In 1957, at the age of 44, Francis Spencer was named product development manager at Pepperell, with the charge of designing a new blanket that would be so unusual and superior that it could keep the factory open in hard times. He led employees in conducting 4,039 experiments over a period of nine years, and finally the first Vellux blankets were produced just before Christmas in 1966. The process required a considerable investment in new equipment by Pepperell Manufacturing, but the commitment to research and the community resulted in a competitive and profitable new product.
