Southwest Airlines uniforms (1981)

Loving you is what we do! The lovely ladies above can love me all they want. I love latently sexist single entendre of ads from this era. The tag line might as well be "you'll probably get laid your flight." I'm definitely digging the short shorts, go-go boots and string ties on these ladies! Beats the heck out of their plain jane "uniforms" now- or is that Plane Jane? Get it?! I'm brilliant.

midcentury Levi's silkscreened banner (1950s)

yo yo yo, caught this on the Antiques Roadshow, by far my guiltiest pleasure on television. This silkscreened on denim banner came out of a general store in Camp Verde, Arizona and was valued at $1800-2000. I guess that episode was a rerun from 2006, so I would expect to go for slightly less now, but holy shit, I would LOVE to own that thing! This bad larry is 10 feet long and from the 1950s.

safety suit for aviators (1910)

From the pages Popular Mechanics, which was a lot more badass in 1910 when the emerging science of aviation was in full flower. I like how the safety suit is accented by a crisply creased pair of dress trousers and freshly shined shoes.

incredible letterhead for The Alfred Dolge celebrated felt slippers

I absolutely love this kind of letter head and logo. I love how the most banal necessities become "celebrated" and grandoise in translation. i can't get enough of this stuff.

I grabbed this one from the Emergeance of Advertising collection of Duke University, but here are some other items of interest:
Sheaff Ephemera
and
Artistic Printing
and
this post on A Time to Get

previous posts on my other blog, Save vs. Death:
Wille zur Macht meets Willy Loman
Oil Lamp +2 spot illustration

Levi's commercial with Ken Nordine (1970)

Cool animated commercial with voice over talent provided by Ken Nordine!

Who the fuck is Mick Jagger? t-shirt (1975)

Mick Jagger leans on his stylist Pierre Laroche during their American tour in 1975. They kicked off their tour in New York City by performing "Brown Sugar" on a flatbed driven down Broadway, and their stage props included a giant phallus.

Here come the Hawks, the mighty Blackhawks

My beloved Chicago Blackhawks are in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1995 and are threatening to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup for the first time since 1961.

Go Hawks!

Karen Allen in National Lampoon Black Sox t-shirt (1977)

I have had a huge crush on Karen Allen since her turn as Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark, since I was too young to see Animal House or The Wanderers before that. She just has that too-smart-and-funny-for-you but still devoted girlfriend quality about her, ya know? She especially gets me in Scrooged as well (not such much Starman, which is frigging awful).

Enlarge this cute ad to see more of what I mean. I'd LOVE that shirt in an XL!

Pendleton ad (1974)

Jeez, is this artwork Seventies enough for you? The sort of monochromatic plaid with fake fur collar jacket reminds me of Archie Bunker and every Polish grandfather in Chicago.

Pendleton is still pretty right on in my book. I love their flannel shirts and hunting jackets. I still have my heart set on an old school Pendleton blanket from before WWII.

Swatch Funwear (1987)

tag sticker grabbed from Flickr

Every girl in my Junior High had this sticker affixed to her Trapper Keeper. Ah, this image brings back many memories of plaid skirts, jelly bracelets, banana clips and saddle oxfords. Damn you, Catholic school girl fixation!

From Fortune Magazine, August 5, 1985- so don't bother calling your broker. Please note- if Fortune Magazine describes something as "funky", you must understand that you have the blessing of corporate connoisseurs of dubious middle class cool and your days are numbered:

"The Swiss watch industry ticked back to life with Swatch, a popular,
inexpensive plastic watch sold by Swatch Watch U.S.A., a subsidiary of
Switzerland's ETA. Now the company is opening 300
Swatch shops in U.S. department stores to sell Swatch-brand items such as
sweatshirts, sunglasses, and funwear -- funky shirts, pants, and hats -- in
addition to watches. Retail sales from Swatch products are expected to top
$140 million in 1985, vs. $32 million last year. "

vintage ad: Oshkosh B'Gosh "The Guys" City Britches details (1974)

Runner Magazine advertisement (1981)

More like run from us!

I dig the Runner shirt and old school Nikes, but I could do without the shorty short shorts on dudes and three ring circus socks.

Frank Gifford, Jerry West, and Bobby Hull- Jantzen pitchmen

6% Chemstrand Blue C Spandex
Originally uploaded by IAAFOTS

"As Frank Gifford, in the $7 webbed belt style, says, it gives more than it gets. Jerry West wears crossed belt loop stretch, about $8. Bobby Hull is in the button tab stretch, about $6. Comfortable, tough, good-looking, and available in the colors shown on the surfboard."

Jantzen Actionwear advertisement from the May 27, 1966 issue of Life.

New York magazine t-shirt offer (1975)

$3.95 for a shirt is quite a bargain, but please don't cut out this coupon as the offer most likely expired 33+ years ago. I wonder how the t-shirt model is holding up...

bulldog cigarette cards (1910s)

Bulldog cigarette cards, 1910s-- Patrol Call: "Graa-ow"

Beacon Falls Shoe Co. - Husky Shoes for Rough Work

click to biggie size

THE BEACON FALLS RUBBER SHOE COMPANY.
"The Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company was established in 1898 and is now splendidly housed.... Both water and steam power are used in the operation of the factory and there is electric connection for emergencies. That the business is today one of the most important and extensive industrial enterprises not only of Beacon Falls but of the Naugatuck valley is indicated in the fact that the company today employs fifteen hundred people, fifty-five per cent being male. They manufacture rubber boots and shoes and outing footwear. The plant has a capacity of twenty / thousand pairs of rubber shoes per day. ..Their product is sold all over the United States and also in Europe and the company has offices in Boston, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, Kansas City and San Francisco. They are represented upon the road by one hundred and ten traveling salesmen, who travel from their own branch offices. This is the main industry at Beacon Falls...The history of this organization is largely the history of Beacon Falls, for no other business enterprise has contributed in more extensive and substantial measure to the growth and commercial development of the city. "

- from "The History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut (1918)

Beacon Falls was bought out by US Rubber in 1921. In 1930 the name was changed to UniRoyal.

I accidentally learned something...

Animal House t-shirts from National Lampoon magazine (1977)

click to embiggen.

My kingdom for that yellow one in xlarge! That drawing of Bluto Blutarsky with the orange peel in his mouth is blowing my mind!

Young Democrats baseball jersey (1974)

Grabbed from Uniwatchblog's scans from Athletic Knitwear catalog.

I would kill for this jersey. I'll take an XL, please. The hat ain't bad, either.

JFK pioneers would be a good punk band name.

Victory over Wear and Waste! Carhartt advertisement (1944)

Ad copy reads:

"Carhartt's famous Master Cloth work clothes meet war time needs with the same high quality and comfort fit that have spelled extra value for America's workers for over a half century. There's victory, too, in every Carhartt work front uniform- victory over wear and waste! You can always work in extra comfort when you work in Carhartt's. They're built roomier and really fit - backed by three generations of the Carhartt family ... a family that has stood squarely behind American labor for over 50 years."

Found in Popular Science Magazine, June, 1944.

The Anderson Shoe Company catalog (1915)

I love the color scheme and illustrations on this one. When was the last time you read a clothing manufacturer bragging about cementing their seams? There's not much about this company on the internet, any info is welcome!

Excerpt from "Boot and Shoe Recorder" a trade magazine from 1922:

"Baltimore- Big Fall Business Ahead- The local retail merchant has been experiencing the usual between-season business but is looking forward to a banner season this fall. About all the stores are showing advance fall styles...indications are that perforated patterns will sell big this coming season."

Dull as dishwater, but again, tells a little something about the hidden history of America. There are HUNDREDS of small time shoe companies listed in this boring yet facinating trade magazine. There used to be a thriving domestic shoe industry, scattered throughout the country and highly responsive to local tastes, valuing quality of construction, but at the same time, looking to expand out of market by producing snappy catalogs such as the one above.