I bought this old canvas backpack on the side of a road in Chestertown, NY this weekend. The label says “Hirsch Weis” but I can’t seem to find too much information about the company. Anybody want to help?
Few more pictures after the jump..
Hirsch Weis
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15 Responses to Hirsch Weis
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I’m pretty sure that Hirsch was the bag line of the White Stag outdoor clothing company, which used to make all their goods in Portland, Oregon. You can still see the big sign with a white stag in neon, but the building now houses the University of Oregon extension branch of Arts and Architecture.
thanks tom!
I just found your pics by searching Hirsch Weis, I picked up a sleeping bag today that looks brand new, it was in its plastic. It looks to be from the late fifties aluminium snaps and flannel liner that ties in with loops. The manufacturer is Hirsch-Weis Canvas Products CO. Logo is the same. Saw an auction site with a 1932 brochure for a canvas wall tent from the same co……cool bag
One more if you want to know about the company search Oregon History Project, here is a hint Wal-maRt ruins everything…
We have a self cooling water bag made by Hirsch-Weis Canvas Products Co. in Portland Or. It is in excellent shape and was used to fill with water and placed in front of car radiators to cool the radiator. It has a rope handle that you would put over the radiator cap.
While my being from Portland didn’t have anything to do with my finding this information, I was surrounded by White Stag / Hirsch Weiss skiing and outdoor gear when I was growing up in the sixties. Here is something I found on the Global Network of Computers:
White Stag
White Stag started out as the Willamette Tent and Awning Company in Portland, Oregon, manufacturers of tents and sails. The company eventually changed its name to Hirsch-Weiss Canvas Products, after its founders. In 1929, Harold S. Hirsch, son of the founder and a member of the Dartmouth ski team, was granted permission from his father to develop a new line of clothing designed exclusively for skiers. He adopted the name White-Stag after an inverted English translation of the original company name, Weiss meaning white in German and Hirsch meaning a male deer.
Hirsch’s first outfit was a one piece jumping suit, for the Dartmouth Ski Club. However, he soon began marketing his line to ski shops and department stores around the nation, and business grew steadily. During the first half of the 1930s, only three firms manufactured ski clothing in the United States—White Stag, Slalom Skiwear and the Sun Valley Ski Clothing Company. Until this time, most ski clothing had been manufactured in Europe, where skiing was more established.
By the early 1940s, White Stag was selling ski pants made of wool gabardine, whipcord, and whiptex, as well as poplin jackets, wool sweaters and animal fur jackets. The company expanded its line to include year-round sportswear in the late 1940s in order to operate twelve months out of the year. In 1966 White Stag was purchased by Warnaco Group Inc., who later sold the Portland-based White Stag label to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2003 for approximately $29 million.
Bibliography
Senior, Jeanie. “Where Are They Now? Many Companies Have Left Town, But Names Linger On.” The Tribune. 26 Nov. 2004 http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=27301
“Tip to Tale: Clothing.” Aspen Historical Society. Aspen Historical Society. http://www.aspenhistory.org/tipchp6.html
KC
I have a Kirsch-Weis Breezeway tent purchased several years ago. The poles are good, but would like a new canvas. It sleeps 3.
I have a old wall tent by hirsch-weis mfg.co.12′x14′ 36″-120z..Given to me from my father -law in 1997.This same tent was given to him by his father-in-law 1990.do not know anything about it,but this tent has been in the family early 1950′s.so if anybody knows anything about these tent let me know.
My mother-in-law worked for Hirsch -weis during the war and made sleeping bags!
Hi, I purchased a Hirsch Weiss cottage tent in 2010 off Trademe in NZ, I have used it in all weathers this summer and it is brilliant. So easy too put up. I would love to know more about the company and exactly how old this model of tent is, and what else if anything came with it originally, like extra poles internal, as this has no internal just external, but has loops across the ceiling and little metal clips at the apex on either ends and around the door. Our tent has a Stagg emblem on it as well as the name. The above article by Carbon Fish was great to read. Many thanks Lee
my father recently passed away and left me a hirsch weis 12×9 tent. its in really good shape, however iam having a problem figuring out the tent pole cnfiguration. ca anyone help?
can anyone help me i bought a hirsch-weis skyliner xll style 8195-12 cut size 12′ x 9′ finished size 11′x10′x8′-10′ i need the poles for it or the blue print for them so i can make some thanks for reading my e-mail is michaeljgalati@hotmail.com
I have a hirch weis back pak but the pak is not good. However the aluminam framme is excellent.where can I find another pak?
Tom
Sleeping bags work to trap stationary air within the bag itself whilst you sleep, using your body as a radiator to circulate warm air without releasing it. The best kind of sleeping bags are those with features that secure in this heat, whether that’s from an exceptional filling that lofts well, baffles that seal out every cold spot, or the impressive hood that traps in air near your ears and neck.,
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Yes I have a Hirsch Weis Arabian 8000-12 tent/ the tag reads “Hirsch Weis Canvas Products Portland Oregon 8000-12 Arabian” Division of White Stag. It is in great condition have all the color coded poles/ am looking for directions for it (I know how to do set up just think it would be neat to have a booklet with it..