Except for the first three photos (which were submitted by Greg Trandel, Dave Eseknazi, and Jerry Wolper, respectively), all the images in today’s entry are from Bruce Menard, who’s probably submitted more wire photos than anyone over the years. And Bruce doesn’t just find photos and send them in — he cleans them up, plays with their levels, and basically makes them look as good as they can be. It’s a labor of love that the rest of us all benefit from. Thanks, Bruce!
• Here’s something you won’t often see: Rogers Hornsby in a Cubs uni! Love those super-striped stirrups too, natch. Also, note the striped caps (a one-year thing) and the unusual road jerseys (ditto).
• Oh man, look at this incredible minor league uni! That’s Manny Perez of the 1954 Channel Cities Oilers (California League). Could this be where Bill Veeck got the inspiration for the White Sox’s leisure suit jerseys? Love the uni number way down the pant leg, too.
• Smoky Burgess was apparently “clowning” with a cap and three helmets.
• The next time the Tigers make it to the World Series, they should definitely revive this stunt from the 1935 Series.
• Speaking of the World Series, check out these child mascots from the 1922 Fall Classic. Love those striped socks on the Giants kid.
• And speaking of striped socks, check out this 1926 shot of Red Grange. Awesome jacket too, natch.
• While today’s sports world goes way too far out of its way to glorify the military to the exclusion of virtually all other sectors of society, at least we don’t see teams marching with rifles. At least not yet.
• Here’s an early batting helmet I hadn’t seen before. That’s Cy Perkins of the 1921 A’s. Note how his belt buckle is way over on his hip, which was a common style at the time.
• Speaking of early protective headwear, here’s a bizarre executioner-style football mask from 1950.
• Don’t want to you’re your glasses on the gridiron? No worries — this mask has built-in corrective lenses.
• Love this shot of Yankees Hall of Famer Waite Hoyt in a basketball uniform.
• The Cleveland Rosenblums played in the same league that Waite Hoyte was playing in. Interestingly, their jersey script had an apostrophe. The team was owned by Cleveland department store magnate Max Rosenblum, so maybe the apostrophe reflected his ownership — like, “This is Rosenblum’s team.” In any case, the team name a powerful reminder that basketball used to be a Jewish-dominated game.
• Oh baby, check out this Eagles practice jersey from 1939. That’s a T-shirt waiting to happen, no?
• Did the Cleveland Bulldogs really wear this skeleton uniform on the field?
• Anyone want to colorize this shot of the 1937 Boston Shamrocks? I have a feeling I’d really like the color scheme.
• The Yankees 1920 trainer, Doc Woods, had his own special jersey. Love the collar. Think he had a separate pinstriped version for home games?
• This is creepy: Walter Johnson being made a ceremonial Indian chief. Dan Snyder was unavailable for comment.
• What do female ballplayers do? They give each other scalp massages, check their make-up, and take “domestic” ease during rainouts, of course.
Thanks again to Bruce for providing these tremendous images — great stuff.
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
I’ve been obsessed with the famous NFL stickers on Chiquita bananas since the fall of 1970, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen this — a wooden puzzle box with “The NFL Is Stuck on Chiquita Bananas” on the side. Santa, help me out on this!
Nothing else this week can match that, but a few things come close:
• Here’s a vintage 1970s NFL sleeping bag. Maybe from Sears?
• Dave Boss alert, this time for a late-1960s Dallas Cowboys poster.
• Set your game-day table with these 1970s NFL placemats.
• Here’s a 1970s Coke promo Milwaukee Bucks tote bag for ya.
• Got $1,400? Then this huge set of 1970s NFL helmet buggies are yours.
• If your team is based in Washington, why take your team photo on the local bleachers? Instead, do it in front of the U.S. Capitol!
Listen to the Sounds of the Sabres with this record album (yes, the kind that needs a turntable) of the 1974-75 Sabres season, narrated by Ted Darling.
• Here’s one for Paul: a 1950s Knicks warm-up shirt. Only 10K — just bid on it, baby! You know you want to. [That’s been up on eBay for months, maybe years, constantly taunting me. ”” PL]
• And speaking of overpriced goodies, Steve Mandish sent along a link to Ichiro’s game-worn stirrups from one of the Mariners’ Seattle Pilots throwback games. Only nine grand!
Seen something on eBay or Etsy that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here.
ESPN stuff: I have a bunch of ESPN-related stuff in the hopper. One thing at a time:
• In case you missed it yesterday, my latest ESPN column is the annual NBA season preview. Enjoy.
• On Thursday, 2pm Eastern, I’ll be taking part in a live video chat with several writers and editors from ESPN’s college football desk. I’ve never done one of these before, but I’m told it will look like this, only we’ll be talking about uniforms. I’ll get you the proper link for Thursday’s chat once they give it to me.
• Yesterday afternoon I went to a studio in Manhattan, where I spent more than an hour being interviewed for an ESPN 30 for 30 film about Franklin batting gloves and Mike Schmidt’s role in popularizing them. Judging by the questions I was asked, I’d say the finished product is likely to have an impressive level of depth and detail, although it may end up being more of a celebration of branding and marketing than I’m comfortable with (which may explain why they interviewed Darren Rovell right before they interviewed me — he was walking out just as I was walking in). I believe this film will only be airing on the web. The producers aren’t sure when it will go live, although they said early next year was shaping up as the most likely time frame. I’ll keep you posted.
’Skins Watch: High schools in Wisconsin are caught in the middle of a political battle over the use of Native American team names (from Paul Wajgel). ”¦ A Houston Chronicle columnist thinks Lamar High School in Texas should stop calling its teams the Redskins
Baseball News: Excellent spot by Zack Kurland, who noticed that Red Sox bench coach Tony Lovullo is wearing the umpires’ Wally Bell memorial patch. This is the first time I can recall seeing team personnel wearing a patch normally worn by the umpiring crew. ”¦ Here’s another article on the new Arkansas Travelers logos (thanks, Phil). ”¦ Was big Papi’s bat literally changing colors on Sunday night? Nope — it was just veering into the green-screen background (screen shots by Alex Putelo). ”¦ The Marlins are set to bring back the orange. ”¦ Interesting to see that Rawlings offers a tequila sunrise template as a basic stock option in its 2014 catalog (from Alex Allen). ”¦ Good piece on catchers who keep their mitts tethered to their wrists via a Velcro wristband (from David Lewis).
College Football News: Rutgers will mark the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy by wearing NJ-themed helmets this week (from Todd Christensen). ”¦ Gray uniforms on Nov. 9 for Texas Tech, along with an utterly ridiculous helmet. ”¦ Two new uniforms for Northern Illinois: a flag-desecration uni for Nov. 13, and a blackout uni for the final game of the season (from Chris Bentz). ”¦ Funny note from Tim McKay, who writes: “I played football at Texas A&M, so it may come as a surprise that I think Texas has the best uniforms in football. Last night I dreamed they went monotone, white cap, burnt orange tops and burnt orange pants against OU (who happened to be wearing red pants for some reason in this dream). It was excruciating. I woke myself up yelling. I didn’t know who else would appreciate this story.” ”¦ Baylor RB Lache Seastrunk appears to be channeling his inner Flash, at least judging by his socks (from Jeff Braun). ”¦ Blackout uni this weekend for Fresno State. ”¦ I admit I haven’t checked to verify this, but Chris Hall all of the top 10 BC teams this week are outfitted by Nike. ”¦ Rice RB Jayson Carter has FNOB. And yes, he’s also very short, but that’s another story. Full details here (from Nik Streng).
Hockey News: JFK was assassinated 50 years ago in Dallas, so Dallas Stars goalie Jack Campbell has a JFK theme on his new mask (from David Hutchison). ”¦ Star Wars night upcoming for the Toledo Walleye. Further details here. ”¦ Honorary captains Rod Gilbert and Yvan Cournoyer dropped puck prior to last night’s Rangers/Habs game at Madison Square Garden. Note that Gilbert’s jersey had Reebok logo creep, while Cournoyer’s did not.
Soccer News: New World Cup kits for Cameroon, Uruguay, and Chile (from Trevor Williams). ”¦ “Good news/bad news for Manchester United,” says Yusuke Toyoda. “The club renewed its deal with Nike to a tune of over $480 million, but then was forced to apologize for a swastika-ish graphic next to a headline that read ‘New Order.'” ”¦ Also from Yusuke: “Puma ended its sponsorship deal with the South Africa national team after match-fixing allegations in the domestic league, but Bafana Bafana will keep wearing Puma unis because there’s not enough time to find a replacement.” ”¦ One more from Yusuke: “Cardiff City supporters, who’ve had an ongoing dispute with their red-loving team owner, are urging the team to wear the traditional blue alternate unis at all away games. Premier League rules say home colors must always be worn at home, but there’s no such rule for away games.”
I’d love to know the story of how that Ebay seller lost the Cleveland helmet buggy and can only sell a set of 27 instead of 28.
They say “there might be one missing to the set we think the CLEVELAND BROWNS.”
You think??
Yeah, and way too pricey for an incomplete set.
My guess is that, back in the day, the Browns buggy was traded to the kid next door for a box of Mike ‘n Ike’s!
On top of that, the face mask on the Packers buggy is broken. At least the seller positioned that buggy so the broken part is visible. You can see one bar on the near side and two on the far side. All others appear to have intact two-bar face masks
Wait, can you explain why it’s “creepy” for Walter Johnson to be wearing Indian garb? I don’t get that sentiment at all, especially when it appears that there are genuine American Indians presenting it to him.
Here’s a brief, typo-ridden write-up of the publicity stunt (see the text box appearing below the sign-up for a free 7-day trial).
link
There’s a fairly famous photo of Calvin Coolidge with some Native leaders, donning a chief’s headdress in a White House ceremony. I wonder if it was part of the same tour?
Maybe it’s creepy. Maybe it’s an oppressed people’s earnest effort to gain social acceptance. In the 20’s, there weren’t many stars bigger than the President and The Big Train. Maybe the thinking was, “Sure, it’s a stunt. But maybe it gets us some acceptance.”
Cort,
It was a publicity stunt – created by the master / inventor of public relations Ed Bernaise. It was done to “improve” President Coolidge’s not so favorable image with the voting public. Bernaise used the old product placement gag – A celebrity or specialty group (see Native Americans) would be invited to the white house and introduced in a photo op (another Ed B. specialty) then the crafted story would be released to the press. The tactic worked.
Coolidge’s image with the voters actually improved enough that this has become a staple for the politicians and their handlers.
Probably more information than you wanted to know on a uni-site.
As for Dan Snyder – it’s his team, no one is disputing that he can them whatever the hell he wants. They are at odds with the racial epithet the name infers. Whether or not he will be able to profit from that is whats coming.
See how long he ponders the possibility of that situation before he considers changing the teams name.
Thank you, Eltee. I happen to be one of the Attention Deficit uniwatchers: there’s only so much discussion of sleeve lengths and squatchees I can absorb before I’m like that lady in the pharmaceutical commercial, my head filled with clown faces and monkeys and, well, Silent Cal in a headdress. This information was much appreciated.
link you’re thinking of. And just for kicks, link. But link and especially link would suggest that Coolidge was originally given the headdress on a visit to the West, not at the White House. Probably on his 1927 western trip, in which he visited Deadwood, South Dakota to honor the anniversary of the town’s founding.
A link shows just how truly dignified the whole concept of white guys wearing Indian headdresses really is.
Eltee of DC:
I think many of those photos Cort referred to were taken after the ’24 election (Coolidge’s only presidential campaign, in which he crushed his political opponents by a near 2-1 margin so I don’t think he needed to rehab his image with voters at all).
In a bit of irony(?), Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act in June of ’24…a piece of legislation also known as the Snyder Act.
“In the 20′s, there weren’t many stars bigger than the President and The Big Train.”
I’d put Jim Thorpe up there.
and Babe Ruth
As a Washingtonian, that is just a cool old photo. If he finds it squeamish, whatever… but the cheap shot at Snyder was unwarranted and immature.
As a Marylander in Virginia (and a Ravens fan), I liked the cheap shot at Snyder
Don’t get me wrong, I am no fan of Snyder. But, I think the whole name the change debate has delved into each side crying “Nazi” and petty nonsense
It never occurred to me that any shot towards Snyder could be considered “cheap”.
Huh.
Lee
The link about the MUFC swastika needs a fixin’.
I notice you used quotes around “clowning” in your Smoky Burgess description. But did not even mention the clowning of the Tiger in the WS photo.
Just a curious observation (to me).
I used quotes on “clowning” because I was quoting the caption.
Understood.
Crazy that there would be 2 photos with “clowning” used in the same wire service entry day.
It appears that the football squad marching with the rifles are The New York Football Giants… #7 appears to be the legendary Mel Hein… It also appears that the Giants are in their late-’30’s red jerseys and “Michigan” winged leather helmet. I believe they used to train near/in Monmouth, NJ and the military base there.
Ugghhh.. just read the caption!!! My apologies!
No problem Coach…I thought it was interesting that the caption mentions that they trained at a country club.
I believe the Cleveland Rosenblum’s had the apostrophe in their nickname to reflect the name of the team owner’s department store.
Exactly. It’s not possessive in terms of it’s Rosenblum’s ball team, it’s descriptive, in terms of it’s the ball team of Rosenblum’s store. If Macy’s had a team, you’d expect its jerseys to say Macy’s, with the apostrophe, just like you’d expect Target’s team unis to say Target, without an apostrophe or an S.
Incredibly common in the high days of semi-pro leagues. The teams weren’t so much sponsored by businesses, as they were pressed into service as walking billboards for the businesses.
One of my father’s teams was called the NT Travelers. Their jerseys said “Travelers” across the chest, but on the back, above the numbers, it said “Litwin’s”, because Litwin’s Bar & Grill sponsored them.
The Giants “military training” photo is timely. Today is the anniversary of the start of the WWII draft – on this date in 1940, Secretary of War Stimson drew lottery numbers to establish the order of the draft. It was the first peacetime concription in American history, and legislation establishing it (and other war preparedness measures) was very controversial, both nationally and in Congress. But once passed, pretty much every American institution rallied around the law to support compliance and implementation. (See also: Hale America.) Interesting that the Giants photo is August 20, about a week before the Selective Service Act passed the Senate. It’s hard to imagine a pro team today taking such an assertive (if implicit) stand on controversial legislation while it was being debated in Congress – or athletes demonstrating actual solidarity with their peers who’ve answered the call to service.
If athletes really wanted to “support the troops,” they should consider taking a page from the Giants’ playbook. Marketplace on NPR just ran a story on how the bank USAA sends its staff to boot camp so that they can better serve their military and veteran clients: link
What’s old is new again. Must be 1984 again with the “tequila sunrise” template back in the everyday rotation of uniform manufacturers.
PS, that Arkansas Travelers identity is GARBAGE. Brandiose may have jumped the shark on that one. Complete rubbish.
The female ballplayer checking her makeup was fined $100 for punching an umpire? NICE! Wonder what the charges would be if she had CB Bucknor behind the plate?
^^^This.
Bucknor is horrendous.
Cornoyer’s jersey was an old-style CCM sweater with the pre-2000 logo placement on the hemline.
I like how they went with the 1970s-style numbers (the Habs have used an angled cross-stroke on the 2 since circa 1984), but it always bothers me when these ceremonial Canadiens throwbacks have the rounded NOBs introduced in 1997 when Montreal switched to Starter. By the time they were back with CCM in 2000, the logo had moved to the back of the neck (and would’ve been Jofa for the red jersey pre-2004 lockout).
“Cournoyer”, by the way (my bad for copying and pasting the bad spelling).
“Yvan,” as well.
Rice’s Jay Carter… not to be confused with Rice’s Justin Carter
That Eagles 1930’s practice jersey – oh yes.
Gotta love that logo. If only they would use it again.
Mitchell & Ness made a version of that logo which I believe was inspired by this original design. They’ve done a few items like hoodies & jackets:
link
My favourite jacket. I know the price is high, but the quality is superb.
Imagine if Mitchell & Ness was the NFL supplier? If only their boss Reebok would sit quiet and let them do their thing…
If Mitchell and Ness ever reproduced that jersey, I would buy that in a heartbeat.
Yes, yes. Great logo, great snapshot, and look at that mug on Davey O’Brien!
It’s a shame I loathe the Eagles so much, because that is one sweet logo.
Big Papi’s bat is chenging colors probably due to the Ad in the background being computer generated on a green screen. If you check out the bat when it is partially in the area of the ad the tape is red with a pretty straight line across where the ad goes. I have seen broadcasts where those bards in the background are green like the green screens you see in movie production.
I should have kept reading…
Re Doc Woods: a former co-worker’s dad grew up across the street from Yankee Stadium in the same high-rise apartment building that he lived in, and was the young boy mentioned in this story.
link
But here’s the odd thing. I spent several hours with my co-worker examining the ball and trying to determine the year it had been autographed (a ball autographed by the legendary 1927 Yankees team being roughly triple the value of a similar ball from any other year). Eventually we concluded it had been signed by the 1926 Yankees, which a professional authenticator later confirmed. Yet the article says the ball was given to my co-worker’s dad in 1927.
I believe team photos in front of the Capitol were the norm for the burgundy & gold. I’d like to see all the DC teams, especially the Capitals, do it or something similar.
The Redskins will never do it any time soon, they have alienated themselves as Washingtonians… play and practice suburbs, I am guessing most the players have never even been down town, and its unfortunate.
I liked the picture but did not see coach Lombardi.
Thanks for the Wire Service shout-out today Paul!
Hope everyone enjoys them. Btw, here’s a much more cleaned-up version of that pic of the 1922 World Series mascot kids: link
Cheers!
~Bruce
Oooh, nice, Bruce.
Could it be that the Yankee mascot (Eddie) is not a kid but an adult? That face of his looks considerably post-boyish.
Also note Eddie’s belt-buckle-to-the-side fashion. Lots of ballplayers from that era sported that look. Even into the 1950s, tough kids — kids who smoked, or got in lots of fights, or wanted to look like the kids who did — were careful to keep the buckle on the side. Direct line of descent, I think, from John McGraw to my brother Pat.
Apologies to Tom Nawrocki, who already posted about Eddie’s age when I belatedly asked Bruce.
Eddie reminds me of Kayo, from the old “Moon Mullins” comic.
link He did not miss many World Series, did he?
And it should not be forgotten that The Babe had his own PERSONAL mascot, link.
Know what I find amazing in that photo? The condition of the field. Shots like that always serve to remind how players had to cope with uneven playing surfaces, bald spots and the like. Players today don’t know how good they’ve got it.
Thanks, Bruce!
From that auction lot, absolutely dig this link. Superb vintage UCLA uniform.
Bruce – If you did not see my post in the replies yesterday, keep an eye – or even two – for ANY pic you might see of the Babe and Casey Stengel together. It seems to be one of the photographic history of MLB’s biggest enigma – there seems to be ZERO such images in existence.I even made an inquiry to the HOF photo people, and THEY couldn’t find one!
I am betting you can find one! :)
What’s with the AT&T logo on the Texas Tech helmet?
Reflection, if you look at the twitter convo. My first thought as well.
I am intrigued by the stars over the national logos on the Cameroon and Uruguay soccer jerseys. Each has 4 stars. Most other countries add stars to the logo only for World Cup championships (Brazil, Italy, England). Uruguay is apparently representing its 2 World Cup wins plus its 2 Olympics wins, Cameroon its 4 Africa Cup of Nations wins.
Whoa, Matthew, that’s good stuff. What do you think of the looks? I like all three.
Agree, Connie. Kudos to Puma for keeping the template simple. It’s been done before, but I really like the sublimated pattern too.
I like simplicity, but sometimes, Puma makes things too simple – I thought this was especially noticeable in 2006, when it seemed like all the uniforms looked like variations of what you’d buy for your pub team at Eurosport.
That said, Puma’s generally done a good job with Cameroon especially. You can go overboard with sublimated patterns but this one works.
There is no ruling on what stars can be worn. You could put 5 stars on your badge for decoration if you want.
George,
Yes you are right, there is no rule.
But you’d have to agree there is a pretty strong tradition for stars meaning world cup championships for national teams and league championships for club teams. IMHO putting stars on logos for any other reason makes the organization look ignorant or pretentious or both.
I’m not a huge fan of the big Italian teams, but you gotta love Juventus and Milan wearing stars representing 10 Scudettos each.
Manchester City uses three stars above their decidedly Aryan-looking eagle, which, as City’s opponents delight in pointing out, represent absolutely nothing.
Uruguay’s two Olympic wins were in 1924 and 1928, before the World Cup began, so the Uruguayan federation counts them as world championships.
Matt,
Thanks for that info, Uruguay’s approach has some logic to it.
Cort,
Man City does have 3 league titles (1937, 1968, 2012). The Aryan nature of the eagle is a matter of opinion, I guess. Lazio’s eagle seems much more so to me.
Yankee mascot Eddie Bennett was not a kid, but a fully adult “little person.”
You’re exactly right and I knew that, just wasn’t thinking when I was typing about the re-edited photo. The wire tag is also correct in that it mentioned Eddie’s status as a mascot (but not a child).
My first thought was that he reminded me of Rocky from Looney Tunes: link
RE: NIU’s new unis
I hate the flag desecration crap on the Ball State one, but it could be a lot worse. As for the blackout one, do you think there’s anything to NIU’s Twitter questioning if it’s legit or are they just trying to damage control a leak?
Waite Hoyte’s uniform would be a nice alternate for the Brooklyn Nets.
The news of the return of the orange caps for the Miami MLB team just made my day!
Back home from a weekend in London, attending the SF/Jax NFL game at Wembley Stadium…
Regarding the “Jaguras”, I can confirm the guy with the A flag was caught napping by the unexpected Jacksonville score and was overtaken by the R.
The absence of pink was noticable. Apparently we don’t have breast cancer in England.
As the “home” team, the Jags featured a number of UK servicemen during TV time-outs, so I’m disappointed that none of the coaching staff were wearing poppies as we approach Remembrance Day (the equivalent of US Veterans Day). In the first year of their four year commitment to play here each season, the Jags do appear to be trying their best to be considered the UK’s team, so I hope they do more in the future (if their games are this time of year).
The singing of the anthems was probably not shown stateside, but Ne-Yo’s “interpretation” of the Star Spangled Barrier was shown up by Laura Wright, the young soprano, who sang God Save The Queen.
Fabulous Wire service photos today. I always enjoy them but today was extra good.
Thanks Bruce and guys.
You’re welcome LarryB!
indeed! great work, bruce.
Thanks Marc!
Seems to me those finding Nazi-esque imagery in the Man U logo and the Canadian hockey team jerseys are people just looking to find offense. I guess this is what western society has become people looking to be offended by anything and everything.
I’m guessing it’s the combination with the words “New Order”. I guess it’s easy to forget the reference to a band from Manchester when the club’s become such a global entity.
Of course, the band name “New Order” was clothed in its own fascist implications, as was noted at the time of its formation. Particularly given that the group emerged from the ashes of a band named after a Nazi concentration camp sex slaves.
Yeah, that connection is a little creepier for me, as much as the members claim “New Order” is not a Nazi reference. I mean, Joy Division originally formed Warsaw, in reference to David Bowie’s “Warszawa” during, you guessed it, his Nazi flirtation period.
Yeah, I think this is the other factor that some would see, while others not familiar with Joy Division and New Order might miss, sort of the third leg to the stool.
I saw the headline/initial blurb on the Guardian (I think) and initially thought, “What? this sounds a bit implausible” then clicked the link, saw the graphic, and thought, “Geez, how did anyone miss that?”
Regardless, if we all know the world is like this, then why even put it out there for people to take offense? It’s just ridiculous that this even went out without someone A. noticing the mark’s similarity in form to a swastika or B. saying, “You know, we might want to rethink this.”
yeah, saying it’s a swastika is a bit of a stretch tho i can see where folks may get the wrong idea. all the incidents – racial and otherwise – in european sports lately have likely and rightly made people more sensitive to this sort of thing.
i was more offended that apparently it spells out “MUFC” but it looks more like “EFCU” to me.
Seems to me those finding Nazi-esque imagery in the Man U logo are just people with eyes. I mean, seriously, it’s red and black, it’s a diamond with sharp right angles along each side, it’s even tilted 45′ from horizontal. The letters MUFC are rendered in a geometric sans-serif type typical of Fascist graphics. Whoever made that graphic was pretty literally asking for people to make the swastika connection, even though I’m sure the whole thing was unintentional.
I suspect it’s simply the passage of historical time at play. Most of those who touched this particular promo were probably born 40 or more years after the end of WWII. For context, in the generation after 1815, Napoleon was regarded as the pinnacle of tyrannical evil across the English-speaking world. Even in America, “Bonaparte” carried a rhetorical punch akin to “Hitler” for post-WWII Americans. But by the time you get to the end of the 19th century, which is as far from Napoleon as we are from Hitler today, Napoleon was becoming just another historical conqueror, not a personal embodiment of evil.
So you can sort of understand how someone who grew up without parents or grandparents who’d fought in WWII, who grew up after cable channels (or the BBC) stopped showing WWII documentaries all the time, and whose closest encounters with fascist symbolism probably comes from the Indiana Jones movies, could A) Sort of have an inkling of the visual power of these particular images; and B) Not have any conscious idea of where the inkling comes from, or why it’s best not acted on.
“Seems to me those finding Nazi-esque imagery in the Man U logo are just people with eyes.”
That’s about what I was thinking.
Whoever made that graphic was pretty literally asking for people to make the swastika connection, even though I’m sure the whole thing was unintentional.
Having lived in both UK and US, I get the sense that the British are more sensitive to WWII imagery than Americans. It’s totally understandable, since the mainland was actually bombed by Germans, but I also remember a very frosty response when Emperor Hirohito died in 1990 (?).
Given that context, I agree – intentional or not, they should’ve known better. Though with the club colors being red and black, and with the reference to a Mancunian band, it’s a set of unfortunate coincidences.
I think mostly it is the red and black color scheme. I am wondering if Man U had the same logo but their colors were say green and gold anyone would have said anything. I don’t think so. Same thing with the Canadian hockey uniforms. The western world has gotten so mired in political correctness it is getting ridiculous. People and media are just looking for anything to be offended about.
The old leather helmet with the full mask looks like something a professional wrestler would wear!
or SHOULD wear!
I love the photo of the old 1939 Eagles practice uniforms… The NFL would be smart marketing wise to make things like that the norm again. Not only would it be a great way to experiment with new designs for Nike, but it would create a new avenue for merch.
Those Ichiro stirrups are nice! 9k nice…..uhhhhh, No!
The listing said it had one “offer”. I wonder what it was? $50.00 tops?
I would agree, but then I was surprised to learn that his jersey could link over 12,000.
Yea, but with these stirrups, there are no id markers to indicate Ichiro wore them, as you would get from a jersey. I understand there’s a COA, yet at least make some sort of effort in a nice, possibly framed, presentation if you’re trying to get 9K.
Even after all the time that has passed since that game, I still find it unsettling that the current Seattle MLB team dressed like the former Seattle MLB team…those uniforms are part of the Milwaukee MLB team’s history.
“Anyone want to colorize this shot of the 1937 Boston Shamrocks? I have a feeling I’d really like the color scheme.”
The best part has to be those helmets!
This is link
It’s what Waldo from the Little Rascals would have looked like had he played football.
Steam punk essential.
The name of the star Yankee pitcher (and later Reds announcer) featured in a couple of the wire photos was Waite Hoyt, not Hoyte.
“Buried in this 1933 Ticker-style item is the following: “Members of the Cleveland Bulldogs professional football team are galloping ghosts. They wear uniforms with skeletons painted on the front, and as their games are played at night, the effect is spookish.” Wish we could see a photo of that! (Great find by Jerry Wolper.)” – From link
Anybody want to buy this from the LA Times archives?
link
Here’s the Google News preview:
“When the Skeletons Are Closeted Together‎
Pay-Per-View –
Los Angeles Times – Oct 9, 1933
These members of the Cleveland Bulldog professional football team are shown In … Most of this team s games are played at night and the effect of the skeleton …”
And here’s our wire photo, as it was reproduced in the Tuscaloosa News on October 27, 1933:
link
Note that they airbrushed out the hand holding the football.
Very cool!
Something is not adding up here. The Cleveland Bulldogs moved to Detroit in 1928 and became the Detroit Wolverines. After one season in Detroit, the team was sold and became part of the New York Giants.
The NFL returned to Cleveland in 1931 as the Indians and Howie Kriss did play in two games for that team, his only games in the NFL.
As far as I know, there were no NFL teams in Cleveland in 1933 and no teams in the NFL called the Bulldogs after the 1927 season. However, this photo is currently up for auction and it is described as “the 1933 Cleveland Bulldogs of the NFL.” My guess is this is an independent team or a team in a rival league. But I can’t find any record of which league (not that any of this makes the uniform any less interesting).
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The first American Football League of 1926, which lasted only one season, had a Cleveland Panthers team that continued as an independent club until 1934. Perhaps these Bulldogs could be a long-forgotten alternate name or name change of that club?
Bruce, these are amazing!
You holding anything back on the AAGPBL? I’m working on an extended history of the Milwaukee Chicks for their 70th anniversary next year, and I’m woefully short on art.
Thanks Chance!
Regarding the Milwaukee Chicks, I don’t think I have anything but I’ll let you know if I come across any pics/art.
Regarding the Wisconsin high school and their Indian name…
The story says that the name of the town, Mukwonago, means “home or place of the bear” in Potawatomi. They have a nickname built right into their town name! In my opinion, they should be the Mukwonago Bears. Maybe they could have someone from a local tribe design a bear logo for them. I think that would be a great way to bridge the gap and compromise on the Indian name issue.
This idea is fantastic on so many levels! It offers a reasonable compromise to a sensitive subject; it respects traditions and acknowledges local history; it bucks the “let’s steal some college logo” mentality that afflicts many high school uniform designs; and it gives some work to a local designer.
A really, really good idea!
That Rawlings catalog photo is interesting. In the bottom left, there is a UVA uniform but UVA does not have a regular gray road uni. They do have a white and baby jersey with similar lettering and numbers. Could that be an upcoming addition?
Looks like my phone auto-corrected whatever I typed for “navy” to “baby.”
Wesley Morris has a nice little piece on Grantland about link.
Short version: he likes them, much better than the San Antonio camos.
The “executioner style” leather face mask looks like it has some kind of logo on the forehead between the eyes. It vaguely looks like the old Everlast logo. If so, it would be interesting that one sport’s (football) players would find and make useful another sport’s (boxing) equipment.: link
IDK if it’s my OCD, but the NFL helmet buggies have the Steelers helmet wrong! Ugh, I absolutely HATE it when anyone puts the Steelers logo on the left side of the helmet!
The top 10 BCS teams are indeed supplied by Nike. Did you mean to write BC or did you forget the S?
Yep, and 15 of the top 25 are Nike, while 3 are Under Armour, and 7 are adidas.
New Minor League affiliate of the baseball club in Cleveland:
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Interesting…Akron RubberDucks…
Not a new affiliate, just a new nickname for the double-A team that’s been playing in Akron.
So is MILB pretty much dictating that a certain number of teams need to be rebranded/ renamed each winter so Brandiose can stay in business? Can’t any of these teams “buy local” and have local design companies do their logos for them? Why must they all go such a corporate route?
More importantly, why do MiLB teams have to jam words together? Rubber Ducks, with a space in between, is a perfectly acceptable team name in a country where Mud Hens and Super Bowl are things. (Looking at you, MuckDogs, TinCaps, IronPigs, etc.)
Was the Charlotte Knights rebrand mentioned over the weekend? It’s the one Brandiose job so far this offseason that I actually like: link
That’s nothing I recently learned that the local community college in the area I grew up in changed their name from the “Trailblazers” (which had been changed from the original “Frontiersman” both good names for a school in the Niagara Frontier region) to the ThunderWolves whatever that means.
Didn’t someone somewhere suggest that the Charlotte Knights will now like like the Central Florida Knights? Color scheme will be quite similar.
It’s a stupid name.
It’s a depressing name. Like IronPigs and TinCaps and Lugnuts, it’s meant to acknowledge an industry (steel, farming, manufacturing) that if it hasn’t actually disappeared, does not define its community like it used to. Where rubber production used to be the reason a town like Akron existed, today most of the tire plants are closed, and the town is best known as the Meth capital of Ohio.
The whole thing is like Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen didn’t sing for working guys; Springsteen sang about working guys. Working guys’ college student sons listened to Springsteen. The working guys listened to Johnny Cash or Nancy Sinatra or somebody. These names all bear the stink of workshopping and people in business suits and BS like “our objective was to reflect the rich tradition and proud history that makes (insert city here) the perfect place to raise perfect families — like yours!”
You know what we need? More teams named “Bears”.
Cort, you remind me of a light bulb that recently went off in my head. I’m a big but casual Waylon Jennings fan, and his song “Drinking and Dreaming” has been a favorite of mine for at least a decade. But it was only in the last couple of weeks that I finally understood what the song was all about: Sure, it’s about a guy who knows he’s never going to realize his big dreams – “some people are born to be tied down / some people are born to be free” and he’s the former – but the real tragedy is just how meager his dreams are. I think I’d always heard the refrain metaphorically, but what he says is, “Drinking and dreaming / Knowing damn well I can’t go / I’ll never see Texas, LA, or old Mexico.” Take that literally and it breaks the heart: All the guy wants is to visit Los Angeles, or Texas, or slip over to Tijuana once, and even that is out of his reach.
What we need is not more teams named “Bears.” What we need is more team execs with the courage to call their teams the “Rubbers” if that’s what they really mean.
If Indian names are going to be stricken from the canon, we need more choices, not less.
Well said.
I interviewed a lady a few years ago, for a church thing. She was desperately poor, and had been through some horrible struggles. We wanted to do something nice for her. We thought she could use a relazing night on the town. I asked, “If you could enjoy a meal at any restaurant in Houston, where would it be?” She thought for a few seconds, and then her face lit up. “I really love the fries at Whataburger,” she said. “I haven’t had those in ages.”
I’ve never felt more ungrateful, or out of touch.
Wouldn’t “Akron Rubbermen” have lent itself to some amazing, William Joycean design elements?
I don’t know if you’ve ever been part of a logo design or rebranding project, but it’s much, much more painful than you could ever imagine. And I’m guessing that a lot of minor league towns simply don’t have design firms with the capability or capacity. At the very least, a set of new identities for a baseball team is going to put a huge strain on a mid-market design firm.
Given all else, I’m guessing Brandiose can outbid other firms and put together a more polished pitch.
At the Akron Aeros game I attended in August, a pair of ducks flew over the field at one point. Coincidence?!
I’m a bit intrigued by the straps holding the mitts on the catchers’ hands. I’m not sure I like it and am not sure it should be legal…..If a player, trying to score, knocks the mitt (and) the ball out of the catcher’s hand, them’s the breaks….I don’t think the catcher should be allowed to use the apparatus to prevent something like this. It’s an unfair advantage.
I’d like to know the reasons the catchers and Sandoval give for needing the strap.
(I know hitters use gloves and pine tar to give a better grip, but any arguments using those examples don’t really apply here.)
That’s a really interesting point that I hadn’t thought of. Hmmmmmm…..
I kinda felt the same way with Bonds’ elbow armor and, now that I think of it – any type of elbow guard that’s more than just a sleeve.
I’m not sure what kind of advantage a catcher gains by having this anyway. Like, what’s the point?
not sure of the legitimacy but from a girls fast-pitch softball site (quick google search)
“One thing we see on gloves with velcro wrist straps is that catcher will cinch the wrist strap down as soon as they put their hand in. This can actually prevent them from closing the glove completely when catching. It’s worth a try to have them put the glove on with the wrist strap loose, then squeeze the glove closed tightly before securing the wrist strap. It will feel slightly loose but she won’t have to fight against the wrist strap to close the glove when catching…. ”
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nevermind… i read that backwardsssssssssss (ignore meeeee)
It would keep the mitt on. I know in my rec league (yes, it’s EXACTLY the same as being a major leaguer), my glove routinely tries to escape my grasp on especially hard throws to first and the tightening strap along the back of my hand that’s built into my glove doesn’t always help in this regard. Gloves come loose pretty regularly on plays…. There has to be some advantage, otherwise they wouldn’t be using it.
Having never caught a game at any level beyond picnic softball games, the Occam-friendly explanation seems to be that catchers like to air out their non-throwing hands but still have the mitts readily available.
I just don’t see how a wrist strap helps grip the ball during a home base collision.
terriblehuman – it keeps the mitt on the hand….I didn’t say anything about holding on to the ball other than runners trying to score try to smash the mitt and the ball….
My guess is that the wristband protects the catcher’s wrist from being snapped back on a hard pitch, rather than helping to hold onto the glove. That would explain why it is almost exclusively used by catchers. The web site’s explanation of a way “to keep the glove on your non throwing arm when you want to give your non throwing hand some air” makes no sense to me.
David – it isn’t a hard, plastic piece holding anything steady….it’s simply a wristband and a velcro strap.
The web site’s explanation of a way “to keep the glove on your non throwing arm when you want to give your non throwing hand some air” makes no sense to me.
Doesn’t it, though? Say you want to go talk to the pitcher on the mound, and free your hand for a bit, you’re not going to leave the mitt on the ground, are you? It’s not essential, but it does seem useful.
terriblehuman….Why can’t they just take their mitt off like all the other players? Honestly, I don’t believe what they’re trying to sell.
Additionally – did anyone read any of the other articles in the Tuscaloosa paper (the Cleveland skeleton uniform link)?
10,000 species of birds…..Lefty Grove traded…..Breakfast: 2 eggs, any style, 2 strips of crisp bacon, 2 slices of buttered toast and a cup of coffee with cream preserves – $0.15! Fifteen cents! Awesome.
I’ll be discussing baseball uniforms (pants/socks, mostly, but some other stuff too) on NPR’s “All Things Considered” today.
Encourage a nationwide fan strike to ban pajama pants!
Just been told that the interview will likely air at 5:25pm Eastern.
I see you managed to throw in “athletic aesthetics” in there.
Just aired. Look for the audio here sometime after 7pm EDT:
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first thing i noticed about those northern illinois flag unis: the “stripe” side has three white stripes. uniform is made by adidas. coincidence? probably not.
NIU is 8-0 and trying to climb the BCS to a top-level bowl position while also trying to leapfrog over Fresno State. I know I’m being superstitious, but at this point I’m thinking, “Don’t fuck with the uniforms!”
I still maintain that the Patriots socks—with three stripes–(nowhere else anywhere do they ever show three stripes in their portfolio)…are a holdover from when adidas was the maker mark on their unis.
No one will believe me tho.
Hey Tim McKay, as an OU alum, I can appreciate the horror of your dream. In fact, any time Texas is in my dreams, it’s bad. :)
Chris Hall is correct. The top 10 teams in the BCS poll — Alabama, Oregon, FSU, Ohio State, Stanford, Baylor, Miami, Clemson, MIzzou and OU — are all Nike schools.
In fact, the top 13 teams are Nike schools.
I stand corrected. Forgot Auburn was an Under Armour school, not Nike. So 11 of the top 15 are Nike schools.
ah, we have a mystery solved!
some time ago i came across this pic (which was included in a ticker, but it’s been some time ago and i can’t find it right away to link to it)…bert bell (based upon the info i had, this was some time between 1933-40)…
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now we can see what was on the shirt…this apparently was an early incarnation of the philadelphia eagles logo!
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After reading UniWatch first I was skeptical of the Texas Tech uniforms, but after reading this article (see link below) I love the Red Raiders’ uniforms. The red wings on the helmet commemorate Operation Red Wing, which the book “Lone Survivor” was written about, so I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to call these helmets (which will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go towards the Lone Survivor fund started by the only survivor from Operation Red Wing) “utterly ridiculous”.
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Something can be well-intentioned and still be utterly ridiculous. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
This is true. I was under the impression you thought they were ridiculous because of the design: the red wings and the mottos on it, but when I found out they represented the Seal team involved in and who lost their lives during Operation Red Wing it was difficult for me to find them ridiculous
The Cleveland Indians’ Double-A affiliate has rebranded. Adios, Akron Aeros. Let’s get squeaky for the Akron RubberDucks! At least there’s no purple in the new color scheme….
Oops. I missed the earlier post about the Akron baseball team.
For those of you who stay up late: Lou Reed, Knicks fan. Includes a video with Metallica at MSG in a rendition of “Sweet Jane.” Crank it up if you dare!
In my enthusiasm, I neglected the link. Here goes:
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As an Alum, I have really mixed feelings about Northern Illinois’ special uniforms, which I’ll get to. Before I get into this, I just want to point out that Northern Illinois is an Adidas school. I started there as a student in the fall of 2007 and, at the time, they were wearing the same uniforms (Only red and white; they added the black version a couple of seasons ago) that they have now. Their uniforms aren’t my favorite, but I’ve always like that they just had 3 basic designs. On the flip side of that, I didn’t like that they had the same uniforms for 7 seasons. I always felt like Adidas was putting their names on the game jerseys, but otherwise wasn’t doing anything for NIU. Adidas doesn’t even make the replica jerseys sold in the school bookstores. They’re made by a company called Sportex. There’s also very little NIU merchandise, in general, made by Adidas. When NIU qualified for the Orange Bowl, all of a sudden Adidas took notice and provided them with “special” uniforms for the occasion. Now that they’re undefeated, ranked, and knocking on the door of another possible BCS spot, Adidas is all of a sudden providing them with “special” uniforms again. I don’t like that Adidas only “supports” NIU when it’s good for Adidas.
West virginia power have a new logo for “10 seasons” for next season
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