1979 NFL Authentic Jerseys....

[beantown]

In an effort to find 1970's NFL photos, I found an ad in the 1979 Street & Smith Official Yearbook that caught my attention.....I wonder what these jerseys were like seeing that in 1979 they were charging $250-$275 for these!!!! Moreover, the photo shows jerseys with a remarkable likeness for actual game jerseys??? Look at the attention to detail on the uniqueness for both the Unitas and Namath numerals. Does anyone here remember seeing these or fortunate enough to have purchased one?

[34swtns]

Fascinating. I'd love to see any examples of ads for NFL retail authentics, particularly in the 80's. Did anyone offer a catalog with photos of available jerseys back then?
Thanks again for sharing that.

[kellybarfield]

My introduction to this fascinating and at times somewhat frustrating hobby came through answering one of these ads in Street and Smiths 1980 Baseball Yearbook. I wrote away for one Freidman's catalogs.
When the catalog arrived I rightly or wrongly thought these were game worn items. Up here in Canada at that time I had never seen anything like this before and had no idea what they should cost. They had a Fergie Jenkins jersey for $125.(imagine $125 for a future HOFer, but as I said this was all new to me) and I ordered it.When it arrived it looked fishy almost immediately. The jersey was absolutely filthy! From the total absence of fraying or puckering on the lettering it looked like it had never seen a washing machine. It was covered in what appeared to be red clay stains - it almost appeared as if someone had taken a brand new jersey and rubbed large amounts of clay onto the jersey. The jersey was a size 48 by McAuliffe who made most of the Red Sox knits in the 70's(72-78 I believe) and had a tag missing which later turned out to be the year tag upon examining a similar Sox jersey at the HOF in Cooperstown.
Needless to say I wasn't too pleased with the Freidman Specialty Company. Fortunately for me it was about this time I discovered one of the pioneers in this hobby, Murf Denny. Thanks to guys like Murf, Rob Steinmetz and Jim Yackel I have continued for the most part to really enjoy this hobby after my first experience wasn't a very good one.
As a footnote to this some years later I recovered most of my money when I resold the Jenkins jersey as a Red Sox replica through Murf.

[both-teams-played-hard]

My introduction to this fascinating and at times somewhat frustrating hobby came through answering one of these ads in Street and Smiths 1980 Baseball Yearbook. I wrote away for one Freidman's catalogs.
When the catalog arrived I rightly or wrongly thought these were game worn items. Up here in Canada at that time I had never seen anything like this before and had no idea what they should cost. They had a Fergie Jenkins jersey for $125.(imagine $125 for a future HOFer, but as I said this was all new to me) and I ordered it.When it arrived it looked fishy almost immediately. The jersey was absolutely filthy! From the total absence of fraying or puckering on the lettering it looked like it had never seen a washing machine. It was covered in what appeared to be red clay stains - it almost appeared as if someone had taken a brand new jersey and rubbed large amounts of clay onto the jersey. The jersey was a size 48 by McAuliffe who made most of the Red Sox knits in the 70's(72-78 I believe) and had a tag missing which later turned out to be the year tag upon examining a similar Sox jersey at the HOF in Cooperstown.
Needless to say I wasn't too pleased with the Freidman Specialty Company. Fortunately for me it was about this time I discovered one of the pioneers in this hobby, Murf Denny. Thanks to guys like Murf, Rob Steinmetz and Jim Yackel I have continued for the most part to really enjoy this hobby after my first experience wasn't a very good one.
As a footnote to this some years later I recovered most of my money when I resold the Jenkins jersey as a Red Sox replica through Murf.
This is very freakin' interesting! So, the Fergie was tagged like a real gamer?
How is it that this same Fergie is not in someones "game-used collection"? So, 27 years ago the Friedman company was adding contrived wear? Are you sure this wasn't a real Fergie game-worn? Did Murf Denny have knowledge of this company? Did MacCauliffe ever sell replicas? Wonder if the others were made by SandKnit, Rawlings, Wilson, etc.?I encourage anyone with knowledge of this company to share with this forum. I'll search my Street&Smiths...I attempted to start a thread on the original GUF entitled, "The origination of the store-bought jersey".

[kellybarfield]

I don't recall ever telling Murf where I got the so-called Jenkins jersey and I know I never asked him if he had any knowledge of the Freidman Company. I do know that McAuliffe also made Oakland A's jerseys during this time period and there were a number of them in the hobby that were properly tagged but showed no wear.
Incidently if you have a 1978 Street and Smith you will notice on the Red Sox roster a pitcher John Poloni. He was assigned Jenkins old number, 31. He was also practically the same size as Jenkins (6'5' 210). He never appeared in a regular season game but I often wondered if the jersey had been made for him and thats why the year tag was missing. I later read in I believe one of Dave Miedema's articles in SCD that Red Sox jerseys during this period should show a ton of wear as most were shipped to the minors before entering the hobby.

[beantown]

My introduction to this fascinating and at times somewhat frustrating hobby came through answering one of these ads in Street and Smiths 1980 Baseball Yearbook. I wrote away for one Freidman's catalogs.
When the catalog arrived I rightly or wrongly thought these were game worn items. Up here in Canada at that time I had never seen anything like this before and had no idea what they should cost. They had a Fergie Jenkins jersey for $125.(imagine $125 for a future HOFer, but as I said this was all new to me) and I ordered it.When it arrived it looked fishy almost immediately. The jersey was absolutely filthy! From the total absence of fraying or puckering on the lettering it looked like it had never seen a washing machine. It was covered in what appeared to be red clay stains - it almost appeared as if someone had taken a brand new jersey and rubbed large amounts of clay onto the jersey. The jersey was a size 48 by McAuliffe who made most of the Red Sox knits in the 70's(72-78 I believe) and had a tag missing which later turned out to be the year tag upon examining a similar Sox jersey at the HOF in Cooperstown.
Needless to say I wasn't too pleased with the Freidman Specialty Company. Fortunately for me it was about this time I discovered one of the pioneers in this hobby, Murf Denny. Thanks to guys like Murf, Rob Steinmetz and Jim Yackel I have continued for the most part to really enjoy this hobby after my first experience wasn't a very good one.
As a footnote to this some years later I recovered most of my money when I resold the Jenkins jersey as a Red Sox replica through Murf.

Even though you weren't happy with your purchase, you still received a "game" jersey vs. a store bought "authentic"....still would like to know if this was the case with football jerseys....