack could be considered a duffel bag. Predecessor of both the backpack and the duffel bag, rucksacks have been around for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years.

Early rucksacks were typically made using the skin of an animal or wool if it was around. These carrying bags were primarily used by hunters to carry back their prey. These bags were usually strong enough to carry a good load, however, they didn’t do anything to protect their contents in a rainstorm.

It wasn’t until the early 1600s that a new material was found to replace animal skins. It was sailors of the time from Spain and Portugal who stumbled upon this new material. They would sometimes need to make bags with what they had around. Using scraps of the fabric they used for their ship sails, they realized that this material provided perfect protection. Unlike animal skin, sail scraps were stiff and waterproof!

This sturdy material at the time was imported from its one supplier. This supplier was located in the town of Duffel, Belgium. So you can imagine where Duffel Bags get their name. So despite the fact that rucksacks are ancestors of Duffel Bags, you can’t really call Duffel Bags Duffel Bags until after the early 1600s when the bags got their name from their original supplier’s location.

We can assure you that the Duffel Bags that we offer here at Everything Summer Camp are authentic Duffel Bags, made without using any animal hide.

Hey, Hat Wearers!

Whether it’s a practical Winter Hat, Baseball Cap, a Party Hat, Cowboy Hat, Coonskin Cap, Beanie, Top Hat or Hard Hat, there’s almost no doubt that you’ve worn a hat in your life! Well, if you’re not already wearing one right now, I suggest you go pick one out for the day since today is none other than National Hat Day!

I myself am wearing a Chullo right now. That’s a hat with earflaps in case you were wondering.

I think one of the most interesting things about hats is that there are so many different kinds. I’ve mentioned nine different types of hats already in this post and that barely scratches the surface!

So how did hats get to be so popular and diverse. Well, we see hats being worn over five thousand years ago! The first sighting we have is from a tomb painting in Thebes which shows a man wearing a simple, straw hat. Other hats of the time were also simple skull caps until the Petasos came along and introduced the first brimmed hat. Hats at this time were articles mainly worn for special occasions.

It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that hats really became a marker of one’s social status, similar to the way that military officials wear certain types of hats dependent on the rank of their position. The Middle Ages also brought along a hat intended for women in the late 1500s.

As hats became just as much a thing for women as they were for men, the look of hats evolved and became more and more developed—elaborate even!—in the early 1800s, bonnets were born. They got fancier and fancier as their time went on with bigger brims, more ribbons, more flowers, more feathers, and trim!

It’s the middle of January. Chances are you already planned on wearing a hat if you haven’t already today (NOTE: more body heat escapes through your head than any other part of the body); but in any case, maybe you should put on something special to celebrate National Hat Day. Till next time, Hatters!

Hey, Animal Lovers!

Do you end up with an extra load of laundry every week? Do you have another closet that neither you nor your kids use? Who fits in a hoodie this small?! It must be those furry little critters that run around your house.

No—not mice! Your pets!

If you love to dress up your pets, then today is right up your alley! It’s National Dress Up Your Pet Day— founded by Celebrity Pet Lifestyle Expert and Animal Behaviorist, Colleen Paige in 2009. National Dress Up Your Pet Day is a great way to celebrate your pets and how much you love them.

You might think that dressing pets up in clothes is a relatively new “fad” (for lack of a better word). But on the contrary, people have been creating clothing for their animals for thousands of years! It wasn’t quite in the same way that we do it nowadays, but they did it nonetheless.

In order to protect their horses’ feet, the armies of ancient Greece would put leather boots over their hooves. In medieval times, the knights would often dress their horses during jousting matches or for battle. And even in the modern day, the police dress their horses in fluorescent covers. And the same goes for their canine unit too—WOOF!

The clothing that the police use for their animals along with the knights and the ancient Greek armies, is a little more practical than dressing up our lazily lounging, domesticated beasts. But dressing up your pet can actually serve a purpose yet. Some people’s pets have bad allergies, causing them to scratch incessantly. Clothing can help prevent them from causing further irritation while scratching. It can also provide some extra warmth on chilly winter days (which is why Dress Up Your Pet Day is in January).

One last note, Pet Dressers: All animals are different from one to the next. They may not enjoy wearing clothes. Make sure your pet wants to be wearing the clothes you put on them. Our pets shouldn’t have to be miserable just because we think it’s funny.

Hey, Trivia Buffs!

No one really knows where National Trivia Day came from. People have been using the word “trivial” since the 15th century to refer to something of little or no importance. Since most trivia questions are quick bits of dry facts about petty knowledge of popular culture, the name is a good fit.

But it wasn’t until February 5 of 1965 that anyone had ever heard of a ‘trivia question’. Made popular by two students of Columbia University, Mr. Ed Goodgold and Dan Carlinsky. It was these two guys who created the first trivia contests. The earliest contests were challenges between colleges called quiz bowls.

Since its early years, trivia contests caught on like wildfire and the fun of trivia was realized all over the country. It took less than 20 years for Hasbro to jump on the trivia wagon and put out their infamous game Trivial Pursuit which has now become a classic choice for game nights and trivia aficionados.

Trivia contests have also increased in popularity for many restaurants and bars where friends enjoy grabbing a bite to eat or a couple drinks while racking their brains and straining their memory over topics that ultimately don’t matter.

So what can you do to celebrate Trivia Day? Celebrate Trivia Day by playing a heated game of Trivial Pursuit with your family and friends! You could eat out at a restaurant that hosts trivia contests. Or simply by impressing your friends and family with the little nuggets of knowledge that you know.

Here’s one to get you guys started: Did you know that Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street was actually orange in the first season. His explanation in the second season for his green appearance was that he fell asleep in a swamp and turned this new color overnight.

Happy Trivia Day to one and all!

Hey, Trunk Enthusiasts!

If you’re the proud owner of a C&N Footlocker from Everything Summer Camp, then your camp trunk isn’t any older than 27 years. In the big scheme of things that’s not very old at all, is it? But what about trunks in general—how long have people used trunks? The quick answer is around the medieval times.

But let’s delve into the subject a bit deeper than that, huh? Trunks weren’t made in America until the late 1600s. What was America like back then? Well, for starters, there were no phones, bathrooms, cars, supermarkets—HECK!—there wasn’t even running water or electricity! They were extremely different times than what we know today.

Back then, there was no Corelle company that sold fine dinnerware, nor was there an Everything Summer Camp where you could find quality-made camp trunks. The desire for such products, however, grew and grew during this time. Services like iron and coal mining, brick-making, glass-making, and, yes, even trunk-making became common means of trade and commerce.

Early trunks were made out of wood and covered with cowhide or some other animal skin. They were typically lined with old newspapers or some other printed paper.

But there certainly weren’t any summer camps around back then. So what did people use trunks for? Well, just as they’re used today, back then people used them for long periods away from home as well as decorative storage pieces. It didn’t take long for people to start experimenting with the way their trunks looked.

The late 1700s and early 1800s brought a richer and more ornamented style to trunks with iron locks and handles, leather trim, and brass tacks. A round top became a popular look around this time as well. But other styles came along too such as bevel-tops, barrel-tops, dome-tops, steamers, barrel-staves, wardrobes, dresser trunks, wall trunks, and more.

As trunk styles have changed all throughout history, Everything Summer Camp continues the tradition by keeping an experimental attitude toward the appearance of the trunks that we manufacture.