Murray Pletz papers, 1968-1991

Murray (Pletz) McCory founded JanSport with his father, Norman Pletz, and girlfriend, Jan Lewis in 1967. The idea for the company stemmed from Murray's backpack design featuring a flexible aluminum frame, which won him an award while a student at the University of Washington in 1966. After this success, Murray started producing outdoor packs and tents with help from Jan, who the company is named after, Norman, and his cousin, Skip Yowell. From their first office on the second floor of Norman's transmission shop, JanSport began designing products for outdoor recreation, like tents, sleeping bags, and backpacks. One of the company's first significant innovations was the Mountain Dome tent, which gained popularity during the early 1970s. However, JanSport is probably best known for its backpack designs. Their Alpine Phantom flexible frame pack became a popular pack for outdoor sports, and the campus daypack became a staple for book-toting students in classrooms across the nation. JanSport was sold to K2 corporation in 1971-72 and Murray left the company in 1982. Since 1986, the company has been owned by VF Corporation. Jan remained with JanSport, eventually becoming the Director of Development in 2000 before retiring in 2005. Skip retired in 2010 as the company's Vice President of Global Public Relations and passed away on October 19, 2015.