It wasn’t anything fancy — just a patchwork of red, green and blue nylon material with a few zippered pockets.
But I remember my first backpack. I remember filling it with crayons, No. 2 pencils and a Star Wars folder before my first day of kindergarten. I remember proudly wearing it on my back, feeling like a big kid and reluctantly putting it in my cubby that first day. Before too long, I remember it becoming a place for all my treasures (like Pokémon cards, Pogs, cool looking rocks, etc.).
Murray McCory, who co-founded the company JanSport, brought the lightweight packs to millions of students and transformed the way they carried their textbooks to school.
Whether it’s covered in superheroes or pink ponies, a kid’s first backpack is a rite of passage — one of the first places they can call their own. So this month, as students of all ages go through a similar back-to-school ritual, I thought I’d bring up a name you’ve probably never heard of: Murray McCory, a Washington native and avid outdoorsman credited with inventing and popularizing the lightweight backpack.
The First Backpacks
In 1967, McCory founded JanSport, the company that produced the first backpacks to sell to college students across the country, then to high schoolers and grade schoolers, too.
While McCory died last fall in Seattle at the age of 80, the backpack he created is still considered an essential accessory for students. It basically revolutionized school life for several generations of kids, including mine.
Even so, the backpack has carried a few controversies with it through the years.
Controversies Along the Way
As the bags got bigger and the loads heavier, there’s evidence that they contributed to neck, back and shoulder pains in some children. Healthcare professionals warned that they could be a health risk to kids, especially if the cargo wasn’t proportional to a student’s size, and issued health guidelines for parents. The creation of wheeled backpacks was another response.
Nowadays, security concerns have been another challenge for backpacks and how they’re used in schools. Some administrators require students to carry clear or mesh versions so they can’t be used to transport weapons or drugs.
But for me, backpacks are both a practical tool and a nostalgic reminder of my schooling. To this day, the sight of a youngster toting one back to school conjures up memories of the array of packs I’ve carried — from a Michael Jordan model in my early years to a later version covered with doodles I did with a Sharpie.
Conclusion
The point is … backpacks serve a bigger purpose than simply storage. They’re a way for a kid to express themselves and show their personality. They’re a way for a kid to bring a little bit of home with them to school. And they’re a way for a kid to connect with other backpack-wearing, soon-to-be-friends at school.
So, does your kid(s) have their backpack(s) ready for the new school year? Did they pick it out? Will they be wearing it with one strap over their shoulder (that’s how the kids used to do it in my day) or two?
My soon-to-be first grader has a navy blue and green backpack with yellow pockets on each side. I recently asked him if he wanted to pick out a new one and he said, “No, daddy. I want the one I have because it’s mine and I love it.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
