Uni Watch Book Club: The Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Jerseys

I recently got my hands on a review copy of The Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Jerseys, and I don’t mind saying it’s one of the best, most wonderfully produced uni-centric books I’ve seen in years. It’s so good that I had a hard time narrowing down the images to share with you, because it was tempting to share just about every photo in the book. Obviously, that isn’t feasible, so here’s a sampling to give you an idea of what this book has to offer:

• I love how old hockey jerseys used to have contrasting sweater-style cuffs.

• Interesting to see a Maple Leafs jersey with red lettering. That’s Ted Kennedy, circa late-1940s.

• Here’s a really nice trio of Bruins jerseys. The one at top right is the team’s 25th-anniversary jersey, worn in 1948-49.

• Lots to like in this New York Americans jersey.

• Look at the amazing stripes on this amazing Brynäs IF Gävle jersey, which was worn by Börje Salming in the early 1970s. re those red stripes made of leather? Vinyl?

• Marty Barry wore this All-Star jersey in the 1942 “Victory All-Star Game,” in which a team of retired NHLers played the Bruins to raise funds for U.S. Army Relief.

• Here’s as good a view as you’ll ever see of the New York Golden Blades’ jersey design.

• I love seeing old NHL officiating jerseys. The off-white sweater was worn by Bill Chadwick in the 1940s, and the red one was worn by Frank Udvari in the 1950s. Here’s another off-white sweater, this one from the 1930s.

• Always a treat to see the Seattle Metropolitans’ classic jersey design. But what’s with that ribbon-tie thingie in the collar? I asked Teebz, who said, “It appears to be an early style tie-up collar, much like NHL players have today. The rinks back then were literally freezers. By keeping the ‘ribbon’ pulled tight, players could conserve body heat to stay warm.”

• Imagine how awesome this Epinal Squirrels jersey would be if not all the stupid-ass advertising.

• Holy moly, look at all the loop-de-loop chain-stitching on this Italian jersey.

• If you like the looks of this Cambridge University Ice Hockey Club jersey, take a closer look at the crest — tasty!

• Gotta love the pooch on this 1930 Windsor Bulldogs jersey.

• If corporate sponsorship is unavoidable, you could do a lot worse than this Wrigley’s Gum-themed jersey.

• I’m intrigued by the sleeve patch on the red jersey. According the book, the team was the Pittsburgh Hornets, circa 1950s. Anyone know what the patch is about?

• Man, the 1949 NHL All-Star Game must have been a gorgeous sight to behold.

• Speaking of All-Star Games, here’s a beauty from the famous 1934 Ace Bailey Benefit Game. Interesting that they used a six-pointed star.

• The Ace Bailey game was the inspriration for the 1937 Howie Morenz Memorial Game, in which a Canadiens/Maroons split squad played against an All-star team, raising $20,000 for the Morenz family. Here’s a clever photo showing the two jerseys from that game.

• Still more All-Star goodness, this time from the AHL in 1942.

• Oh. My. God. The Edmonton Mercurys wore that design while winning the gold medal in the 1952 Olympics.

• The Ottawa Senators of the early 1920s weren’t exactly humble.

• Have I mentioned lately how much I love texture? That’s a St. Looey Eagles jersey from 1934.

• Sometimes a really simple design totally works. That’s a Victoria Cougars jersey from 1924.

• What’s better than a skating roadrunner? Not a whole lot.

• Most of the photos in the book are full-page images, but there are also a few pages that have smaller pics — almost all of them of spectacular jerseys. Check them out here, here, and here.

I could go on, but you get the idea — it’s a near-bottomless supply of hockey goodness. There’s also plenty of good text, but the photos are really the thing. Not to be missed.

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Culinary Corner: In the last installment of Question Time, someone asked why my food photos always look so good, and I said, “I don’t usually post photos of my failed experiments or things that don’t turn out so well, so the photos I do post may paint a somewhat artificially rosy portrait of my skills.” That prompted several readers to ask me to post photos of a less-than-perfect cooking project.

So: I really like butter tarts, which are these really nice little confections that are extremely popular in Canada (although some sources say they originated in Scotland). The other day it occurred to me that I hadn’t made them in years, so I decided to whip up a batch of them. When made properly, they should look something like this (although I like to add a scattering of chopped walnuts on top).

My recipe for butter tarts goes like so:

1. To make the dough, start by mixing together 5-1/2 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of salt in a large bowl. Cut in 1 pound of Crisco or other shortening with two knives or a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles coarse meal or peas:

2. In a 1 cup measure, combine 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 lightly beaten egg. Add enough water to fill the 1 cup measure. Gradually stir the liquid into the flour mixture, adding only enough liquid to make dough cling together (you may have some liquid left over). Use your pastry blender or knives to mix the liquid in well. Gather this into a ball, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least one hour.

3. Meanwhile, make the filling: In a large bowl, blend together half a stick of butter and half a cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar. Stir in 2 lightly beaten eggs, 1 cup of corn syrup, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. You can also add half a cup of currants if you like (sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t).

4. Preheat oven to 375 º. Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Then use a 4″ biscuit cutter (or an invert metal can that’s 4″ across) to cut a dozen 4″ rounds of dough and position the rounds in a muffin tin to form little “cups” of dough:

5. Use a ladle to fill each cup about two-thirds full. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts:

If you click on that last photo, you’ll see a larger version, which reveals that my dough cups varied wildly in terms of their thickness. That’s because I did a shitty job of rolling out the dough. I was aware of this but went ahead anyway and popped the muffin tray into the oven for about 20 minutes. Here’s how they turned out (you can click to enlarge this photo too):

As you can see, the thicker dough cups expanded so much that they left only a tiny cavity for the filling. Not a disaster, but not ideal.

After letting the tarts cool for about 20 minutes, I used a spoon to remove them from the muffin tin. But this dough turned out a lot flakier than the batches I’ve made in the past, so the shells got damaged as I removed them. Here’s the finished product:

Not awful, but not the best presentation. The good news is that they still tasted really, really good. And I still have a few left over, which I expect to eat later today.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Those annoying postseason caps are going to be worn throughout the wild card, divisional, and LCS rounds. Every team, every player. Sigh. ”¦ Not only that, but the same superfluous logo will apparently be used on batting helmets (photo courtesy of Avi M.). … Omar Vizquel wore No. 17 this year with the Blue Jays. For for the last game of the season — and of Vizquel’s career — Brett Lawrie gave up his No. 13 so Vizquel could wear it on last time. Classy move (from Roch Smith). … Japanese umps recently wore pillbox caps for a throwback promotion (from Jeremy Brahm). … New sweatbacks for Alabama (from Chris Holder). … If you’re a pissed-off Pirates fan, here’s the T-shirt for you (from Kevin Eckhoff). … New hockey uniforms for Bowling Green. “I’m told by people who have seen them in person that the blue-ish patch on the shoulder is a CCHA patch (the hockey conference the Falcons play in),” says Eric Weide. ”¦ Here’s a rare sight: Willie Mays wearing a cap that isn’t a Giants BP cap (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ New visual identity program for the athletics dept. at Ursinus College. You can see the full style guide here (from Greg Weight). ”¦ Here’s TCU’s purple chrome helmet, which they’ll be wearing tomorrow (from Alex Horn). ”¦ Really fascinating article on the design of airline baggage tags (big thanks to Jordan Cutler). ”¦ Schwinn has launched a new bike helmet promotional program called Helmets on Heads. … Remember the two Mike Smiths from yesterday’s wire photo compendium? “In 1989, both of them played for the Rochester Red Wings, the Orioles’ AAA affiliate at the time,” says Paul Bielewicz. “The monikers ‘Texas’ and ‘Mississippi’ were definitely used for them at the time. I remember the PA announcements, etc. for ‘Mississippi Mike Smith’ and ‘Texas Mike Smith’ for that whole season.” … We’ve seen all sorts of early, proto-batting helmet concepts over the years, but until now I’d never seen Frank Chance’s temple guard. “It looks awkward, but I love the jaunty angle of his Yankee cap,” says Chance Michaels. … “I recently took this photo of workers washing the field turf behind Under Armour’s base of operations in Baltimore,” says Andrew Greenwood. “It’s a partial football field with some of the Maryland flag coat of arms in the end zone.” … Toledo football will be wearing gray tomorrow. “I was told they’ll be wearing the matte navy helmet with it,” says Jacob Kubuske. … Boise State’s equipment truck hit a cow while on the road to Southern Miss. “Truck full of blue uniforms: 1. Cow: 0,” says Chester Baker. … “During a Soccer Europa League game on Thursday, the partisan Belgrad fans displayed a banner that for some reason included the Denver Broncos’ logo,” reports a puzzled Jeremy Crampon. … Next week’s installment of NFL Films Presents, which will air one week from today, will feature a segment about a guy who collects NFL socks, hot-cha-cha (thanks to Chris Rocco for the tip). … With the Notre Dame’s Shamrock Series game taking place this weekend, it’s worth noting that the team wore an upside-down-seeming shamrock in 1959 (from Jeff Flynn, Jr.). ”¦ Major uni-related event on tap for me tonight, as I’ll be seeing the awesome Los Straitjackets at the Bell House (and if you’re in the NYC area and have at least half a clue, you’ll be there too). If you’re somehow unfamiliar with their Mexican wrestling-masked charms, here’s a good primer: