L.L. Bean's Bootmobile to Roll (Step?) into Region Today

How does one celebrate a 100-year anniversary?

Well, if you’re L.L. Bean, you construct the Bootmobile — a 20-foot high, 13-foot-long reproduction of the retail company’s iconic footwear that’s attached to a Ford F-250 pickup truck — and launch it on a nationwide tour.

Shoppers at in South Windsor today will be the first residents in Connecticut to get a kick (ugh) out of the Bootmobile, which is making a stop at the L.L. Bean store from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Bootmobile was commissioned in homage to the company’s first product — the eponymous Bean Boot — to mark the celebration of L.L. Bean’s centennial, spokeswoman Carolyn Beem said.

“Nothing screams L.L. Bean like the Bean Boot,” Beem said. “It’s a metaphor to remind people to get out to the outdoors. It’s a means to approach folks of the value of getting outdoors.”

It’s an appropriate message, considering how the company’s founder, Leon Leonwood Bean, started the company by designing a boot that would keep his feet from getting wet when he went on one of his frequent hunting excursions, Beem said.

The Bootmobile, according to Beem, has two drivers to operate the vehicle on its tour — which began in January and has  stopped in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois — and there is storage in the back for materials from the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools.

For the record, the footwear on the Bootmobile is a size 747, which Beem has variously heard would fit Paul Bunyan, the Statue of Liberty and Shaquille O’Neal.

It also gives way to some really awful puns (The phrase "Step on it" certainly got old the second time it was uttered).

All of which Beem takes in stride.

“It’s been an absolute blast,” Beem said. “I love seeing people’s reactions as it drives down the street.”

Don't kick (ugh) yourself if you miss the appearance tomorrow. The Bootmobile will also make an appearance at the Danbury Fair Mall tomorrow and July 13 to mark the opening of the new L.L. Bean store in Danbury.

L.L. Bean is located at 75 Evergreen Way in South Windsor. For more information, call (888) 552-5517.