If you’re a man of a certain age, you likely wore something made by Original Penguin at some point in your life. Maybe your mom made you wear it to a family gathering because it made you look “snazzy.” Or maybe your dad or granddad was an Original Penguin OG (an OP OG?) back in the ‘50s or ‘60s.
Either way, Original Penguin by Munsingwear is still around and is celebrating its 70th anniversary this week. The story of how Penguin came to be is a tale for the ages (you’ll have to wait till the end of this piece (Or skip down, it’s a free country). Before we get to it, however, we gotta give you the lowdown on the 70th Anniversary Golf Collection.
It’s what we in the media like to call “modernly retro.”
#1. Cooler than Sinatra, smoother than Crosby
You want peak retro cool? Penguin will give you peak retro cool.
Penguin may have been the first apparel brand to successfully crossover from golf to culture. Arnie, Jack and Chi Chi wore it on the golf course, while Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby made Penguin the choice for the modern mid-century male.
“This curated collection is a celebration of that legacy, an homage to the players, the entertainers and the everyday men who made Pete the Penguin an icon,” said Perry Ellis CEO Oscar Feldenkreis (Perry Ellis owns the Original Penguin by Munsingwear brand, among others).
And yes, Pete really is the penguin’s name.
#2 Retro styling, modern materials
The 70th Anniversary Golf Collection features an Original Penguin staple: the Earl polo shirt, named after professional bowler Earl Anthony. The Pete’s Earl polos come in Red Clay and Bright White colorways, with mid-century coloring on the collar. There’s also the Technical Earl polo in black and white with contrasting collar and sleeve stitching.
Pete’s Roadmap polo smacks you upside the head with a colorful penguin motif. While the styling for these polos is decidedly retro, the materials are strictly modern: recycled polyester blended with Dull Yarn polyester and Elastane.
“It was easy to use the archival designs,” Perry Ellis Marketing VP Brad Holder tells MyGolfSpy. “We didn’t even need to adapt them for the present other than modern performance aspects, like the fabrics.”
There’s also a retro-looking lightweight quarter zip, as well as pants and shirts.
The Heritage Sweater polo is a perfect example. While it looks like a short-sleeved, V-neck sweater, it’s made with moisture-wicking CoolMax fabric blended with cotton
#3: Apparel brands do a lot of research
As mentioned, Perry Ellis owns a batch of brands along with Penguin, including Ben Hogan, Grand Slam and John Henry. It also makes golf apparel for Callaway, the PGA TOUR brand and the Jack Nicklaus brand. It also knows an awful lot about who buys their brands.
For example, the Penguin customer has a 20 percent higher income than those who identify with any of the other Perry Ellis brands. He (it’s a men’s line) is also five to 10 years younger and, according to Holder, much more obsessed with golf.
“We asked in our survey if they were obsessed with golf. The Penguin guy is like two times more obsessed with golf compared to the Callaway guy, the Ben Hogan guy or the PGA TOUR guy.”
Interestingly, the research also shows the Penguin guy is more interested in modern styling, which is ironic for a decidedly retro brand.
“It’s a really cool profile,” says Holder. “The Penguin guy is confident and independent. He’s in his mid-‘40s, a new country club member who likes to go on a lot of golf trips.
“He doesn’t want to dress like his dad, but he doesn’t want to dress like his son, either.”
#4: You want a piece of Pete? Bring your wallet
If you’re looking for a value brand, Perry Ellis will likely steer you to its Ben Hogan apparel. The Original Penguin 70th Anniversary Golf Collection is, as the marketers might say, aspirational.
We open the bidding with the Technical Earl polo with an MSRP of $78. The Pete’s Earl and Pete’s Roadmap polos are $98, while the Heritage Sweater polo and quarter zip pullover are $110. The shorts and pants range from $80 to $110.
You will find some items on sale for Father’s Day, however.
#5: Original Penguin 70th Anniversary gear hits the U.S. Open
At least three pros with Penguin deals will be wearing Original Penguin 70th Anniversary gear next week at the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Brian Campbell, Nico Echevarria and Johnny Keefer, currently the No. 1 player on the Korn Ferry Tour, will all be sporting the Technical Earl polo.
“They really embody the brand,” says Holder. “They’re nice, relatable and they’re good with kids. They’re just cool guys, and that’s what we look for.
The Original Penguin 70th Anniversary Golf Collection is on sale now at select retailers and OriginalPenguin.com.
Before we forget…
We promised you at the top that we’d tell you how Penguin got its name. It’s a story I’ve been dying to tell you since I first heard it at the PGA Show in January.
Let’s go back to 1955 and a traveling salesman for Munsingwear named Abbot Pederson. The Minneapolis-based Munsingwear was an unlikely company to become the touchstone for the active suburban male. At the time, it made underwear, primarily for the military.
Anyway, Pederson was on a sales trip to New York City. After wrapping up his sales calls early and with some time to kill, Pederson did what any mid-century traveling salesman would do when there’s downtime: He hit a local bar for a shot of brown liquor.
Or perhaps several.
Upon leaving the bar, a somewhat wobbly Pederson took a wrong turn and found himself outside a taxidermist shop. The liquor told him he’d need a drinking buddy for the flight home, so he went in and bought an honest-to-goodness stuffed penguin. The liquor also told him to name the Penguin Pete.
Pederson sat Pete in the seat next to him on the plane and, once airborne, proceeded to have several more cocktails on the flight home.
That’s when fate and a stewardess (hey, that’s what they were called in 1955) intervened.
Pete loses his head, but gains logo immortality
Pederson may have boarded the plane feeling no pain, but he apparently got good and snockered once airborne. How snockered? At some point during the flight, he accidentally knocked poor old Pete’s head off.
The stewardess (the official Penguin history describes her as “seductive”) helped Pederson find Pete’s head. She then removed his necktie and used it to tie Pete’s head back on his body. Looking at Pete, she joked that since he looked so dapper in his necktie, maybe Munsingwear should put him on a shirt.
Penguin actually made a video of the story.
“He was a traveling salesman; he did buy a stuffed penguin and he did bring it on the plane with him,” says Holder. “That part is historically accurate. We don’t know how much is true about the head falling off versus the stewardess just wanting to tie a tie around the penguin’s neck.
“We do know there was drinking involved.”
Well, even if it’s a semi-true story, it’s a retro-cool semi-true story. And when legend outweighs the fact, print the legend.
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