Their cuddly fuzziness is a lullaby to the touch. Their bright colors sound an eye-opening reveille. No wonder Beacon cotton blankets have tucked generations of campers into bunks, marked the spot for countless picnics and draped armchairs and stadium bleachers nationwide.
Today, a century after the Beacon Manufacturing Co. wove its first fabric on Jacquard looms, nostalgic collectors treasure these covers' retro aura. But in its prime as America's largest cotton-blanket maker, from 1920 through the '40s, Beacon pitched its product as a modern marvel: a fluffier, less expensive, mothproof alternative to wool that was easier to clean and just as warm.
Beacon lured consumers with a vast spectrum of tones and patterns. Although designs that reflected passing trends came and went, the best-sellers displayed American Indian-inspired motifs. These remain the most sought-after patterns among camp-blanket aficionados. Up to a point.
Lovers of cotton's softness assert that despite the persistence of popular Beacon lines after 1950, the company's postwar introduction of synthetic fibers blew taps for cozy snuggling — and collectibility.
What exactly is a Beacon blanket? Based in New Bedford, Mass., and later Swannanoa, N.C., the Beacon company sold so many blankets — 21 million a year in the late 1930s — that "Beacon" became a generic term for a cotton camp blanket — though some Beacon fabric blended cotton with wool, and rival brands made similar goods.
Few surviving blankets bear a trademark: Much of Beacon's output went to retailers, such as J.C. Penney, who applied private labels, and most blankets marketed as Beacons had paper labels that vanished in the wash. Collectors pay from $400 to more than $1,000 for a pristine blanket in a notable design with label intact.
At its peak, Beacon produced as many as 1,500 styles, including an array of jazzy Art Deco motifs. "Even company old-timers can't identify them all," says blanket historian Jerry Brownstein. Figurals ranged from coral to racetrack, from snowflakes to bunnies. Geometrics featured novel color schemes. Technically demanding ombre, or shaded, designs were a Beacon signature.