I’ve been writing a lot about choosing university and school bags and how to pick out brands from the huge number available. Curiosity and a constant fascination with history prompted me to Google when the backpack was actually invented, and I was surprised to discover that the modern backpack – as we now think of it – is only about sixty years old! It was such a useful invention that everyone started making their own versions, up until today, when we have so much choice it’s hard to know where to start.
John Peters New York has its own place in the illustrious history of the backpack of course. At AVA Gallery, we love the blend of history, heritage, fashion, and modernity, and all the brands we represent reflect that.
So what’s John Peters’ claim to fame in the development of the perfect university bags? Well, let me start at the beginning. Bags worn on the back have been around as long as humans have, but in 1951, a man named Dick Kielty made the first “modern” backpack. An avid outdoorsman, he invented a way of carrying heavy hiking loads on the shoulders instead of the hips.
John Peters was also an outdoorsman and loved hiking. But he was interested in making a more utilitarian bag, something that could be used as a hiking/camping pack as well as for students. He used the industrial-strength, yet lightweight, cordura nylon, and switched out the heavy, metal finishings for plastic closures and zippers.
The result is a much more lightweight backpack, and of course, since John Peters used these materials for the first time in the 1980s, copycats all over the world have made their own versions of university bags. The problem is that many, in their haste to make some convenient and cheap, shrink on quality.
At John Peters New York, we are fiercely committed to keeping the same quality or better of John Peters’ original, outstanding bags. We are always seeking improvement, but ensuring that the university and school bags that we sell have the same prestigious quality they deserve from their history.
These days, you find backpacks of all shapes and sizes, with any number of gadgets and add-ons and extras. But in John Peters New York, you can find the best quality university and school bags with a superb, fashionable design. We use only Cordura Plus ™ Nylon and top quality plastic closures and zippers.
When you shrug on your John Peters backpack and head to class, you’re carrying the past, present, and future with you.
