Colors surround you, the halls become narrower and narrower as students quickly rush to their next period. Red, Yellow, Green, Purple, Galaxy—patterns that bump into each other all with a distinct patch: Jansport. Imagine a time when you were sitting in class; you quickly scan across the room and you notice a pattern: a trademark dark blue patch with the words “Jansport.”  A backpack that has been with you since times of  the sandbox to the big leagues of backs breaking from books piling onto each other. 

All of these core memories would not be possible without Murray McCory. Being the brilliant mind behind Jansport, McCory’s revolution of the lightweight backpack became the trailblazer for the school experience of millions of students. McCory left a legacy that has impacted millions of childhoods; he passed away on October 7th. As stated on the New York Times, he was 80 years old. 

As an avid outdoors man, McCory entered a competition, hosted by Alcoa: founders of aliminum, and was able to win first place with his alteration of hiking backpacks by using adjustable, lighter aluminum and including a nylon pack with with a pocket for a water bottle. With this first place win he became inspired to introduce his creation to the world; thus, the company Jansport was born. Originally Jansport was charecterized by outdoor essentials such as: snow shoes, a frame backpack for dogs, and mummy style sleeping bags. 

However, the struggling company suddenly became a household name, with its reinvention and marketing of their new product: The University Bookstore RuckSack. Being students at the University of Washington during the early 70s, they recognized a pattern as students became frustrated with constantly trying to lug around heavy bags, that had books falling out of them, as they ran from class to class. 

The University Bookstore RuckSack was a remodeled version of a hiking backpack according to the Washington Times.  It was altered to be wide enough to hold books and other school essentials, as well as being changed to include nylon zippers, an adjustable waist belt, a water resistant bottom, and a outside pocket to hold trinkets, as mentioned on JanSport. But one thing McCory didn’t alter was the iconic Jansport patch, since he felt that someone might want to attach an umbrella to the backpack. But in this day and age, the patch is no longer used for umbrellas but instead to establish their signature Jansport look. 

Mr. McCory left JanSport in the early 1980s. He then spent his time moving back to the outdoors, where he worked on securing recycling programs and oversaw a rails-to-trails project under state grant. 

Without Murray McCory, millions of students’ school experiences would be unimaginable as he shaped so many of their experiences. Reading this article, Aiyanna Reed (11)  an owner of six JanSport backpacks expresses: “I never realized that the origins of Jansport was an outdoors company. Also, being an owner of Jansport of six JanSport backpacks, this company has been with me throughout a majority of mt school experience.”