Original Penguin - History

History

The brand was introduced in 1955 by Munsingwear, a Minneapolis-based underwear and military garment manufacturer, when it launched the Original Penguin golf shirt in the United States. Munsingwear was for many years famous for its union suits, an undergarment consisting of an undershirt and underdrawers combined in a single garment. The company was also said to be the originator of the classic golf shirt.

In 1954 the Munsingwear salesman covering the northeast coast brought a fluffy stuffed penguin to a meeting in Minneapolis, where a logo for a new idea in golf shirts to go up against Lacoste's popular shirts was the subject at hand. At the meeting was Len Birnbaum, art director at Munsingwear's Chicago-based ad agency, Powell, Schoenbrod and Hall. Munsingwear made T-shirts and underwear, but their weaving machines also produced the same kind of material that Lacoste used for their golf shirt, a big seller at $7.50 each, in the 1950s.

The Munsingwear golf shirt added an under-arm "action gusset" and moved the pocket to the right breast to avoid any interference with the swing. After the meeting, artist Birnbaum returned to Chicago and within 24 hours had sent sketches of a proposed logo to the Munsingwear executives. The new logo was adopted, the shirt hit the market at $5.00 and was successful. It was worn by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby for publicity, but the real advertising featured golfers Arnold Palmer, Dow Finsterwald and Jack Burke, Jr. About three years later Munsingwear introduced a second line of shirts for bowlers and Birnbaum came up with a bowling penguin. The shirt was similar to the golf shirt, but incorporated a revised gusset and bowling-themed logo. With that success, they tried to convince Munsingwear to make a tennis shirt but the concept "was nixed because they didn't want to start a holy war with Lacoste," according to Birnbaum. He did submit a design with a little penguin hitting a tennis ball, but it was never used. Also worn by the likes of Richard Nixon and Frank Sinatra, this golf shirt became a symbol in suburban leisure until well into the 1980s. In 1996 the brand was bought by Perry Ellis International, and a new sportswear collection was released in Spring 2003.

Original Penguin is sold in upscale and mid-priced department stores such as Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters and David Jones, and in regional boutiques, country clubs, and specialty stores. The company also established several standalone boutiques across the nation, which carry clothing by C&C and Levi's jeans as well as Original Penguin apparel. Locations include the NorthPark Center in Dallas, Texas, Bryant Park in New York City, Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California, Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California, Rush Street in Chicago, Illinois, The Galleria (Houston) in Houston, Texas, Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, Florida, and Lenox Mall in Atlanta, Georgia.