Original Penguin
Encyclopedia
Original Penguin is an American
clothing line. With roots in the 1950s and 60s, the brand specializes in clothing, footwear, and eyewear. It is sold in North America, South America, and Europe.
s, an undergarment consisting of an undershirt and underdrawers combined in a single garment. The company was also said to be the originator of the classic golf shirt.
In 1954 the Munsingwear salesman covering the northeast coast brought a fluffy stuffed penguin
to a meeting in Minneapolis, where a logo for a new idea in golf shirts to go up against Lacoste's popular shirts was the subject at hand. At the meeting was Len Birnbaum, art director at Munsingwear's Chicago-based ad agency, Powell, Schoenbrod and Hall. Munsingwear made T-shirt
s and underwear, but their weaving machines also produced the same kind of material that Lacoste used for their golf shirt, a big seller at $7.50 each, in the 1950s.
The Munsingwear golf shirt added an under-arm "action gusset" and moved the pocket to the right breast to avoid any interference with the swing. After the meeting, artist Birnbaum returned to Chicago and within 24 hours had sent sketches of a proposed logo to the Munsingwear executives. The new logo was adopted, the shirt hit the market at $5.00 and was successful. It was worn by Bob Hope
and Bing Crosby
for publicity, but the real advertising featured golfers Arnold Palmer
, Dow Finsterwald
and Jack Burke, Jr. About three years later Munsingwear introduced a second line of shirts for bowlers and Birnbaum came up with a bowling penguin. The shirt was similar to the golf shirt, but incorporated a revised gusset and bowling-themed logo. With that success, they tried to convince Munsingwear to make a tennis shirt but the concept "was nixed because they didn't want to start a holy war with Lacoste," according to Birnbaum. He did submit a design with a little penguin hitting a tennis ball, but it was never used. Also worn by the likes of Richard Nixon
and Frank Sinatra
, this golf shirt became a symbol in suburban leisure until well into the 1980s. In 1996 the brand was bought by Perry Ellis International
, and a new sportswear collection was released in Spring 2003.
Original Penguin is sold in upscale and mid-priced department stores such as Barneys New York
, Neiman Marcus
, Saks Fifth Avenue
, Macy's
, Nordstrom
, Urban Outfitters
and David Jones
, and in regional boutiques, country clubs, and specialty stores. The company also established several standalone boutiques across the nation, which carry clothing by C&C and Levi's jeans as well as Original Penguin apparel. Locations include the NorthPark Center
in Dallas, Texas
, Bryant Park
in New York City
, Melrose Avenue
in Los Angeles, California
, Fashion Island
in Newport Beach, California
, Rush Street
in Chicago, Illinois, and Lincoln Road
in Miami Beach, Florida
.
, timepieces
, sunglasses
, bags
, neckwear
, wallets/card holders, and belts
.
Original Penguin produced a denim
collection beginning April 2005 but as of 2008 Original Penguin has stopped the production of denim collections and instead sells Levi denim within its stores.
.
The brand gained popularity as it was featured on numerous episodes of the former FOX show, "The O.C.
". Actor Adam Brody, who played Seth Cohen, frequently wore Penguin clothing. It has also been featured on popular shows such as "My Boys
", "Royal Pains
", "Heroes
", "Gossip Girl
", "Everybody Hates Chris
", "How I Met Your Mother
", "Dirty Sexy Money
", "Entourage
", "Skins
" and "The Office".
Tyson Ritter of The All-American Rejects
was the face of the 2009 autumn ad campaign.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
clothing line. With roots in the 1950s and 60s, the brand specializes in clothing, footwear, and eyewear. It is sold in North America, South America, and Europe.
History
The brand was introduced in 1955 by Munsingwear, a Minneapolis-based underwear and military garment manufacturer, when it launched the Original Penguin golf shirt in the United States. Munsingwear was for many years famous for its union suitUnion suit
A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear. Created in Utica, New York, United States, it originated as women's wear during the 19th-century United States clothing reform efforts, as an alternative to constricting garments, and soon gained popularity among men as well...
s, an undergarment consisting of an undershirt and underdrawers combined in a single garment. The company was also said to be the originator of the classic golf shirt.
In 1954 the Munsingwear salesman covering the northeast coast brought a fluffy stuffed penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
to a meeting in Minneapolis, where a logo for a new idea in golf shirts to go up against Lacoste's popular shirts was the subject at hand. At the meeting was Len Birnbaum, art director at Munsingwear's Chicago-based ad agency, Powell, Schoenbrod and Hall. Munsingwear made T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s and underwear, but their weaving machines also produced the same kind of material that Lacoste used for their golf shirt, a big seller at $7.50 each, in the 1950s.
The Munsingwear golf shirt added an under-arm "action gusset" and moved the pocket to the right breast to avoid any interference with the swing. After the meeting, artist Birnbaum returned to Chicago and within 24 hours had sent sketches of a proposed logo to the Munsingwear executives. The new logo was adopted, the shirt hit the market at $5.00 and was successful. It was worn by Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
and Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
for publicity, but the real advertising featured golfers Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...
, Dow Finsterwald
Dow Finsterwald
Dow Henry Finsterwald, Sr. is an American professional golfer who is best known for winning the 1958 PGA Championship. He won 11 Tour titles between 1955 and 1963, played on four Ryder Cup teams, and served as non-playing captain for the 1977 U.S. Ryder Cup team.Finsterwald was born and raised in...
and Jack Burke, Jr. About three years later Munsingwear introduced a second line of shirts for bowlers and Birnbaum came up with a bowling penguin. The shirt was similar to the golf shirt, but incorporated a revised gusset and bowling-themed logo. With that success, they tried to convince Munsingwear to make a tennis shirt but the concept "was nixed because they didn't want to start a holy war with Lacoste," according to Birnbaum. He did submit a design with a little penguin hitting a tennis ball, but it was never used. Also worn by the likes of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, this golf shirt became a symbol in suburban leisure until well into the 1980s. In 1996 the brand was bought by Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...
, and a new sportswear collection was released in Spring 2003.
Original Penguin is sold in upscale and mid-priced department stores such as Barneys New York
Barneys New York
Barneys New York is a chain of luxury department stores headquartered in New York City. The chain owns large stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, and smaller stores in other locations across the United States.Brands sold include...
, Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
, Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
, Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
, Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters, Inc. is a publicly traded American company that owns and operates five retail brands: Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain, and BHLDN....
and David Jones
David Jones Limited
David Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is a high-end Australian department store chain.David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh immigrant, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name. It...
, and in regional boutiques, country clubs, and specialty stores. The company also established several standalone boutiques across the nation, which carry clothing by C&C and Levi's jeans as well as Original Penguin apparel. Locations include the NorthPark Center
NorthPark Center
NorthPark Center is an upscale shopping mall located in Dallas, Texas . The mall is located at the intersection of Loop 12 and US 75 . The center has over 235 stores and restaurants. NorthPark is the first shopping center featured on Vogue Magazine...
in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Bryant Park
Bryant Park
Bryant Park is a 9.603 acre privately managed public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Melrose Avenue
Melrose Avenue
Melrose Avenue is an internationally renowned shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts from Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and ends at Lucille Avenue in Silver Lake...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Fashion Island
Fashion Island
Fashion Island is an upscale open-air lifestyle center in Newport Beach, California . Fashion Island is owned by The Irvine Company.-History:...
in Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
, Rush Street
Rush Street (Chicago)
Rush Street is predominantly a northbound one-way street in the Near North Side community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
in Chicago, Illinois, and Lincoln Road
Lincoln Road
Lincoln Road is a pedestrian road running east-west between 16th Street and 17th Street in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Once open to vehicular traffic, it now hosts a pedestrian row of shops, restaurants, galleries, and other businesses between Washington Avenue and Alton...
in Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
.
Product Lines
Original Penguin has two central lines:Original Label
Original Label consists of clothing and apparel for men, women, and children. It also sells beachwear, footwearFootwear
Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment, and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose not to wear footwear at least in some situations....
, timepieces
Clock
A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...
, sunglasses
Sunglasses
Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...
, bags
Tote bag
A tote bag is large and open bag, with a handle centered atop each side. In the classic cloth version, arched straps form both handles. Straps' ends run down both sides, ending under the second fabric layer there, which shields the lower surfaces...
, neckwear
Neckwear
Neckwear refers to various styles of clothing worn around the neck. They are worn for fashion reasons or for protection against weather influences, the latter for comfort of health. Common neckwear today include bow ties, neckties , scarves, feather boas and shawls. Ruffs and bands are historically....
, wallets/card holders, and belts
Belt (clothing)
A belt is a flexible band or strap, typically made of leather or heavy cloth, and worn around the waist. A belt supports trousers or other articles of clothing.-History:...
.
Black Label
Original Penguin's Black Label (also known as Original Penguin Golf) is a mens line that is sold at higher price points than Original Label and is more golf-inspired in design.Original Penguin produced a denim
Denim
Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...
collection beginning April 2005 but as of 2008 Original Penguin has stopped the production of denim collections and instead sells Levi denim within its stores.
Sponsorship
Before being bought by Perry Ellis, Original Penguin was known for its sponsorship of several top golf players of the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Original Penguin continues with its golf heritage and currently sponsors top-20 player Aaron BaddeleyAaron Baddeley
Aaron John Baddeley is an American-Australian professional golfer. He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA and now plays on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, has joint U.S. and Australian citizenship and was raised in Australia from the age of two...
.
The brand gained popularity as it was featured on numerous episodes of the former FOX show, "The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
". Actor Adam Brody, who played Seth Cohen, frequently wore Penguin clothing. It has also been featured on popular shows such as "My Boys
My Boys
My Boys is an American television sitcom that debuted on November 28, 2006, on TBS. The show deals with a female sports columnist in Chicago, Illinois and the men in her life including her brother and her best friend...
", "Royal Pains
Royal Pains
Royal Pains is a USA Network television series that premiered on June 4, 2009, starring Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Flint and Reshma Shetty. The series is based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies...
", "Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
", "Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
", "Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
", "How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
", "Dirty Sexy Money
Dirty Sexy Money
Dirty Sexy Money is an American prime time drama series created by Craig Wright, which ran on the ABC from September 26, 2007 to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by ABC Studios, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Berlanti Television and Gross Entertainment...
", "Entourage
Entourage (TV series)
Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
", "Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
" and "The Office".
Tyson Ritter of The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects are an American rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999. The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist, Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist, Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor....
was the face of the 2009 autumn ad campaign.