My Jansport Memoir

It was about this time of year. I put my Christmas order into Grandma, not Santa. After coveting the items of clothe that adorned the backs only my most popular and fashionable classmates, it was time. Since my mother insisted the Venture (anyone remember that store) brand, Eastport, bags were just as good, I went the Grandma route. Surely she would understand how essential it was that her granddaughter owned and proudly toted a Jansport backpack. I didn’t care what the color was, as long as it had the brown suede bottom, because the “suedeless” version looked cheap and less durable in my opinion.

Forget all the Tommy Hilfiger clothes and the CK Be perfume I had requested, on Christmas Day I opened the Jansport bag first. I had been poking small disguised holes in my presents from grandma since they arrived because she didn’t box the individual gifts. My first Jansport bag was royal purple. That bag lasted the duration of 5th grade and the entire 6th grade school year. I never “customized” it with white-out and permanent marker as other class mates had. I didn’ t dispose of that bag until high school. It lived up to its warranty. While other Jansport bags followed through High School and I eventually moved to no backpack at all, my first back was kept on reserve for sleepovers and flights.

Funny how as children we learn to associate class or socio-economic standing with simple possessions. As an adult, these things become jewelry, designer handbags, and vehicles. In my era as a school age child nothing said “my parents have money” like a Jansport bag and the most recent Air Jordan’s. This flashback was prompted by my train ride this afternoon as I observed a group of school age children on the train in their own worlds. At least 4 out of the 7 of them carried Jansport bags.

The outdoor gear brand whose motto is “Discover Freedom” has certainly adjusted to the times. With Hounds tooth print backpacks, a career collection that contains laptop skins and a Twitter account, Jansport is trying to keep up with it’s once faithful market of 20 and 30 something adults who have graduated to more “mature brands” like TUMI, Samsonite, and perhaps Goyard. I wont be purchasing a Jansport for myself anytime son, but perhaps I will be purchasing them for my children or nieces and nephews. And of course I’ll make sure I buy them the kind with the suede on the bottom.