I’ve found some really nice vintage jerseys on eBay recently. Let’s start with the Durene softball jersey shown above — nice striping, right? Here’s a closer look at the chest patch, along with the back of the jersey:
I have only one gripe about this otherwise magnificent jersey: If you go back up and look at the top photo, you’ll see that it has a crossover collar. And man, I hate crossover collars — they ruin the symmetry of the collar (and, thus, of the jersey, and ultimately of the cosmos). Some NBA teams have used them, and that always drove me bonkers.
If you’re interested in this jersey (despite the collar), it’s available here.
Next up is this beauty:
It’s not clear whether the company was sponsoring a local rec team or if this was actually a team for company employees. But either way, “Drop Forge” is such a cool term (and such a cool process) — I love seeing it on a jersey. And thick, monolithic typeface seems like a good match for the name.
But that’s just the beginning. Let’s take a closer look at that sleeve patch:
Oooh, isn’t that nice? I assume the “LF” stands for “Lansing Forge.” And the the “F” is dropped inside the “L” — perfect!
What number did this player wear? Check it out:
No way — double-zero?! Somehow that feels very drop forge-y. Big, heavy, lands with a thud.
As you know, I love vintage jersey labels. Does this jersey have a good one? Let’s see:
I’m lukewarm on the label design itself, but I do like the rhyming slogan: “Van Dervoort, for Every Sport”!
And that’s it. Nothing earthshaking, but a nice accumulation of small pleasures wrapped up in one package. If you want more details, the full eBay listing is here.
Next: We’ve talked many times about baseball jerseys with lettering running down the placket (something Phil is particularly fond of). I’ve also written about the various ways of positioning the apostrophe on a vertically lettered sign. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a uniform that combined those two phenomena — until now:
Not sure that’s how I would’ve handled it, but it certainly looks interesting. Also: Love the green pinstripes!
This item has now sold, but the eBay listing is still up, in case you want to see more photos.
For some reason, I get Drop Forge vids on Tik Tok all the time. Didn’t know it was called “Drop Forge” until now (thanks Paul). It is a really cool process, and somehow, strangely mesmerizing.
Te Be Ce stands for Tracy’s Baseball Club I guess. And Van Dervoort makes me proud as a Dutchman, the founder must have had Dutch roots (just like the founder of Vans shoes, but that is a well known story). All three shirts are very nice indeed.
That’s awesome. Thanks.
Also I love the Vans documentary. When I was a kid and first started surfing/skating/wake boarding, I had to look up the history of Vans. Great stuff.
Chances are the Vandevoort in question is likely based in Holland – considering the outline of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula in the background, and the team based in Lansing.
Definitely somewhere in Western Michigan. Holland is the flagship, but there are Dutch people all over the place there. Like the Irish in South Boston. It’s wonderful.
Anyone else see the Michigan outline behind the text on the Vandervoort label? Nicely done.