DANGERS of NOt doing research first! WARNING!

[Shinobichi]

Does anyone know anything about ' Clydesdale , The Aristocrat of Sportswear' ?

I didn't get any info except this online.

GOOGLE THIS : buffalo NY Courier Express 1952 - Clydesdale Sportswear^ the aristocrat of sportswear

It's an interesting and important piece of history for us to be aware of.

That means any vintage clothing floating around today with that name is suspect of being the remnants of those faulty sweaters/ cardigans.

I own one!!!

If the company ' Clydesdale , The Aristocrat of Sportswear' was a legit company the police would've mentioned that they contacted the Clydesdale , The Aristocrat of Sportswear 's executives about these sweaters and that someone is counterfeiting their product with inflammable materials.

Good thing to keep in mind to do some research on a company. Clothing scams were in the past too, just not as elaborate as today.

 

[Stanley Doble]

If you mean what I think you mean, some years ago I read the autobiography of a con man who claimed he once sold "exploding sweaters" made of some flammable material like gun cotton. He said the manufacturer had a lot of them to get rid of and couldn't sell them, he bought them for practically nothing and sold them on the streets of New York. He described them as an angora type material.

Link to article naming 6 brands of flammable sweaters

http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers...52/Buffalo NY Courier Express 1952 - 0477.pdf

 

[Shinobichi]

Yea, the Google I listed 'buffalo NY Courier Express 1952 - Clydesdale Sportswear^ the aristocrat of sportswear' is the same story.

It's an Angora type material as you 've said.

You mentioned 'the manufacturer' so do you remember that you read if Clydesdale is a legit company? It's strange the police didn't mentioned contacting the company if it was legit. Or possible that the papers just didn't go into that detail for whatever reason.

Thanks for your info!

 

[Stanley Doble]

The story I read did not name names. The subject of the interview was not named, all persons were given aliases for obvious reasons. No brand names either.

As I understood it, the manufacturer knew the sweaters were dangerous and would not sell them under their own name, but sold them "out the back door" as it were, for cash, to someone they knew was shady.

This shady individual sold them in the street with the help of a few accomplices.

He worked one neighborhood or town for a few days then moved on. It is possible they changed the names on the labels as well. The newspaper story says the labels were not sewn on in the usual way, but stuck to the sweaters.They also list six different brand names.

The story I read was an interview done years later, probably in the seventies. At this time the former street huckster was running a pawn shop but was really a fence for stolen goods.

 

[Shinobichi]

WOW ...Thanks for the back drop. Do you think the cardigan I have is part of that lot? The tag on mine is sewn on. I'm wondering how he acquired the clothing tags in order for him to glue it on.

 

[Stanley Doble]

If you think you have a bad one, cut a small snip of cloth from some inconspicuous spot and put a match to it.

You can get anything made or printed if you want to. The same guy had another scam going when he was in the glass business.

There are 2 kinds of plate glass, one kind is polished on both sides, the other polished on only one side. This character had labels printed, "Made in Italy" "Made in Germany" "Made in England" etc.

Whenever he installed a plate glass window he used the cheap glass but charged for the more expensive kind. He would stick one of the labels on the glass, according to the ethnicity of the customer. If he complained that the glass was wavy he would say "but that is the best glass on the market, it's imported, see?" and point to the label. This always disarmed any complaints.

 

[Stanley Doble]

I'm curious how you got onto this. Did you just happen to be browsing a 1952 newspaper and saw the article? Or do you have one of these Clydesdale sweaters?

 

[Shinobichi]

I have a Clydesdale cardigan and started to do some research on the company coz I was about to sell it.

I want to be sure if there are fake ones AND real ones or are these Clydesdale cardigans all fakes.

However, the article did say SWEATERS ...does that include cardigans? I know that some people make a difference in terms. But also, cardigans are quite popular in the 50's. If Clydesdale is a bogus company and the cardigan I have is a remnant of those inflammable ones, I will discard it for safety reasons.

I like your idea on testing it though. I'll try it. Thanks!

Hmm...there isn't much place to cut... looking at now it does look suspect coz the cut isn't perfect.

The only info on Clydesdale is that article I read and some others selling the same cardigan online just a different colour.

If Clydesdale is famous you'd think there are a few more article on them...like Roosevelt Mills.

I shot them the 1952 article and warned them too. Don't want customers getting 'burned' twice..hahaha.

 

[Dinerman]

Here are some of those stories from 1952.







It does appear to have been a legit company, which lasted at least into the late 1960s- this ad is from 16 years after the flammable sweater stories. There is some other documentation of them out there. It looks like they were a fairly small concern.

There are several of these Clydesdale sweaters for sale / recently sold. The chance of them all being the flammable knockoffs seems low.

 

[Shinobichi]

Thanks Diner man! I wonder if the one I have is a fake. "I don't wa nobody getting burned, ya know wha I mean."

I'm gonna test it tomarrow with a light next to it according to the article it should go up.

Thanks again for your big help bro!