1930s CARHARTT OVERALLS Advertising Bandana

Fantastic CARHARTT OVERALLS advertising bandana likely dating to the 1930's possibly earlier. Mega rare joint effort featuring both the manufacturer (Carhartt) and retail store (William Glick of Willard, Ohio). Some of the nicest graphics and color combination seen on a promotional workwear bandana, fitting of one of the best brands ever. This bandanna even has the prerequisite paisley pattern.
Like the use of the arrow directing BEST FOR WEAR to the heart mark trolly car logo.
The seller of this rare piece must have hit the floor as it topped the $1,000 mark.

Celebrating Robert Moog's 78th Birthday

Hands down the best Google doodle ever (or at least since the Les Paul guitar doodle back in June 9 2011) is this tribute to Robert Moog the inventor of the electronic synthesizer who would have celebrated his 78th birthday on May 23rd. Go to the Google home page here and not only can you play the Moog synthesizer complete with pitch shifter, mixer, oscillators, filter and envelope effects but you can also record your jam using the attached reel to reel recorder. 

Those who read this blog know that we are big fans of Robert Moog having previously shared the appreciation for his work via the post Fun With Synths which also included the Bebot Robo Synth, one of the best apps out there and like today's Moog doodle, would have likely been given Bob Moog's stamp (or synth cord) of approval.

Happy Birthday Bob & thanks for the machine and the music!

1930s BIG YANK FLYER LABEL CHAMBRAY WORK SHIRT with NRA CODE TAG

Fantastic 1930's era BIG YANK FLYER sweat proof pocket shirt LOT 3820 SIZE 17 in unused deadstock condition. So many killer details on this beauty, most of which are listed below.

• BIG YANK FLYER PATENTED tag, printed in 2 color ink with SIZE & LOT numbers individually stamped in black

• NRA CODE, Cotton Garment Code Authority LICENSE NO. muslin tag with numbers stamped in red

• Blue cotton chambray fabric with heavy grain

• Contrasting dark blue cotton single, double and triple stitching

• Double layer top yoke with curved horizontal stitching common to BIG YANK work shirts

• Back side top yoke ventilation eyelets stitched in green cotton thread

• Extra long patch style "big pocket" with pencil slot and bar tack reinforcements stitched in green cotton thread

• Sweat proof square"little pocket" in the rarer non-pyramid top style with flap closure and embossed painted BIG YANK metal button

• Pointed collar

• Lower side hem gussets

photos courtesy of tomsgr8deals

H.D. Lee JELT DENIM OVERALLS & Lee RIDERS JEANS Promotional Denim Stand Up Figures

Miniature Lee promotional die-cut cardboard stand up figures. These figures stand approx. 8" tall and likely date to the 1950's. All three feature Lee Jelt Denim Overalls and Lee Riders Jeans made of actual denim fabric. Part of the VintageWorkwear.com collection.

Those who follow this blog likely know that we are fans of many vintage UNION MADE labels and these pieces fit into that category. All 3 cardboard stand-ups along with their denim overalls and jeans were printed by shops belonging to either the Allied Printing Trades Council Union or Amalgamated Lithographers of America Union and proudly feature the UNION LABEL, sometimes referred to as a "bug" label or stamp and seen in the photos below.

ADAM YAUCH & CAROL SHELBY: TWO ARTISTS WHOSE BODY OF WORK WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.

  MCA on the Bass. Photo credit Mick Hutson/Redfern

 

Last week ended on a bummer of a note with the passing of Adam Yauch aka MCA of THE BEASTIE BOYS. The band provided key cuts to my soundtrack during the late 1980s and well into 1990s. MCA, King Ad-Rock and Mike D delivered much great music during the pre digital download era of vinyl, cassette and CD including Licensed to Ill in 1986, the Dust Brothers sample filled masterpiece Paul's Boutique with its awesome panoramic gatefold cover art slice of Brooklyn in 1989, Check Your Head which saw the band pick up instruments, add Mark Nashita aka Money Mark on keyboards and proceed do their King Crimson/Pink Floyd meets Bad Brains/Funkadelic thing in 1992 and Ill Communication which blended it all together into a seamless mix in 1994. Great memories of catching close to a dozen live shows including attending one of their earliest West Coast performances on the Arsenio Hall show in support of License to Ill and the 1992 awesome triple bill that also included The Rollins Band and Cypress Hill. I was stoked when the Beasties added turntablist Mix Master Mike of the legendary San Francisco crew The Invizibl Skratch Piklz to the mix for Hello Nasty. Their humor, sharp wit and a great beats set the standard. 

Bass players hold a special place in my appreciation of those who create and Adam Yauch's fuzz infused notes will always bring a smile. RIP MCA.

Carol Shelby sporting express stripe overalls in the winners circle at Riverside International Raceway, April 1960

Carol with the 1967 LeMans winning Ford GT-40. Photo credit Dave Friedman / Wieck

 

Today we lost Carol Shelby, one of the iconic figures in motorsport and the man who's name graces the possibly the baddest ass piece of pure adrenaline to be called a car, the Shelby AC Cobra 427.

There are many places that offer up stories of this true American legend, a good one on HOW SHELBY KICKED FERARRI'S ASS can be found at the great blog The Selvedge Yard. 

The story of how Henry Ford II enlisted Carol Shelby along with drivers Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt and the awesome Ford GT-40 seen above in taking it to Enzo Ferarri at the world famous 24 Hours of LeMans in 1967 is the stuff of legend, not to mention that much favored slice of seventies fashion the Ford Cobra nylon racing jacket. Godspeed Carol.

The iconic Ford Cobra racing jacket available via The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co.

VINTAGE CONE FABRICS "HURON" STRIPED WORK COAT & PANTS

photos courtesy of union_label

Beautiful 1920s-1930 era work garments made of CONE MILLS "HURON" fabric. The twisted yarns that comprise the grey portion of the striped cloth result in a killer herringbone or salt & pepper appearance. Coat features mouton type shawl collar, double breasted front with both right and left side buttons and leather tabs allowing the coat to be closed from either side, slanted upper hand warmer pockets and lower flap covered pockets both with triangular leather side reinforcements, sheepskin lined body and knit cuffs set inside the sleeves. The dot pattern HURON, CONE FABRICS SEAL OF SERVICE Stifel boot type stamp is especially nice. This stamp notes the fabric used to make the garment and not the manufacture or brand, the same as with the iconic Stifel stamp. This great piece was recently brought to market by the knowledgeable seller union_label. We are not only are we partial to the name but have been fortunate to have purchased some very nice pieces from this top notch seller with a great eye. 

 

Another nice 1920s-1930s era piece currently up for grabs (albeit for top $) is this pair of button front work pants made of CONE HURON black and white striped twill fabric. The salt & pepper herringbone weave is a bit more pronounced as seen on backside of the garment  in the above photo.

RED WING IRON RANGER 8111 Boots & Lee 191Z Jelt Denim Dungarees... kickin' it with my boy Miles

Spending some quality down time with our Jack Russel terrier Miles. Wearing some favorite gear including RED WING 8111 IRON RANGER Boots and 1960s Lee 191-Z JELT DENIM Dungarees.

1940s Reliance Mfg. Co. BIG YANK Herringbone Twill Work Shirt with Cigarette Pocket

BIG YANK shirt photos courtesy of andvintage

Another beautiful Reliance Mfg. Co. BIG YANK work shirt with the iconic cigarette pocket in much favored blue cotton herringbone twill fabric. The unique pyramid top pocket design features a front and back sided pouch sewn on top of the shirt body as opposed to a conventional patch pocket in which a single piece of material is sewn directly on top the shirt body. This pocket is constructed using a single piece of material folded at the bottom to create the pouch which was then stitched along the sides and bar-tack reinforced, hence the lack of stitching on the pocket's bottom. These type of pockets are also referred to as sweat-proof pockets and were used to hold items best kept dry and perspiration free such as a pack of smokes or a pocket watch.