Before Sports Merch Was a Thing

Back in the 60's and 70's it was mostly impossible to buy fan gear. A halfway authentic team jersey? Impossible. Cap? May be, but they were few and far between. Not in any store, but maybe a stadium concession stand.

In 1972 when the Braves changed unis, I tracked down a bucket hat like Donald Davidson wore. Bought it from the ad in the game program. Kids had little disposable income and adults weren’t buying merch.

In the back of Sport magazine there were ads for Mannys Baseball Land, and other similar vendors. Wrote off for a catalog, and bought an unlicensed Falcons jersey. No NFL teams were listed, only photos of the various sleeve stripes. The jersey arrived, and looked okay - but the numbers were plastic, not the sewn on tackle twill numbers of the day. 

In the 80s I was buying wool throwback baseball caps, made by Ebbets Field Flannel and American Needle. Brooklyn Dodgers. Boston Braves. St. Louis Browns. A Babe Ruth era 8 panel Yankee cap. A California Angels cap with the silver halo on top, like Jim Fregosi used to wear. I still have some of them.

By the 90's places like Distant Replays were springing up, feeding the burgeoning sports apparel industry. I'd receive the catalogs in the mail. Only after the turn of the century did it become easier to buy sports merchandise online. Nowadays its even easy to buy cheap Chinese knockoffs from places like DHGate. 

Looking back, being deprived as a kid from a wardrobe of jerseys and caps - and few options until I was like 45 - was probably a good thing. I've gotten rid of bunches of football jerseys (except for two Falcons jerseys). Today I have too many Braves caps and jerseys, plus two Hawks jerseys. At my age, I have too few opportunities to wear them out.

Wednesday: stopped by the DQ in Roswell and took a chocolate milkshake down to my longtime friend Reid. Not a far distance at all - I drive further to golf once or twice a week. After I left his house I called C and asked her if she wanted me to come home and get her, but she said no.

I drove north to Roswell Road, but Anna wasn’t at her office. Checked out the Goodwill next door, then drove back down Piedmont to the Goodwill down there near Garmon Road. 

Then I hopped onto the interstate and drove a couple exits south to Atlantic Station, to check out something at IKEA. While I was there I ordered one of their $1.00 hot dogs. The place wasn’t busy but it took them 5 minutes to fill the order. Goodness.

Then drove north a couple blocks on Northside to check out that Goodwill. Then south to Marietta Street to the Salvation Army store. After that I made the short drive to W&MCs. It was 3:30.

I climbed in the car with Will and the girls, and we drove over to Summerhill for the Braves street party. They were showing the game on two big screens, one on each side of Georgia Avenue, right there by the Little Bear restaurant. Lots of young couples with little kids. Will saw several guys that he knew. He ordered a large plate of French fries, that we all shared.

Blooper stopped by to say hello. Will got the girls ice cream. We crossed the street to check out the scene there. Got our picture taken, and got some posters, stickers, and postcards. Will bought a 2025 NL all star jersey for $25.00. Drove back to Will’s house, then drove the girls up to our house for a couple of nights. By then it was 8 pm.

Snack and baths. I got the bed ready. Read them a few books and got them to bed, and it was 9:30. I’m bushed. Me and Winnie will sleep on the couch. Left my YMCA card in my car, which is down at W&MCs. Guess I’ll be skipping the gym.

       

The Easter service in the JFBC sanctuary was combined with the service in the gym. While the music was definitely Easter themed, there was really only one traditional hymn. Probably the way it will be when the new larger worship center is built. The sanctuary folk will be getting the short end of the stick.

The girls slept past 7 am this morning, but Millie is weaning off her pacifier, so she hasn’t been sleeping well. Didn’t take a good nap this afternoon. Makes for a challenging day. 

Drove C and the girls to a children’s shoe store and it was a disaster. The longer it took, the more the girls wandered around, pulling shoes off the racks. Took an hour to get out of there. Should’ve taken ten minutes. The sales lady kept telling her “Those will only fit for 2 months”. C would ask the girls if they liked the shoes C had picked and they’d shake their heads no.

Watched a little of the Masters. M stopped by to visit.