Hawkeye Hoops, Hurrah!

When someone sends me a link to a slideshow of old photos, I usually just put it in the Ticker and that’s that. But Cody Dannen recently sent me a link for a bunch of old Iowa girls’ high school basketball photos, mostly from the 1950s and ’60s, that turned out to be too good not to get their own main entry.

I know, I know, Iowa girls’ high school hoops doesn’t exactly sound like a barn-burner. But trust me, there’s some amazing stuff in here. Or better yet, don’t trust me — just see for yourself:

• I’m not sure which I like better, the sashes or the skirts.

• A lot of the teams wore shiny satin uniforms. Some really nice satin warm-ups, too.

• I’m always a sucker for this kind of team photo. Gimmicky, but it’s a good gimmick.

• These pleated skirts look more like cheerleaders’ uniforms, no?

• I was astonished by these shots. Was this team really playing with bare midriffs? In the 1950s?! Sure enough, there were several similar examples (see also here and here). Hard to believe a Midwestern high school was sending teen-age girls out with that much exposed skin.

Update: As I was preparing this entry, reader Chris Andringa sent me this photo and this article, which includes the following passage:

Along the way, the Slater girls raised quite a few eyebrows, not only with their basketball talent, but also with their new two-piece uniforms that exposed their midriffs. Although some considered the uniforms pretty racy, Weeks said there was a simple explanation for them. “As I remember,” Weeks said, “(the school administration) had the senior girls draw what they thought our uniforms should be. I think it was Nettie Hammond’s design, and we had them made for us. At the time, every team had different suits. Oakland had pleated skirts. It was just a style statement.”

• What’s better than a team with untucked jerseys? How about two teams with untucked jerseys!

• As you all know, I love stripes and am always intrigued by the untucked format. But this is a bit much, even for me.

• If you look at the girl on the left you might not realize she’s wearing an untucked jersey. But as you can see from her rebounding teammate, it’s an untucked design with a striped hemline that simulates a striped waistline on the shorts.

• You could do a whole dissertation on this photo. In addition to both teams wearing skirts and cap sleeves, note that both jerseys are really more like jackets, complete with ribbed trim at the bottom.

• I love basketball uniforms with uni numbers on the shorts.

• What the hell was going on here?! That bib design had to be a warm-up outfit, right? Amazing collar, too.

• It’s not quite the same thing as that bib format, but note the unusual diagonal placket on these jerseys. Looks like a similar design was being used here (diagonal team name, too) and here.

• Speaking of diagonal, what’s the deal with the uni number on the girl in white?

• Totally digging these striped collars.

• I did a double-take when I saw this photo — is that a chest pocket? Yup, and here’s another, and a really nice one. Never noticed that on any kind of hoops uni before.

• Love the simplicity of this 1945 design.

• Uh-oh, nothing says sloppy like mismatched footwear colors. Note that the girl at left appears to be wearing wrestling shoes, not sneakers.

• At first I was puzzled by the waistband notation in this photo — what does it say? But then I looked up Lincoln High in Des Moines and learned that their teams are called the Railsplitters, or just the Rails. That’s what’s printed on the waistband.

• Yet another thing I’m a sucker for: side-button shorts.

• And after all these photos of girls, we’ll wrap things up with one shot of the fellas.

Want to see even more? The full slideshow of over 100 images is here.

Giveaway Reminder: Today’s the last day to submit your entry for those two old NFL LPs I’m giving away. Full details here. I’ll announce the winners tomorrow.

Uni Watch News Ticker: There are sooooo many things to love in this shot of Japanese ski jumpers! The neckties, the sleeve patch, the caps, the gloves, the wristwatch, the bibs, the stadium in the background — it’s the gift that keeps on giving (rare non-Squiddie Life photo submitted by Jeremy Brahm). ”¦ Ben Fortney has created a gallery of Norman Rockwell’s sports-related illustrations. I’ve always been partial to this one and this one. ”¦ We all know how I feel about purple, but I might make an exception in this case. That’s Abilene Christian University (with thanks to ABU’s coach, Britt Bonneau). ”¦ You may have thought that the Orioles won the 1966 World Series, but Wilson uniforms actually did (great find by Bruce Genther). ”¦ Striped sleeves are nice, but here’s something I’ve never seen before: checkered sleeves! That’s the Lily High School football team, from Lily, Pennsylvania, circa 1933 (major find by Larry Bodnovich). ”¦ The Syracuse lacrosse team is going with NOH (as reported by Nathan Haas). ”¦ Wichita State’s baseball team wore some nice throwbacks the other day. “I’m guessing they’ll be wearing these every Sunday, although I haven’t read or heard anything,” says Patrick Chippeaux. ”¦ After a bout of conjunctivitis, Francisco Rodriguez will be unable to wear contact lenses for several weeks, so for now he’s wearing goggles. ”¦ Animal Kingdom: No screen shot, but a raccoon briefly ran onto the field during yesterday afternoon’s Mets/’Stros game. Then I went for my daily bike ride and saw a raccoon by the side of the cycling lane in Prospect Park. That’s enough to convince me: I’m eating nothing but raccoon for the next week, just to show these critters who’s boss. ”¦ The Packers will be unveiling their new throwback alternate at their annual Fan Fest event on Friday, and the word I’m hearing is that it will look very much like the late-1920s design first floated here a few weeks ago (with thanks to Jeff Ash). ”¦ Here’s another post about swastikas in sports, this time from a Brazilian soccer site. ”¦ Slate has posted two new entries in Julia Turner‘s excellent series on sign design. First, a look at ths signage of London, and then the raging debate over exit signs. ”¦ Whereas the Cards and Tigers wear their home caps and helmets on the road during spring training, Jonathon Binet notes that the Indians do the exact opposite, at least in terms of batting helmets: They’ve been wearing their solid-navy road helmets for all their spring games, even with their home whites. ”¦ The Ft. Wayne Mad Ants wear subscript NOBs, but Dan Dickau went NNOB on Monday. “There were only 200 people at the game, so I took the opportunity to ask good him what was going on,” says Yogi Combs. “He just said it was already falling off when he was getting dressed, so he went ahead and ripped it the rest of the way off.” ”¦ Dying to see a highlight reel of the Frankfurt Galaxy’s 1995 season? Right, me neither, but here it is anyway (with thanks to Alex Acosta). ”¦ A lot of NFL Films material is going to be made available on Hulu, which can only be a good thing for uni watching. ”¦ Several good durene items currently available on eBay, including this hockey shirt, this football jersey, an even better football jersey, and — wait for it — an amazing football all-star jersey in Uni Watch colors! Too bad it’s too big for me (plus it looks like the collar has been removed, hmmmm). ”¦ I’ve been really good about not complaining about this until now, but it needs to be said: Those new MLB undershirts with the swoosh on the collar look like total fucking shite. … Oooh, dig this: a video clip of the Babe getting plunked (good find by Chad Todd). ”¦ Saginaw High School in Michigan has TNOB, but the weirder thing is what they have on the front. Anyone know the story behind that? (With thanks to Ryan McNew). ”¦ Corey Davis notes that North Texas hoops player George Odufuwa appears to have an upside-down M, instead of a true W, in his NOB. “Interestingly, he seemed to have the same problem last year,” says Corey, which I guess means North Texas gets a lot of wear out of their jerseys.