An American brand is born
The Timberland brand was birthed from a small, New England-based shoemaker, The Abington Shoe company. In 1973, Abington Shoe used an innovative molding technique to produce a waterproof, 6-inch Nubuck leather boot that could withstand harsh weather. The company called it the Timberland boot. By the late 1970s, 80% of all the products Abington Shoe sold were Timberland boots. So in 1978, the company changed its name to Timberland, according to a 1983 article from The Boston Globe.
In the beginning, Timberlands were for "people who worked in factories or construction," says Rob Walker, Author of "Buying In: What We Buy and Who We Are." But as the boot rose in popularity, the Swartz family who owned the brand wanted to appeal to a "high-end" clientele "who wants to go away for the weekend and be comfortable," Timberland's then-principle store designer, Cebra Robusto, told The Boston Globe in 1988. The company took out ads in magazines like The New Yorker and sold the shoe at stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, according to a 1985 The New York Times.