{"product_id":"1967-coleman-knitting-mills-varsity-sweater-ogden-utah","title":"1967 Coleman Knitting Mills Letter Cardigan, Joan Hall - Black and Yellow","description":"\u003cp\u003eA varsity letter \u003cstrong\u003ecardigan\u003c\/strong\u003e in \u003cstrong\u003eblack with yellow\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e100% worsted wool\u003c\/strong\u003e, by \u003cstrong\u003eColeman Knitting Mills\u003c\/strong\u003e of Ogden, Utah.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMeasured flat: chest 37 (18.5 pit to pit), length 26, sleeve 23, shoulder 15.\u003c\/strong\u003e A fifteen inch shoulder on a thirty-seven inch chest is small and neatly set - this was cut for Joan, not handed down to her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModern size:\u003c\/strong\u003e Fits like a modern Women's S or Men's XS.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: good, with some small scattered holes on the sleeves.\u003c\/strong\u003e They are not obvious, but they are holes in a wool knit and will not close themselves. Everything else is sound and every patch is firmly on.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHer name is on this cardigan three times.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eJOAN\u003c\/strong\u003e on the sleeve. \u003cstrong\u003eHALL\u003c\/strong\u003e on one pocket. \u003cstrong\u003e1967\u003c\/strong\u003e on the other. And inside, on the maker's own label: \u003cstrong\u003eMADE FOR JOAN HALL\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThat label is a different order of thing from a name tape.\u003c\/strong\u003e Most named garments are named afterwards - a tape sewn in, a name inked in a waistband, initials added later. This one was \u003cem\u003elabelled at the factory\u003c\/em\u003e, because Coleman made it to order and knew whose it was before it was finished. Then they spelled her out across it: first name on the arm, surname and year on the two pockets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is also an \u003cstrong\u003eantlered animal patch\u003c\/strong\u003e, a deer or an elk. The school is not named on the garment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColeman made bomber jackets for the war, and then turned the factory on teenagers.\u003c\/strong\u003e William C. Coleman was making flight jackets when the Second World War ended; the orders dried up in 1947, so he pointed the same machines and the same people at letter garments for local high schools. Some of the patterns the company still cuts from are the original wartime bomber patterns. The cardigan a sixteen-year-old wore to a game in Utah is, in a real and literal sense, descended from the jacket a pilot wore over Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree generations ran it.\u003c\/strong\u003e William's son John took over and died in a car accident shortly afterwards; John's son Dick ran it with his wife Kathy until they retired in 2018, when it passed to close family friends. Coleman holds the Utah state contract, and the saying in that state is that if you got a letterman jacket, Coleman made it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWorsted is a specification, not a synonym for wool.\u003c\/strong\u003e The fibres are combed until they lie parallel before spinning, which gives a smoother, stronger, less fuzzy yarn than ordinary woollen. It is what you spin when the thing has to last, and it is why a cardigan from 1967 still holds its shape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of one. Sold as found.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNo returns - as is.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Coleman Knitting Mills","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44423964885079,"sku":"MT-TR-188","price":248.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0034\/8692\/files\/IMG_6947.jpg?v=1792552815","url":"https:\/\/shopmille.com\/products\/1967-coleman-knitting-mills-varsity-sweater-ogden-utah","provider":"MILLE","version":"1.0","type":"link"}