• Extremely RARE Nike Swoosh employee button pin from the 1980s, featuring a distinctive orange color and promoting Nike as “The Maine Shoe”

• Nike’s origin story begins at the University of Oregon, where a recent graduate and student-athlete, Phillip Knight, partnered up with his former coach, Bill Bowerman, to import running shoes from the Onitsuka Tiger Company in Japan. The company was originally founded as Blue Ribbon Sports in Oregon in the 1960s, selling imported Japanese sneakers out of the trunk of Knight’s car. After some wrangling with Onitsuka Tiger, in 1971, Blue Ribbon Sports began manufacturing the shoe overseas. They hired salesman Jeff Johnson to help market the shoes. It was Johnson (described as “Employee Number One”) who suggested the name Nike – the Greek goddess of victory. Johnson was also tasked with bringing the brand stateside . Then, in 1974, the first stateside manufacturing plant was opened in Exeter, NH.

• The iconic “swoosh” logo, designed by Carolyn Davis in 1971 at Portland State University, had become a fashion must. Nike shoes appealed not only to elite athletes but also to the everyday person. In short order, Nike had 50% of the market. The plant in Exeter produced only a small fraction of the company’s output. Johnson turned it over as the primary location for the firm’s research and development. The company purchased and retrofitted two other plants in Saco and Sanford, Maine in 1978. These plants became the manufacturing hubs for the Air Sole shoes. Unfortunately, Nike announced it was closing the Exeter Plant in 1983. Phillip Knight issued a press release, “that in order to balance production capability with sales and to reduce product costs, Nike will consolidate all domestic footwear production into its Saco-Sanford, Maine facilities.” This production lasted for two more years into 1985, at which point Nike closed the two Maine plants and moved its production fully overseas.

This collectible item is a rare piece of sports fashion and US manufacturing memorabilia that showcases the iconic Nike branding and nostalgia from the 1980s era. Perfect for fans of vintage sporting goods and collectors of unique promotional items, this pin embodies a piece of brand history that is both visually appealing and culturally significant.