BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL SWEATERS

[Lefty]

I didn't think I'd ever get into these, but I'm starting to take notice of them. Now I just have to find one that fits me.

Today's find

The one I recently sold.

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[Lefty]

I had to try. It took a lot of wiggling, and my wife helping. I would have like to have tried it without the t-shirt, but it's heading into the 90s and it's far too sticky.

It seems to look OK, and I love the neck, but it's really rib-crushingly tight.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I think it looks great. And you have the build to wear tight sweaters

 

[buddy5909]

I love it. I wanted to make a sweater like that when I was in high school rather then a letter jacket.

 

[Lefty]

1930s Garfield High School (est. 1926) sweater and pin

I love the repairs, and it has many.

 

[Harp]

Snazzy sweater Lefty; and with that cap it's just the beesknees. :eusa_clap

 

[Mr Badger]

Nice sweater!

How's it smell?

Were you unlucky, pong-wise?

I've got a nice 1940s v-neck college sweater (think it's from Metairie in Louisiana, judging by the large 'M' on the front and the Cajun-ish surname on the tape) and that smelt OK, but my 1956 college cardie - phew-wee!

It took a helluva lot of work to remove the locker room pong:

 

[Lefty]

Thanks guys.

All of them have just smelled like old wool - a little musty, but not bad at all.

I've been fortunate, in that, I bought each of these at estate sales, and got to talk to the children of each sweater's owner.

 

[Mr Badger]

Wow, that's really cool that you got to talk to the original owners' families - question is, why didn't they wanna keep the sweaters? You'd have thought that there woulda been at least one youngster in each family hep enuff to wanna wear 'em!

 

[Bill Taylor]

I still have my high school football letter Jackets and letter sweaters for the two years I lettered, 1946-47 when I was a junior and 1947-48 as a senior. The jackets are blue wool with dark tan leather sleeves and the sweaters are cardigan style blue knit. And they still fit as I am the same size now as when I graduated at 16 from high school. I think they are either a size 38 or 40 (probably 40).

As was the fashion then, I wore my jacket and pin and my then future wife wore the sweater which of course completely swallowed her since she is about 5 ft. tall and quite tiny. It was sort of frowned on then for someone other than the recipient to wear the pin, although that may have just been a local custom and was different in other states or schools.

Every once in a while, we will still wear them, mostly to p/o our grandsons who don't seem to see the humor in it at all. Tough. All four are in their 30's and late 20's and need to get a life. Or at least, not be so dull and boring.

Bill Taylor

 

[Lefty]

Please post photos. I'd love to see your sweaters!

 

[fluteplayer07]

How are these things supposed to fit? Skin-tight like the 40's short sleeve knitted shirts? Or like a regular sweater?

 

[PoohBang]

Here's my 1953 Tigers sweater...

once you get one, you want more...

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I know rlk's got an old band sweater. Maybe he'll turn up modeling it for us...

 

[SMUPhil]

(sorry for the link, cant figure out how to post the pic)

A friend and I modeling my old Southern Methodist University Mustang Band sweaters. We were bored one day and decided to take some "retro" photos in front of dad's '61 Lincoln. I was a member of the band, and fell in love with old pics of the uniforms, the history, the traditions, etc, so I jumped at the chance to get each of these sweaters.

The sweater on the left is circa 1959-1960. It's creme in color. The "letter" is a quite detailed patch. It's basically a chenille red "diamond M" (the band's logo) with blue outlining and then a smaller patch laid in the middle of the M. The smaller patch says Mustang Band, and has a cartoon of a sousaphone player riding a horse, with SMU on the blanket over the horse. There's an odd/funny story to this logo, I can explain more if anyone is interested.

The sweater on the right is 1940's-50's. It's royal blue in color with a chenille blue "M" outlined in red. Over the "M" is a jumping horse in blue with red "BAND" across the middle of the horse.

 

[Lefty]

nice

 

[drownman]

1930s Garfield High School (est. 1926) sweater and pin

A look I like a lot is when the bottom ribbed part is folded up. As in this thread.

 

[Mr Badger]

Aha, forgot about this snap - here's that college sweater I was talking about, albeit under a jacket!

And a better one of my college cardigan, taken by a pal over the weekend...

 

[Dinerman]

 

[Gene]

Man oh man I love letterman sweaters!

Here's my favorite from my local high school, it has wooden buttons.