Since first introduced in 1924, Pendleton wool plaid shirts have been a staple in men's wardrobes. Before the first Pendleton plaid shirt came from the mill, men revered the wool shirt for its warmth and durability, but not their colour or style.
C. M. Bishop saw the opportunity to bring rich plaids and colours to this utilitarian shirt, and the Pendleton wool plaid shirt was born.
The company had already developed sophisticated weaving capabilities in the production of its jacquard Indian trade blankets, which were rich in colour and pattern. That expertise was applied to the shirt bringing handsome colours and patterns to what had been a dull and colourless functional shirt. Instantly, the shirt became a coveted item and men throughout the US flocked to buy them.
Fifty years ago, The Beach Boys, then called the "Pendletones," made the Pendleton plaid shirt their wardrobe of choice and created a fashion trend among America's youth. Wearing the wool shirts as jackets over tee shirts and jeans became the band's signature look and appeared on many album covers throughout the 1950s and 60´s.
One of the reasons for the popularity of the Pendleton products is the care taken by the pattern designers to learn about the native American mythologies. In the earliest years, Joe Rawnsley, who was considered a gifted talent on the jacquard loom, spent time with the local natives of northeastern Oregon to develop preferences of color and design (we now call this "market research"). He would then interpret the ideas gleaned from the native peoples into blanket designs using modern technologies that could express pattern ideas in much greater detail and in more vivid coloration's than could be expressed by traditional weaving methods.
With the success of these first designs, Mr. Rawnsley spent six months in the native Southwest developing ideas for designs which might specifically appeal to the tribes of this region. He returned with hundreds of designs to be interpreted into his weaving processes.