W.C. Coleman was a travelling typewriter salesman with poor eyesight when a gas-powered shop lamp caught his attention in 1900 — bright enough that he could finally read the fine print on a medicine bottle. He built a business around that light, and by 1914 his lantern was throwing 300 candlepower across rural America, effectively extending the working day for an entire generation of farmers.
Over a century later, the Coleman name has spread from lanterns into coolers, stoves, tents and sleeping bags, but it's still built on the same idea: dependable gear for people who'd rather be outside. More than a century on, Coleman's lanterns alone have sold upward of 50 million units worldwide, and the name remains synonymous with camping across North America and well beyond it.
Honoring our past
What the light led to.
The 1920s
Night football, by lantern
Coleman lanterns lit the first evening football game played west of the Mississippi, turning a daylight sport into something a whole town could watch after work.
The 1940s
Into Europe in a backpack
Soldiers parachuted into Europe in the Second World War with Coleman camping stoves in their packs — a hot meal anywhere, carried by one person.
The 1950s
The cooler arrives
Coleman began building coolers, and the weekend changed shape: food and drink could now travel as far as the family car would go.
The decades since
A whole camp, one name
Tents, sleeping bags and lighting followed, until a single brand could furnish an entire campsite from the ground up.
Everywhere you are
Friends, coolers and campfires.
On the trail
Light enough to carry in, sturdy enough to trust once you are there.
By the lake
The long summer day that runs from breakfast to the last of the firelight.
At the tailgate
A cooler, a grill and a few chairs, parked wherever the crowd is.
At the festival
Three nights in a field, made liveable by a tent and something cold.
Get outside
Keeping the outdoors open.
Coleman works with groups that help more people get outside, and help them leave the place as they found it.
The Outbound Collective
A community that helps people find adventures and campsites close to where they already live.
Leave No Trace
Practical guidance on camping with less impact, so the same spot is worth returning to.