Some of you are probably wondering what W.E. Fox stands for..
W.E. Fox is technically part of our legal name, but it stems back much further than just the "Fox Mercantile - est. 2015". It actually goes all the way back to 1913!
W.E. Fox is Walter Edmund Fox (Papaw Fox), our shop owners grandfather. Papaw Fox was a hardworking father of 7, a Purple Heart recipient from WWII, and the definition of an Appalachian American - loyal, God fearing, and sometimes stubborn in his ways.
"I remember him in his brim hat, Pointer overalls, and leather boots that seemed to be from 1929. If he wasn't eating the beans and taters Granny Fox cooked fresh nearly everday, he had a Copenhagen Snuff tucked in his lip, probably the only bad habit he ever had. You could often find him with his grandkids in the woods teaching us how to whittle a stick into a makeshift knife, slingshot, pop gun or whatever we could think of."
Papaw also loved his hunting dogs and the great sports of the outdoors, hence the patch that you will see on many of our hats to commemorate him.
The woven patch features the etching of a hound dog in the midst of the treeline with Walter's initials and birth year. This patch can be found on the:
- Brown/Khaki
- Heather/Charcoal
- Multicam Original/Coyote Brown
- Realtree Edge/Brown
- Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades