I’ve noticed some recent fashion buzz around fancy penny loafers and it took me back to the preppy years when Bass Weejuns were the loafer of choice. George Bass founded his company in 1876 and turned Wilton, Maine from a farming town into a factory town. He made boots for farmers and loggers and handed the business down to his two sons who died before the Weejuns hit paydirt in the preppy trend. Chesebrough-Ponds purchased Bass with great success, but eventually moved jobs out of Maine to stay competitive in pricing. Gradually, shoe production was moved entirely out of the country and after Phillips-Van Heusen bought the company they closed down production in Maine in 1998. Residents worried that Wilton would turn into a ghost town, but on the Wilton, Maine website, they note the growth of a plastic injection molding business and a state-0f-the-art call center.