CHAD'S FACTORY VISIT - PENDLETON WOOLEN MILLS

For several years I had on my wish list a visit to the Pendleton Woolen Mills and this spring I finally had the change to see how those beautiful blankets are made in Pendleton, Oregon. 

The blankets are still made on the same location since 1909. During the factory tour you see all the different stages, from spinning the wool to making the blankets by the computorized weaving machines. And when the final check is done (as you see in one of the last pics) the blankets are ready to be cut in the right sizes.

The company’s roots began in 1863 when Thomas L. Kay made a transcontinental trek to the west coast and began working in Oregon's woolen mills. He went on to open his own woolen mill, the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill in Salem, Oregon. Kay was an immigrant from England and a weaver by trade. He had worked in various textile mills on the east coast of the United States. In 1909 the family moved to Pendleton in northeastern Oregon and took over the defunct Pendleton Woolen Mills. The town of Pendleton backed the family in their new business venture and the Bishops’ company also took over the name Pendleton Woolen Mills.

JUST GIVE ME A SIGN - A NUTMEGGER PLEASE

Yesterday I was cleaning my computer with tons of links etc of stuff I like and I bumped into a link to the Nutmegger Workshop and this I must share with you. What a great looking signs does he make, it puts you back in another time period.

But who is he? Peter Vogel started his career 30 plus years ago in graphic design, but his true passion is working with type and designing with letterform. Vintage sign making came out of nowhere. He made a small sign to commemorate the place where he proposed to his wife, then a big one measuring 11 feet after seeing an old sign while on vacation in New England. Soon friends were asking where he had gotten them, and the business was born.

KEMO SABE ASPEN LIKE IT USED TO BE

Since 1993 Kemo Sabe is the one stop shop in Aspen, CO., for real Cowboys and Urban Cowboys.

The store is hosted by to very friendly Cowgirls and is packed with hats, boots and buckles.

So when you are in the neighborhood don't forget to pull-over and say hi to the girls.

434 E Cooper Ave.

Aspen, CO 81611

DOUBLE RL SPRING 2017 CATALOGUE

The Spring 2017 catalogue of Ralph's Double RL is completely inspired by the Double RL Ranch.

Ralph and his wife, Ricky, bought this breathtaking property in 1982. Parts of the original western classic True Grit, starring John Wayne, were filmed here.

Occupying some 16,000 acres beneath the snowcapped San Juan Mountains is the Double RL Ranch, the Colorado getaway of fashion designer Ralph Lauren and his wife, Ricky. "Colorado was for us an escape," he says. "It wasn't about being in fashion. It wasn't about saying, Wouldn't it be nice to have this cute ranch!' It was about a life that would be different, that would be freer—that would have nature and trees and animals and big sky."