THE SPECS:
- Regular fit
- Crew neck
- Mid weight, 5.3 oz
- 100% combed cotton Super Soft
- Water Based Ink. Soft Hand
- Neck ribbing, side seamed, shoulder to shoulder tape, double needle hems, preshrunk to minimize shrinkage
THE SHORT STORY: This graphic is A16 logo we used between 1975 and 1992.
THE LONG STORY: In 1977, A16 moved from an old log clad house in El Cajon, CA to the top floor of a much larger 3 story building at the East end of San Diego's Mission Valley. At the time, the old house/store was the center piece of the A16 logo. In that same year, we closed two other A16 shops in San Diego (SDSU Campus and Sports Arena Blvd). The single new shop on Alvarado Cyn Rd was much larger than the 3 old shops combined. The space was so big (7,200 sq ft) that we put our factory into 1/3rd of the space. Since I had recently helped build my family's log cabin in Idaho, my Uncle, Mic Mead tasked me with building him a log cabin office during a summer break from college. The log cabin office was built in the middle of the new shop so that Mic could better interact with Customers on the salesfloor. The back door of the office entered the factory, and an opened window looked out over the 2 person back office. Many of you will remember that Mic's dog Rosie would sleep in a chair on the front porch. At the time, we joked that I may have a future building executive log offices. Several years later the A16 logo was updated by replacing the old log clad shop in El Cajon with a drawing of Mic's new office cabin. The new version served as the company's trademark for the next 12 years (1992). It seems that over the years it has been the most popular of all the company's logos.
Fast forward nearly 50 years. When we closed down the San Diego store, JT Smith (long time A16 Customer and one of the Re-Founders of A16' Scout Venture Crew (formally an Explorer Post) purchased the cabin. He took it apart log by log, and in 2022 he meticulously reassembled it in the backyard of his home in Sierra Mesa/San Diego. It will serve as his gear locker. How appropriate. Yes, he owns a lot of gear. I could not be happier that the cabin has a new life. Thanks JT! -John D.