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My Latest Holy Grail: 1960 US Olympic Jersey


LouMarcon

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This one had been on my radar for 2-3 years.

Got the jersey ($375) custom-made from Ebbets Field Flannels and the patch ($52) from Dorholt Custom Sports in Colorado.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied. The jersey is all wool with felt letters/numbers. The original had twill letters/number. The patch is 95% embroidered.

I'd say the jersey is 85-90% true to the original and the patch about 90-95%.

I chose No. 4, which was worn by defenseman John Mayasich, a Minnesota Gopher who was considered along with forward Bill Cleary and goalie Jack McCartan the best players on the team. Coach Jack Riley said that without Bill Cleary and John Mayasich, both late additions to the team, the US would have had to battle Australia for 5th place.

I've considered replacing the felt with twill. However, a local seamstress who has done work on other jerseys for me says there's a concern with damaging the jersey when removing the felt letters/number. She also indicated there might be a problem with the twill bleeding after it is heat-pressed onto the jersey prior to sewing the letters/number into place, which further increases the chance of damaging the jersey, which is a very fine wool weave.

I'd like to hear from anyone with experience attaching twill to a wool hockey sweater. Are her concerns valid?

The last pix, is of the original jersey

Olyfront.jpg

Olyback.jpg

Olypatch.jpg

1960closeup.jpg

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Holy smokes, that's a beauty! I love that one.

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If EFF only made one significant mistake, consider yourself lucky.

As far as the felt/twill issue, well I would have been sure to hold their hands and be specific but now that youre thinking of making the change, hmmmm. Well, I wouldnt think there is too much trouble stripping the felt numbers, I once had a Penn Stall & Dean jersey reattributed but it was a felt to felt switch. Came out OK, I couldn't tell you how well it held up over time because I gave it as a gift and haven't seen it since.

Twill on wool generally is not a big deal, I have seen that on some MLB flannels, like I think M&N used two layer twill on some of the Seattle Pilots stuff they did.

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Thanks for the patch help, Lou. That sweater looks amazing, the patch is awesome too. They did a great job.

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  • 1 month later...

Wow, one of the best replica's I've seen on this board. Congrats on all your hard work trying to cross a jersey off your Grail list. BTW, where did you get the laces for the collar of the jersey. I need some black laces to complete one of my college gamers. Thanks.

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I get most of my jersey laces from a shoe repair store at the local mall. The guy has a nice selection of colors and styles, and is willing to special order any color he doesn't have in stock. As you can see in the last picture above of the game-worn jersey, the lace is a run-of-the-mill white shoe lace, which is what was generally used in the 60s and 70s.

I appreciate the comments on the jersey. After much deliberation and procrastination, I decided to have the Olympics jersey stripped and the felt letters and numbers replaced with twill. I shipped the sweater to an Illinois vendor about two weeks ago.

I debated in my mind for some time as to whether I wanted to mess around with what was already a very sharp reproduction. I wore the sweater to two Penguins games and had three guys ask where I got it. That was a pretty good indication to me that I had something special.

And, unfortunately, Ebbets Field no longer does custom jerseys, so I was doubly concerned that if I messed the jersey up during the customization I couldn't get it replaced. But, I had a mom and pop vendor in Pittsburgh replace the felt with twill on a couple of other jerseys, and it turned out OK. And, after a couple of guys in here highly recommended the Illinois vendor, I decided to pull the trigger and send my Holy Grail off for some upgrades.

The original U.S. Olympic jersey was twill and I'm trying to get my replica to mirror as closely as possible what they wore at Squaw Valley in 1960. In my mind, twill has a quality that felt just can't match. I'm hoping for the best.

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1329255358[/url]' post='84121']

I appreciate the comments on the jersey. After much deliberation and procrastination, I decided to have the Olympics jersey stripped and the felt letters and numbers replaced with twill. I shipped the sweater to an Illinois vendor about two weeks ago.

make sure you repost some pics - can't wait to see it

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  • 5 months later...

I held my breath when I sent my Holy Gail to be customized -- strip the felt letters and numbers to be replaced with twill -- in early February. I got my 1960 US Olympic sweater back yesterday from Exclusive Pro Sports. Without reservation, I will say the 6 1/2-month wait was worth it. Their work is spot on and matches perfectly with the pictures of the original white wool sweater that I provided.

There are a couple of small flaws in the overall jersey, but neither anything to do with the work done by Exclusive Pro. The dark blue yoke is a little narrow, and should end at the top of the shoulder; and the strips in the patch should extend a little further into the blue portion at the top that contains the Olympic rings. I can live with both imperfections. In my mind, neither is that big of a deal. I got the base jersey, 100% wool from Ebbets Field Flannels, and the patch from Charlie Dombeck.

I keep looking at pictures of the original, and I cannot find anything wrong with the size or positioning of the strips around the arms and below the waist. Other than the yoke, the base jersey is an accurate replica. At some point in time, I might ask Charlie to give the patch another try. I've seen a couple of other reproductions of the patch, and I think Charlie's is the most accurate.

Overall, I'd estimate that what I now have is about 90-95% accurate. Here are the pictures as requested last February: 4202afe0.jpg3c917697.jpg7553ad53.jpg8729b6df.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

I'll call this one Holy Grail II

The base jersey is a 10-year-old product of Ebbets Field Flannels. I had David Frost of Myrtle Beach replace the oversized felt letters and obscene numbers with twill USA and No. 4 which are pretty much spot on with the original. Other than the white strip around the neck, the base jersey is also pretty much spot on accurate with what defenseman John Mayasich wore when the US won the gold medal at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. The patch, which is about 95% accurate, was a custom job by Dorholt Custom Sports of Colorado.

The last picture is of my new Olympic Blue with my white 1960 Olympic jersey described above.

c6a6f07a.jpgdee9d6e4.jpgf36612c6.jpg

Somehow the back of the blue jersey was deleted. Here it is again:

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j420/Bucki33/1960blueback_zpsf78293f9.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

With the Olympics in full swing now, I had to gawk and gander at your amazing 1960 replica Lou! And also like the decision and choice on the #4. A lot of sweat and determination in this project for sure. Just shows your love for the game of hockey and jersey collecting. Thanks for sharing the pics. They are truly amazing !!!

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  • 3 years later...

Lou,

I know it has been a few years since you originally posted and commented on your 1960 USA hockey jerseys.  I just wanted to commend you on a great job on those jerseys and for posting pics of those.  They look awesome!  I was also able to get Ebbets Field Flannels to recently do a custom order of both the white and blue 1960 hockey sweaters just like yours, except that I chose to do the Christian brothers, Roger (#10) and Bill (#6) since they are relatively close to where I am from.  Just like your jerseys, Ebbets only does these custom jersey with numbers and letters in flannel and not twill.  I noticed in your blog that you stated that Exclusive Pro Sports (David Frost?) did the removal of the flannel and replacement with twill.  I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor to provide what the cost was for them to do that as well as what their mailing address and point of contact would be for me to send my jerseys off to have those done like yours.  Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you soon.  Thanks in advance for all your time.  Take care.

lbrockel

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  • 3 weeks later...

David Frost did the blue sweater for me. I believe he charged "around" $150 (perhaps a little less) which was to change the felt numbers (sleeves and back) and felt letters on the front to twill. I haven't talked with David in at least a couple of years so I'm not sure he's still doing customizing work. If he is, I highly recommend. His work is excellent. He cares and has a keen eye for detail. Do you have any pictures of your EFF Christian brothers jerseys? Did EFF make the Olympic patch (on the front) for you? Cohen refused to make the patch for me, even after I offered to pay extra. Overall, I respect the work of EFF. However, owner Jerry Cohen can be stubborn and at times lacks patience when doing a special order jersey, which certainly is not cheap. Case in point, is my 1961-63 light blue Pittsburgh Hornets jersey. I paid for the jersey and EFF cancelled the job when they were unable to get the shape of the yoke correct. I got a complete refund but was, nevertheless, disappointed. I then decided to purchase one the the blue Hornets sweaters off the rack so to speak. I was thinking perhaps I could send it to Dave Frost and have the rounded yoke that EFF offered to the public properly squared off at the top of shoulders. When it arrived, lo and behold the yoke was squared like I had requested on the special order that Cohen told me could/would not do.  

 

 

 

Edited by LouMarcon
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Hello Fritz!

 

I just wanted to thank you for providing David Frost's contact info.  I really appreciate your help.  I will try to contact him soon.  I have not received my finished 1960 USA hockey jerseys customized to Bill and Roger Christian so do not have any pictures to post of them right now, but will be sure to do so once I receive them.  I actually was able to get the patches from Charlie Dombeck at Dorholt Custom Sports in Aurora, CO per recommendations from USA hockey.  I know what you are saying about Jerry Cohen at EFF being a little touchy.  Once he agreed to make the custom jerseys for me and then provided some details about what they would look like, I had some follow-up questions.  He seemed to be a little irritated and impatient by my questions and almost wanted to cancel the custom order, but once I assured him that I was satisfied with his responses about the jerseys, he seemed to back-off and agree to process my order.  It should be finished in about a month.  Really looking forward to them.  I will keep you posted on their progress.  Thanks again Fritz!

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Charlie did my patches from scratch. He's the best! Very easy to work with and very affordable. As for your USA jerseys, make sure EFF squares off the Navy Blue yoke on the white sweater at the TOP of the shoulder. The yoke on mine is about 2-3 inches too long, despite my repeatedly telling Jerry what I wanted. Nevertheless, you'll have one of only two replicas of the white jersey (mine being the other) that I've seen in the industry. I say that because guys who get something as unique as the white sweater usually want to show it off other collectors by posting pictures. I've seen a couple of the blue 1960 sweaters but never the white. And, the patches weren't even close to being as accurate as Charlie Dombeck's. I know EFF charges an arm and a leg for the custom jobs so I hope they get your two right.

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Hello again, Fritz!  The jersey may already too far along to make any changes to it at this point, but I will try to contact EFF to see where it is at in the process.  I know that Jerry had sent me photos of the actual 1960 USA hockey jerseys and was going to do it exactly to spec so hopefully the yoke will turn out accurately.  Do you have any idea why EFF would not make the 1960 USA hockey jersey one of their standard produced jerseys to sell instead of having to do a special custom order of it (that is, whenever they agree to do one for someone as that is not guaranteed).  I know they have made the 1972 Soviet Union (CCCP) hockey sweater jersey for general purchase, as well as many other obscure hockey jerseys that I would think would be difficult to sell many of.  Doesn't make sense to me as beautiful and popular as the 1960 USA jersey would be if they decided to.  They would have no problem selling out of those if they decided to.  Thanks again for your response, Fritz!

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You will note that all of the EFF hockey jerseys offered to the public are of defunct teams. If the team is still alive, EFF can't make one of its jerseys because of trademark consideration. The classic USA 1960 white sweater has been used by several USA Hockey teams in the past decade, Olympics, junior worlds, world championship, etc. I'm just guessing now, but that might be the reason they don't want to offer this jersey to the public via their catalogs. I doubt that the Russian jersey was ever trademarked. Actually, EFF through the years has offered some very interesting North American minor league team sweaters, particularly from the American Hockey League, circa 1960s. All of these teams are defunct. I have some of those, Quebec Aces, Cleveland Barons, red and gold Pittsburgh Hornets jerseys and Buffalo Bisons with the distinctive Pepsi Cola logo.

EFF has produced at least three different versions of the 1961-63 light blue Pittsburgh Hornets sweater. Each has been a little more accurate than the former. The one they are currently offering on the Web site is pretty accurate except for the felt numbers and the yoke is rounded rather than squared at top of the shoulder. The logo that EFF is now using is a spin off of the custom Hornets logo I had made by a California vendor some 5-6 years ago. EFF started producing the current blue Hornets jersey with a logo that is identical to my custom logo after one the game worn blue Hornets jerseys was sold by the Frozen Pond auction house. Someone from EFF must have seen it, cause their latest blue Hornets offering is identical, except for that darn yoke!

I had Cohen make me the 1961-64 red Hornets sweater as a custom job several years ago. I paid about twice what the EFF jerseys offered to the public cost. Then much to my surprise, I saw my custom jersey in the next EFF catalog at a price of about 50% of what I paid for the custom job. I e-mailed EFF and asked if I was going to get a finder fee for the red Hornets sweater, but I'm still waiting for a response. In the end, I think Cohen got tired of dealing with me. For the price I was paying, I wanted the custom jerseys I ordered (the 1960 white US Olympic sweater and the blue and red Hornets sweaters) to be as accurate as possible. EFF was charging top dollar, and I wanted each jersey to be totally accurate. I sent over a dozen pictures of each of the jerseys, so there was really no reason that they should not be accurate. In the end, I think I wore out my welcome with Mr. Cohen.

That said, I've always maintained that the base hockey jersey that EFF produces is pretty darn impressive. So what I'd do, when I was still collecting replicas, was buy the EFF off the rack and have someone like Dave Frost strip it and replace the felt letters/numbers with twill and improve the logos. Frosty has the patience of a saint. I'm polite, but very firm. I know what each jersey I buy should look like. Frosty always said he appreciated a custom who knows what he wants. 

David's speciality is baseball jerseys, but if he's still into customized hockey jerseys you can't go wrong with him. If he builds a hockey jersey for you from scratch, his jersey vendor is a Chinese firm so the sweater is not game weight. But the accuracy, if you give him enough pictures is usually 100%, spot on! That's why I say the best of both worlds is an EFF base jersey that is stripped and customized by David Frost. 

Here's the two EFF Hornets jerseys I've discussed here. The numbers, captain's C and stars are twill, done by Dave Frost, and the totally embroidered logos were made by a third vendor in California:

 

 

 

Hornets jerseys.jpg

Edited by LouMarcon
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Fritz,

Thanks for that helpful information.  I guess that makes sense about the trademark issues for preventing EFF from producing certain jerseys.  You are right.  There were some cool classic hockey jerseys they have made, especially during the 1950s/60s.  I kind of liked the Greensboro Generals jersey among others as well.  Those are very cool jerseys of the Pittsburgh Hornets that you had done.  They look even better with the tackle twill numbers/letters.  That Hornets logo you had made by the vendor in California is pretty sweet too.  If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost to have them make that logo?  Will they do any logo if a person sends them some good photos?  If so, if you could provide me their contact information, I would really appreciate it.  Great collection of jerseys you have.  I would think that EFF would give you some refund of the custom ordered jersey you had made, since you gave them the idea to produce it for their catalog.  Let's hope.  Anyway, thanks again for all your help, Fritz!  Take care.

 

Lance

 

 

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I think I paid something like $275 for five logos. Five was the minimum order they would take. The company is no longer in business. Somebody bought them out. I occasionally get a promo email from the new company. I'll send it along the next time they send me something. But, beware. It was a foreign company and getting them to follow specs was like pulling teeth. Very tedious. 

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