It started with an idea I must give credit where it is due- Madmen in the 60's hired by the United States Rubber Company, then US Rubber, now Uniroyal. These advertising geniuses created one of the top iconic brand names in the world-up there with Kleenex and Q-tips. I refer to the mythological creature where expanded PVC comes from- the "Nauga."

That brand name was based on the city where this durable, synthetic leather was produced-Naugatuck, CT. A marketing campaign of the 1960s and 1970s asserted humorously that Naugahyde was obtained from the skin of an animal called a "Nauga". The claim became an urban myth.


A few weeks ago, I was mentioning this incredibly successful advertising campaign to some of my employees when it dawned on me Sommers, too, should adopt an animal-friendly creature. After all, we are proud declaring that "no animals were killed or harmed" in the making of Sommers' plastics. With a nod to Uniroyal and a quick Google search for  Stegasaurus pattern making, I purchased my first Singer sewing machine. I conceived our new mascot-the Sommersaurus.

 A few days later, the pattern arrived. This was also a first for me though I caught enough episodes of Project Runway not to feel totally incompetent. I brought home a handful of assorted materials from Sommers' warehouse and started cutting. Within a relatively short gestation period...voila! As a novice on a sewing machine birthing a Sommersaurus took a lot of labor (as all Sommersaurus moms know!).

Never one to follow directions all that well, I stopped referring to the pattern making instructions and began to sew and sew falling right into Sommers' trademark- "fashion engineering"- thinking, hmm...can I put a spring into the mouth so it will open and close?

The instructions call for cutting fins from stiff felt. Sommers don't sell no stinkin' felt. That would not do. I glued various colors of Sommers' PLEASURE lambskin back-to-back with contact cement. Neh. Getting better at the sewing machine, I made the fins from sewn, inverted pouches (pulling these little pockets rightsideout looked too much like birthing so I will leave those graphic photos out of this blog. I stuffed the fins with cotton-fill and added pipe cleaners for that little something extra. ChromaFlair fins, Thermochromatic color-changing fins and colorful Pleasure lambskin one here, one there until it looked exactly like a Sommersaurus should look.

Exotica Croc is cool for the body- soft and easy to sew. Cognac Crocback is stiffer and would be ideal for the underside. A little bit of "The Web" on the underside of the feet (paws?) worked well.

I could use "Glow-in-the-Dark" to make awesome teeth. Then again, the mouth would be easier to sew without teeth and she would truly be "animal-friendly" like Sommers Plastics and more like her herbivorous procreator. Vegan Sommersaurus.

How about a tongue that "works?" I spied on my desk a Sommers' metal yardstick we once gave out as a premium. You know the kind that curls up like a snap bracelet? I'll cut it and insert it into the tail to curl up or straighten out. Oh...AND the tongue, too! Now I'm psyched. 


Last night, Sommers' Sommersaurus was born healthy and raring to go.
This morning, traveling in her very own Sherpa bag (borrowed from my Pomeranian, Foxy) with tongue fully excited, she met all of her co-workers who loved her so. Can't wait for the next trade show to introduce her to the world.

Once I get over these labor pains, I might even consider a second. After all, I have learned much from my firstborn Sommersaurus and can only imagine how the next ("POPPER" Color Change, anyone!?!) one will pop out. Stay tuned
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 Thank you, Nauga