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Based in New Bedford, Mass., and, later, in Swannanoa, N.C., the Beacon Company sold so many blankets (21 million a year in the late 1930s) that “Beacon” became a generic for 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. More information on Beacon blankets can be found in “Chasing Rainbows” by Barry Friedman.
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