![]() ![]() Said Lodermeier: “As a kid I couldn’t wait for the Herter’s catalog to come because me and my friends just rolled on the ground reading his claims and outlandish stories. Herter labeled most of his products “world famous” or “model perfect,” and he claimed many were endorsed by the North Star Guides Association - which didn’t exist. “It’s easy to dismiss him as a crackpot and goofball, but the reality is he was a genius,’’ Lodermeier said. ![]() “He was an icon in Minnesota, and had a lot to do with influencing waterfowling, not only in Minnesota but throughout the United States,’’ said Doug Lodermeier, 60, of Edina, a waterfowl historian and collector who gave a presentation on Herter’s legacy Saturday at the annual Minnesota Waterfowl Association’s waterfowl symposium in Bloomington. Though he died more than 20 years ago, he remains an enigma - and one of the most interesting characters in Minnesota history. ¶ And at the center of it all was George Herter, an eccentric and reclusive entrepreneur, a marketing genius who made brazen, bombastic claims to boost sales of his products. Launched and headquartered in Waseca, Minn., the company was the inspiration for today’s huge mail-order and big-box outdoor retailers. ¶ Herter’s was the Sears, Roebuck of the outdoor industry and was perhaps best known for its waterfowl products. Those catalogs included lengthy descriptions, instructions and bold, often audacious claims - entertaining readers while also enticing them to buy. ¶ Herter’s mail-order catalogs were legendary, hundreds of pages jammed with hunting, fishing, camping and other outdoor gear that could be delivered to your doorstep. ¶ Say the word “Herter’s’’ and a legion of mostly men, now middle-aged or older, in Minnesota and nationwide nod their collective heads in fond recollection. Before there was an Internet or a Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shop or Gander Mountain, there was Herter’s - the first outdoors gear juggernaut.
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