THE DAILY HELMET: Knit Cap Addiction And The Best Book Ever
Knit Cap Addict
A few weeks ago I wrote a tutorial on how to customize your own retro style knit cap. Well, I will admit, I didn’t make one out of pure necessity. I have a problem when it comes to knit caps, beanies, toques or whatever you want to call them. I can never get enough, and I am trying to collect one for just about every team. Living in Western New York, a knit cap is not just a fashion accessory, it is a necessity, if you want to keep your ears warm.
To Pom Or Not To Pom
I remember when I was a kid, I hated the pom poms attached to the top of the hats.When you are in elementary school, your main objective is to blend in and not give anyone any fuel to goof on you. Hats are already a liability on the school bus where someone could easily grab it off your head and toss it out the bus window as a gag. With that in mind, when I got a new hat that had a pom, I made sure my mom clipped it off before I would wear it out in public. I am very upset with the seven year old me. Not only did I have awesome vintage (well not at the time) hats, but I didn’t even fully appreciate them or the Pom Respect the Pom. I’d kill for any of the hats I wore back in 1987.
These days I exclusively wear knit caps with pom poms. My head just is not shaped right for a skull cap, so I have not wore one in years. I might have 50 knit caps, but you can be sure I wear each one at some point throughout the winter.
My Favorite Book In The World
In the ultimate chicken or egg situation I’m not sure if this book made me fall in love with football or if I had the book because I loved football. Either way I spent many hours of my formative years reading through this book instead of doing my homework or cleaning my room. The book, American Football, is a comprehensive look at the sport of football. The book is colorful and packed with information, including all of the teams, the Pro Bowl, rules, play formation and more. In a pre-internet era, there were few other places a kid could get all of this information in one place. Over thirty years later, I’m still in awe of the pictures in the book. As easy as it is to find images online, it is somehow even better on the pages of a book or magazine.
Speaking Of Publications
When I was at Savers thrift store the other day I found some cool Beckett Football Card Monthly Magazines. They had some great pictures in the glossy section, as well as some sort of cool, sort of strange football artwork. I was excited about the Warren Moon cover and of course the Majic man, Don MaJkowski, who grew up a couple miles from where I live. The card price guide is obviously a bit outdated with some of the cards probably worth less now, but it was a great find for 99 cents.
Pro Line Catalog
One of the best web finds I’ve seen in a while is this full scan of an old Pro Line catalog. The thing was filled with amazing stuff that I just wish they still sold. It seems that fan apparel is truly lacking today, when you’d think more stuff than ever would be available, but the 70s and 80s had some great stuff. The best parts of the catalog were the items that you just can’t find anymore, like wristbands and game socks! Plus some amazing sweaters and coach’s polos. I need everything in this catalog. Take a look through the whole thing and try not to drool.
What I Watched: Raw Film Footage From The Final AFL Championship Game In January 1970
In January 1970 the Raiders and Chiefs faced off for what was the tenth and final AFL championship. The next season (1970) the AFL/NFL merger would be complete and interleague play would begin. The chiefs would win the game by ten points and go on to beat the Vikings in Super Bowl IV, ending the AFL era with an exclamation point and a final word that the formally upstart league really did belong.
The footage in this short video is raw 16mm film. You don’t see a lot of the game, but it is still cool to see the footage all these years later. I will warn you, though, due to copyright restrictions on YouTube the uploader had no choice, but ot use YouTube’s awful public domain music. I recommend finding some NFL films music and playing it while you watch.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers have one of the most iconic helmets in football. The gold shell with green and white G logo just screams football. The Packers actually didn’t add the logo until 1961, before that they just had gold helmets with a green and white stripe. Since then the helmet has been about the same, with slight changes to the logo and placement on the helmet.
My Custom Packers Helmet
It was super tricky to find the right shade of yellow/gold for my Packers custom helmet. I actually ended up using tractor paint, which is some serious stuff then adding my own metallic effect.
Custom 3D Wood Helmet
I have some spots left for the next batch of custom wood helmets. Get your order in now to get it in the next 10-14 days. You can order below or message me here with what you want!
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