That’s Ad-Tastic!

January 13, 2010

Several readers have recently written to tell me about Vintage Ad Browser, a site featuring thousands of all print ads, broken down by category. As you might expect, the “Sports” listing is a gold mine of classic old stuff. I’ve sifted out the best material from the 1920s through the ’50s — check it out:

• Here’s a 1925 sneaker ad. Note that the player at far-right is wearing a swastika. (As we’ve discussed before, the swastika was a common graphic symbol in the pre-Nazi era. For details, look here.)

• No swastika here, but I really like this old Keds ad. And check out this one for PF Flyers!

• Remember this experimental Plexiglas facemask? Turns out it was featured in an old Rawlings ad!

• So much to like in this Wheaties ad featuring Ducky Medwick. I especially like the multicolored stars at the bottom.

• Here’s another great Wheaties ad. I particularly like the quote marks on the slogan.

• Lots of spectacular post-style illustrations on this page.

• Love all the clubs shown in this 1930s Macgregor golf ad.

• Oh man, it just doesn’t get any better than this.

• I love old produce labels — especially when they’re sports-themed.

• Here’s a weird one: Bob Feller, in full uniform, on a bicycle.

• Speaking of bikes, check out this beauty.

• There’s something really creepy about this football player checking out people’s socks.

• Never heard of this ball manufacturer before. Love that “Permahyde” mark at the bottom.

• Best. Cycling. Illo. Ever.

• As most of you know, I love bowling. The interesting thing about this ad, aside from it being gorgeous, is the little “Hale America” note at lower-right — that’s the same initiative and “Health” logo that many baseball teams used as a sleeve patch in the 1940s.

• Over the years I’ve run lots of tobacco ads showing athletes smoking, but I don’t think I’d seen this one before.

• The current discussion about certain types of cleats possibly causing knee injuries (Wes Welker, e.g.) is interesting in light of this old Spot-Bilt ad.

That’s enough for today — I’ll share more of these soon. Thanks to everyone who told me about this great site.

IMPORTANT! Membership News: I’ve had some major PayPal hassles of the past few days. As a result, I’ve had to make some changes:

1) I have a new PayPal e-mail address: uniwatching at gmail dot com.

2) I can no longer offer extra raffle entries as a membership benefit — sorry.

3) I ran a membership promotion on Monday, and lots of you signed up (thank you!). If you’re one of those new enrollees from Monday and feel the loss of the extra raffle entries is a bait-and-switch dealbreaker, get in touch with me and I’ll refund your membership fee.

4) I will definitely give away that Jags box, probably next week, but the giveaway is no longer tied to the membership promotion.

Cooperstown Contest Reminder: Remember, I’m currently accepting design submissions for the Cooperstown Hawkeyes primary logo. Details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New 10th-anniversary logo for the Brooklyn Cyclones (with thanks to Terence Kearns). ”¦ Another wonderful PR moment for the Mets. ”¦ Big bootleg jersey bust in Ohio (with thanks to Jason Hillyer). ”¦ Sorta creepy football action figure here (with thanks to Nathan Haas). ”¦ Keith Winney spotted this vintage Browns cardigan with NFL-logo buttons at a thrift shop in Prescott, Arizona. He didn’t buy it, so it’s still available — only $7.50! ”¦ In a vaguely related item, Kelly Hellman spotted this baseball glove ad in a Denver antiques shop. ”¦ Looks like the Warriors have their uni history documented on the wall of their practice facility (as noted by Roger Faso). ”¦ The first-ever Monday Night Football game is now available on YouTube (major find by Chad Todd). ”¦ New logo — or at least logo-in-development — for the NASL (with thanks to Kenn Tomasch). ”¦ David Teigland was nice enough to send me this pair of Minnesota “Meat Raffle” lottery tickets. I don’t care how big the prize might be — no way I’m scratchin’ those off. ”¦ Andrew Cosentino reports that Orioles catcher Matt Wieters has changed his uni number from 15 to 32. ”¦ These new anti-concussion helmets are really getting out of hand (with thanks to Jack Krabbe). ”¦ “I ordered a new Jacoby Ellsbury jersey (in hopes they don’t trade him), so I got a new #2 jersey,” says Ben Hendel. “Unlike the other BP jerseys I’ve seen, this one came with the normal heat-fused ‘fuzzy’ BOSTON across the front, but the name and number on the back are stitched on. I’m curious to see if this will be the BP jersey for 2010, or if they just don’t have any heat-fused Ellsbury in stock since he just changed his number.” ”¦ Hmmm, compression gear for golfers — how soon before John Daly gets his own line of those? ”¦ What are those little numbers on the back of Wayne Chism’s sneakers? “They’re the numbers of his four teammates who were arrested and suspended (#1 Tyler Smith, #23 Cameron Tatum, #33 Brian Williams, #21 Melvin Goins),” explains Josh Williams. ”¦ Gumball helmet king Bill Jones reports that his wife, Cathy, has been bitten by the DIY bug: “She recently made these draw-string backpacks out of old jerseys. She used the team logo, kept the league logos on, and used the arms to make pockets on the inside. They’re smaller and less bulky than regular backpacks. Not included in the photo, but another neat idea, is using old Pop Warner and Little League jerseys for these bags. She has already done a few of those as well.” ”¦ Several readers noted that Donald Driver wore the stretchy in the first half on Sunday but switched to a normal jersey in the second half. ”¦ Sir Saint lives! (Big thanks to Steven Johnston.) ”¦ Throwbacks on tap tomorrow night for IUPUI (with thanks to Mike Miller). ”¦ Really nice timeline of Capitals goalie masks here (with thanks to Matthew Windsor). ”¦ Patrick W. snapped this photo the other day at a Dallas grocery store. “As you can see, they got just a couple of the Cowboys uniform details wrong,” he says. ”¦ Awesome 1962 letter to Maple Leafs players about training camp here (nice find to Chad Todd). ”¦ Lots of Olympics info and photos on the Polo site. ”¦ Tuesday’s installment of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” featured an interesting school mascot tidbit (with thanks to Anil Adyanthaya). ”¦ Oooh, all you Pennsylvania folks, check out this American Legion patch. ”¦ And speaking of patches, dig this Pat Patriot beauty (thanks, Ricko). ”¦ Hmmm, a Pirates minor leaguer with Under Armour logo creep. Does UA have a MiLB deal? News to me (as noted by Chris Weber). ”¦ Looks like Henrik Lundqvist has straight-hemmed his jersey. ”¦ Portsmouth Manager Avram Grant wore a Nike jacket during yesterday’s match against Coventry. “Nothing too weird about that, except that Portsmouth’s apparel supplier is Canterbury of New Zealand,” notes Mike Miller. “Does Canterbury not make a suitable jacket?”

Comments (125)

The cowboys concussion pic isn’t working: link

Collage in today’s PG about the Pitt/UConn series, up top you Brandin Knight in the gold uni, this was the last appearance of the gold prior to the two games last season.