125 Years of Camping
Here at Eureka!, we know camping. That’s because we’ve been doing it for over a century (woof!). More accurately, we’ve been doing it since 1895. That means we’ve been making tents for 125 years...so you could say we kind of know a thing or two about camping. So sit back, relax, and get ready for a history lesson, Eureka! style!
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
It all began in Binghamton, a small city in Upstate New York near the Pennsylvania border. It’s an area of NY known for its lush rolling hills, tranquil rivers, historic carousels, and spiedies (look them up, they’re delicious). It’s where Eureka! was born, bred, and still resides today.
But back in 1895 we weren’t just cranking out tents. In the beginning, we were crafting custom tents, awnings, wagon covers, horse blankets, and even flags. We utilized dies to cut out stars, sewed together strips of red and white bunting to make American flags, and fashioned our first awnings out of unfinished natural white cotton duck. Our very early tents were assembled from untreated white army duck, and were so sturdy that we had one hanging in our headquarters nearly one hundred years later.
Yes, our product lines were a little different back then, but still, through it all, each product was designed with the quality and durability you’ve come to know and love from the Eureka! brand, and which has always been our trademark.
BIGGER AND BETTER
By the 1930’s, Eureka! continued to expand and develop, all while staying true to our roots. The first Eureka! factory was a former Chenango Canal mule barn, which allowed us to really amp up production. We were off and running.
By the time WWII came around, Eureka! had expanded to five factories in New York, and began manufacturing tents for the armed forces. These tents were used for a wide range of purposes, from hospital tents to barracks, and even mess halls.
In the 1940’s we began manufacturing on our large party tents for things such as special occasions, fairs, and college commencements. You could say we really know how to party, because our party tent business is still around today and booming. Following the war, our awnings were in high demand, and subsequently began our distribution throughout sporting goods and department stores.
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
The 1960’s was when we really started becoming the Eureka! you know and love today. We began progressing beyond canvas and started putting out lightweight tents into the outdoor camping industry. This ultimately lead to Eureka! playing an essential role in the first All-American Mount Everest expedition. Yes, you read that right; Mount Everest.
James W. Whittaker and Berry C. Bishop turned to Eureka! to redesign our Draw-Tite tent in a custom fashion for what would be the first ever all-American Everest Expedition in 1963. The Draw-Tite design was the inspiration behind all of the self-supporting single layer and double layer models that followed in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s for both family and backpacking models. Eureka! designers took this Draw-Tite tent and began installing heavy-duty brass hooks to attach the tent to the frame, and “zipper-type vents” to reduce and prevent condensation. The result was the first free-standing, quick-set-up tent, dubbed the “Mt. Everest Assault Tent”. These tents were tested at 10,000 ft. on Mt. Rainier, and used in temperatures reaching -20˚ Fahrenheit, and in 60+ mph winds. Norman G. Dyhrenfurth, the expedition's leader, stated that much of the expedition's success was due to "our fine new equipment... [such as our] vastly improved tents, with outside frames, that can be set up in a high wind”.
Yea…we’ve been on Everest. No Big deal (but it is).
INTO THE OUTDOORS
Our spirit of adventure and innovation continued into 1970s with enthusiasm and innovation that aimed to bring us “back to nature”.
With this, we introduced the Eureka! Timberline®, the first ever, free-standing lightweight backpacking tent, and still a staple of our product line today. The Timberline® was a marriage of high-tech design and cutting-edge textiles, and became a favorite among the rapidly growing community of backpackers across North America.
During the 1980s camping was seeing a boom as an outdoor social activity, and through this we began expanding our camping tent business and helping families get outside and experience the outdoors. We began taking our self-supporting canvas models and converting them to double layer lightweight nylon. These became hit as cars had become smaller during the gas crisis of the late ‘70’s. And while people in North America were getting out and camping, our StormShield tents continued to be carried to the highest mountains on the globe, including during these American and Canadian-led expeditions: Dhaulagiri I (1980), Yalungkang (known as Kangchenjunga now) (1981), Canadian Everest (1982), American Women's Himalyan Expedition to Ama Dablam (1982), Makalu (1983), and American Men & Women on Everest (1983). That’s a lot of altitude!
MYSTERY DETECTIVES
Buckle up, because things are about to get mysterious. Back in 1924, English adventurers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine set out to be the first to summit Mt. Everest. However, the two never summited, never returned, and were never found. Mallory and Irvine vanished without a trace, without anyone knowing what happened to them.
In 1999 and again in 2001, Eric Simonson led research expeditions to determine what happened to Mallory and Irvine, and discover if they were in fact the first to summit Everest. Eureka! was right there along for the ride. Eureka! tents sheltered these teams against the frigid and gale-force wind conditions while trekking up Everest, and to some avail. Simonson made history in finding Mallory’s remains and retrieved amazing historical artifacts now on display in the Smithsonian. However, the mystery behind the tragedy is yet to be solved. Maybe there’s another expedition in the future with Eureka?
TODAY
Today we still design and manufacture quality tents that will help you get out there and experience the outdoors. Our product line has evolved since the early years, and Eureka! now also offers camp furniture, like our camp chairs and tables, and camp cots, but we are still so proud of our tent roots.
In addition to our durable and lightweight backpacking tents like our Midori and Solitaire, we’ve introduced innovative new tent designs which better lend themselves to group camping for family and friends, including car camping tents like our Copper Canyon, and screen shelters like our NoBugZone screenhouse. Expedition models like the K2XT and Alpenlite are still used by teams on Everest today!
Partnering with Eureka’s sister brand, Jetboil, we’ve engineered a line of camp cooking products which encompasses the same high-quality standards we’ve designed our tents with these past 125 years. This line has grown over the past decade to include our Ignite stoves, Camp Café, new SPRK Camp Cook Series stoves and grill, and our Gonzo Grill. We like to help keep camper’s bellies full, because we’re in the business of keeping campers happy.
125 sure has been a whirlwind. We’ve gone from canvas and awnings, to the top of the world, and right to your campsite with tents, chairs, stoves, and more. But we’re just getting started. There’s so many exciting things coming from Eureka!, and we’re excited to see what the next 125 years brings of helping people get outside for the fun of it. Just remember, when you want to get out there, we’ve got you covered.