I'm just a normal guy who collects race-worn driver suits, helmets, sheet metal, and other race-worn items. I will use this blog to help collectors, and race fans alike understand the various aspects of driver suits and helmets, and commentate on paint schemes.
As you may remember, a few weeks ago, we discussed a Lyndon Baines Johnson Esterbrook pen, used to sign S. 510 in 1965, well we will take a look at another pen used by LBJ to sign legislation, but this pen is completely different.
On August 1, 1944, The Warsaw Uprising took place. The Polish Resistance Home Army launched Operation Tempest to combat the Nazi occupation, and to establish sovereignty before the Soviet Red Army arrived in Poland. For 63 days, the Home Army fought against the Nazis. Tragically, due to a lack of outside support, and lack of supplies, the Warsaw Uprising failed.
20 Years later, on July 31, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Proclamation 3603, which states:
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas August 1, 1964, marks the twentieth anniversary of the historic uprising of Polish patriots to liberate their capital, the City of Warsaw from the Nazi occupation; and
Whereas the bravery of the Polish people demonstrated their determination to achieve liberty and independence; and
Whereas the American people regard the action of the Polish patriots in the Warsaw uprising as a great manifestation of bravery and devotion to home and country; and
Whereas this historic effort should serve to inspire people everywhere to rededicate themselves to the cause of freedom and justice:
Now, Therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate August 1, 1961, as Warsaw Uprising Day.
I invite the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, and I urge them to mark this event as an exceptional demonstration of man’s courage and devotion in the long and continuing struggle for human freedom.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
DONE at the City of Washington this thirty-first day of July in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-ninth.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
By the President:
DEAN RUSK,
Secretary of State.
For that event, Lyndon Johnson used this pen to sign the proclamation. It is an Eversharp 45, which was the predecease to the Parker 45, which became a staple for most political bill signer pens, presidential and governor alike. It has been mounted in a shadowbox with the pen box, a picture of Johnson signing the proclamation, a portrait of Johnson, and a plaque stating when the pen was used.This is an example of an item that has changed the United States. This pen, which is made of plastic, metal, and felt was used by a President to sign a proclamation that did in fact change our world forever. While the Warsaw Uprising was in the end, a failure, it has a legacy left that tells the story of those who stood and fought for what they believed in.
I discuss the various aspects of race-worn and race used collectibles on this blog, and in researching something, I had received a suggestion that sounded like a great idea. The idea that was posed was “You may want to mention where people can actually buy these suits as well.” So I think I will.
Another, less likely place on eBay is the Safety Equipment section on eBay motors. Reason being that not all race-worn driver suits end up in collections, many of them are recycled and sold to racers who need a quality firesuit but do not have the resources to spend the thousands needed for a customized one. In fact, many auctions that are geared towards collectors also mention the size in case the suit is bought by a racer.
I have a couple of sellers that I buy from on a regular basis. One of my favorites is Just For Fun Collectibles. They have an amazing selection, and some of the best prices for stuff I have ever seen. I have bought a lot from them, and I always enjoy buying from them. The other seller I buy from regularly is Race Image. Both are based in North Carolina, and Race Image buys regularly from race teams, and resells the items both on their site and on eBay. Like Just For Fun, I have bought a lot from them, and I always enjoy buying from them. Raceusedrescued is another great seller, who has a whole lot of NASCAR stuff.
Using legitimate auction sites can be iffy, not as many people are into race-worn and race-used memorabilia, as are into baseball, or football. But one place that regularly sells race-worn material is Paragon Auctions. They have had a lot of race-worn driver suits for sale in their auctions. Other groups, such as Heritage Auctions and American Memorabilia both have had a lot of suitssell through their auctions.
But with all the places to buy items, doing the research before you buy is critical. That is why I started The Driver Suit Blog, to give collectors the resources and information that they need to do the hobby, and do it right. I’m not someone who just buys these because they look nice, throw them in a closet, and never think about them. I look at them, admire them, and I understand how much work went into designing them. I love this hobby, and I fully support it, and I want to help collectors advance in this hobby in any way I can. That is why I put the time and effort I do into this blog.
Next week, I will announce the 2013 Driver Suit Blog Paint Schemie Awards. The Schemies are a series of awards given out for paint schemes in the Sprint Cup series. For every category, there are two awards given, First and Worst. First awards are given to the best schemes of the year, and worst…well that is pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it?
Tailgating Time!
I took my chili recipe I previously mentioned, and changed the recipe slightly.
You will need:
2 pounds beef chorizo sausage
1 onions, chopped
1 (7 ounce) can diced tomatoes-drained
1 (7 ounce) cans smoked chipotle salsa
1 (12 ounce) can kidney beans-drained
1 cup water
Chili powder and garlic powder to taste
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the chorizo and onion and saute until meat is browned and onion is tender. Add the diced tomatoes, smoked chipotle salsa,beans and water.
Season with the chili powder, and garlic powder to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Marcos Ambrose #9 Twisted Tea Ford Fusion A good color scheme is in play here. I like the shades of yellow, green and blue used here. The overall design works well with the color scheme, and I will give it an A.
Now on to 2013 schemes…
Jamie McMurray #1 Lexar Chevy SS Decent color scheme, and if you get rid of the flash drives at the bottom, it would be an A scheme. This scheme is good, and earns a B+
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 RFR Driven Chevy SS Ricky has run a lot of great schemes this year, and this scheme is not an exception. Great color and simple design earns this scheme an A.
Ryan Newman #39 Quicken Loans-Salute to Veterans Day Chevy SS This scheme is a bit more complex in the grade that I gave it, and requires some explanation. This scheme features pictures of United States Military Veterans on the side as a tribute to them. They have earned a place on the car, and have earned the respect as a nation, and an A+++ grade.
Kyle Larson #51 Visit Dallas Chevy SS I love color scheme, and I love the skyline on the hood. I’m disappointed that the skyline isn’t on the side of the car, it would look good on the door, but it is still a solid A scheme.
The 10th Season Premier of Introduction to Sports Memorabilia starts with two episodes, each focusing on a college jersey from the late 1950’s to Early 1960’s.
The 10th Season Premier of Introduction to Sports Memorabilia starts with two episodes, each focusing on a college jersey from the late 1950’s to Early 1960’s.
By David G. FirestoneVideo matching is another way to authenticate a driver suit, though it is somewhat more complex than simple photo-matching. Whereas a photo stands still, video is in motion, and this method of authentication is more complex and can sometimes be problematic. I will give you the steps to make this happen.
First is that you need to find a video that may have the driver wearing the suit visible in it. Google and YouTube are very good for this. It will take some time, and can be frustrating. Once you think you have found it, you have to watch every second of the video to see if the driver is in fact in the video. This can and often is time consuming and frustrating. If you get lucky and find a video, take a screen shot, and isolate the driver. On a PC you hit prtScn and then save it on an image saving program such as Windows Paint. For Macs, you use Command-Shift-3: Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it as a file on the desktop Once done, you can compare the screen shot to the real suit, as seen below:It needs to be noted that race-wear, that is wear that comes from racing does not always show up in video, as it is difficult to pinpoint when and where race-wear happened over the course of the season. In-car cameras can be used for video matching, but the downside to this is that since there is not a lot of the suit that shows up on in-car cameras during a race, this can be problematic, and can in some cases lead to a false identification of a suit.
In a number of instances, drivers appear in video games. Many racing games feature a select screen, where you can choose a driver, and they wear their suits as seen below:
Again, there is not a lot of the suit visible, so total identification can be difficult. I would wait until all other avenues have been exhausted.
The last way is to use a VHS tape of a race that has video of the driver in question. If at all possible, transfer the tape to a computer, or a DVD, but if that is not possible, then, as a last resort, take a picture of the screen, and use that to match the suit. It is not very scientific, and the quality will probably be low, but if it works, it works.
While it is not required to match a suit, real collectors who care about the hobby do so to make sure that they are getting the real deal when they buy a driver suit. But where exactly do you buy these suits? We’ll discuss that next week.
This week on Vintage Item Spotlight, we will look at one of the rarer items in my baseball collection, a 1931 Armour Institute of Technology baseball uniform.
The story of Armour Institute of Technology is an interesting one, and it starts in 1890. Frank Gunsaulus wanted to found a university where students from all backgrounds would be admitted. Meat packing magnate Philip Armour, Sr. supported the idea, and donated $1 million in 1890 to support this endeavor. Thus the Armour Institute of Technology was born. It ran until 1940, when due to finanical constraints was merged with the Lewis Institute. Thus the Illinois Institute of Technology was born.
Most colleges in the United States have sports, and Armour Tech was no exception. Baseball was the most popular sport in the United States and so Armour Tech had a baseball team. This is an example of the uniforms the Armour Tech players wore.
The collar has a vintage Spalding Brothers Company tag, and the remains of where a second tag was removed.
The ARMOUR name is sewn in dark blue felt lettering into the heavy gray flannel. The dye from the felt lettering has stained some of the fabric aroun the lettering. The buttons are all present and in good condition.
The bottom of the front of the jersey has some staining present.
In addition to a really nice cuff design, there is some light staining on the right sleeve.
Possibly from the lettering, the left sleeve has some blue stains present.
Since uniform numbers were not introduced in baseball until 1929, and did not catch on immediately, it makes sense that this uniform does not have a number.
Turing to the pants. There are stains on the front of the legs, as well as the back seat area.
The cuffs show a lot of wear as well.
The buttons are in good condition as well.
A vintage Spalding tag, with a 34 size indication is sewn into the waist. The name SOMMER is written in fountain pen next to the size tag. Using the TechNews archives, I was able to discover that Sommer, who’s first name I was never able to find, was a center fielder from 1931-1934, eventually becoming a captain in 1934.
A pair of blue stirrups accompanies the uniform.
MEARS has authenticated this uniform as authentic, and it is a very impressive vintage piece. In fact, it may be the only example of its kind in existence, not just in this form, but in ANY form. This is a true example of a well-preserved vintage baseball uniform.
By David G. FirestoneI must have said the word Nomex a thousand times on this blog, but what exactly is Nomex? In short, it is a flame-resistant meta-aramid cloth material. It is an aramid material, which is the same thing as Kevlar, but it is not as strong as a bulletproof vest, but it has great thermal, as well as chemical resistance, which makes it great for racing firesuits.
The development of the Nomex firesuit has been a long road. This road has seen its share of driver deaths and injuries. Before the Coca Cola 600, I discussed the deaths of Fireball Roberts, Eddie Sachs, and Dave McDonald in fire-related crashes over the course of 6 days in 1964. What took place from there would cross the paths of racing and a young drag racer.
Bill Simpson was born in Hermosa Beach, California in 1940. He took up drag racing at a young age, and at age 18, broke both arms in a drag racing crash. As he recuperated, he thought of safety in racing for the first time. He developed the idea of an X shaped parachute, and using materials from his uncle’s army surplus shop, developed a functional drag racing parachute. Don Garlits noticed the new parachutes, and took an interest, which helped the Simpson Drag Chute company to form. As time went on, he started making other racing equipment, which caught the attention of drivers, and, oddly enough, NASA. During a project, he met Pete Conrad, who introduced the now 27 year old Simpson to Nomex in 1967.
Nomex was created in 1967, for NASA. Far from the uses it has today, its main use at the time was for the Apollo Command Module parachutes. NASA needed a material that could stand up to the heat of reentering the earth’s atmosphere, and still remain fully functional. Simpson saw what the material could do, and decided it would work well to make driver suits, and other uniform items.Contrary to what most people think, Nomex is not fire PROOF, rather it is fire RETARDENT. It does burn, but burns at a much slower rate, and that protects the driver in the event of a fire. Bill Simpson decided to show how much better this material was by having a “burn off.” He put on one of his Simpson racing suits, doused himself in gasoline, and lit himself on fire. Though he was fully engulfed in flames, he was not hurt. Though he admits that is was a bad idea, it sold drivers on Nomex. Even today, 46 years later, Nomex is still the go-to material for driver suits.Nomex is used for many other things. Nomex sheet is used in power cords for insulation. Fire-fighters use Nomex for protection in saving lives. Fighter pilots wear Nomex suits in case of cockpit fires. Nomex was developed for NASA and NASA still uses a lot of Nomex. It is used in what NASA refers to as the “Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit”, or in regular English, the “outer layer of a spacesuit.” The spacesuits that space shuttle astronauts wore on liftoff and touchdown were primarily made of Nomex. Almost every project that NASA has done in the last 40 years involves Nomex in one form or another, so it is a very versatile material.
Interestingly, as safety concerns increased, and safety equipment changes for the better, you begin to see that Nomex is beginning to have competition in the driver suit market in terms of fire protection. While I’m typically a traditionalist when it comes to sports uniforms, for driver suits that is a great thing. Developing a new material that serves the same purpose as Nomex, but can do it better and longer is a great thing. Eventually, Nomex will go the way of typewriters, film cameras, the printing press, and the floppy disk as an invention that is obsolete but changed the world.
Paint Scheme Reviews!
Some new 2014 schemes released this week:
Danica Patrick #10 Apsen Dental Chevy SS Even though this scheme is better than the *ahem* current Aspen Dental scheme, it still does not look good. But it is still an improvement, and I’ll give it a C
Ryan Newman #31 Quicken Loans Chevy SS Great color scheme-Check, Awesome use of Northwestern stripes-Check, classic design-Check, A+ Grade, Double-Check!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 National Guard Chevy SS The numbers kill what is otherwise a great scheme. I like everything else, but the color of the numbers looks really odd, and I can’t really say it adds to the car at all. Still it is a decent scheme, so I’ll give it a B
Greg Biffle #16 Pink 3M Ford Fusion Pinkwashing is an automatic F. I hate it when companies use causes like this to move products, so I show no mercy in this sence.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 My Best Buy Ford Fusion The blue used on this scheme is a tad too light, but it is still a decent scheme, though the lighter blue takes it from the A grade Best Buy had to an A-
Joey Logano #22 Shell/Pennzoil/Hertz Ford Fusion I’ll be honest, I want to give this scheme a better grade, but the Hertz logo just looks out of place here, and it is awkward on an already iffy scheme. Best I can give it is a D-
Cole Whitt #30 Black Clover Toyota Camry Swan Racing seems to go out of its way to design bad paint schemes this year, and this scheme is no exception. It has no redeeming features at all, and earns an F-
Aric Almirola #41 Maurice Petty Tribute Ford Fusion Tribute schemes have worked very well across the board, and this is no exception. Simple, timeless, yet attractive, a great tribute to a great engine builder. Extra points for using Maurice’s #41 for the weekend. Interestingly, Maurice raced in a total of 26 Sprint Cup races, and had 7 top 5’s and 16 top 10’s during the 1960’s.
It dawns on me I should use this blog more often. So what I’m going to do is every other week, I will take a vintage item, and analyze it up close. The Driver Suit Blog will be for racing items, this will be for everything else.
For the first part of this new blog, we will take a look at a Lyndon Baines Johnson bill pen, used to sign a legislative bill in 1965.
The pen is an Esterbrook crystal fountain pen, which, in addition to LBJ was used by John F. Kennedy, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. This particular style was used for a number of high profile bill signings, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. This particular pen was used to sign S. 510, “An act to extend and otherwise amend certain expiring provisions of the Public Health Service Act to community health services, and for other purposes.”
The pen is clear, with THE PRESIDENT THE WHITE HOUSE engraved on the side.The steel fountain pen tip has ink remnants from that signing still present on the pen over 49 years later, which adds to its mystique. This 49 year old ink on this 49 year old pen changed the United States of America and affected all of the citizens within it.Pens such as these are highly desired by collectors…but how do collectors get them? Here is a simplified version of how a bill signing works in the United States: The House and Senate pass the bill, and the bill goes to the President who signs the bill. In a media ceremony, the President signs a number of copies of the bill, each with a different pen, and then gives the pen to individuals who helped pass the bill, Senators, Representatives, and private citizens alike. These pens are treasured by the recipients, but often times, after the recipients pass away, or if they need some extra money, they will sell them to collectors.
Many examples of “bill signer” pens exist on eBay and other collector sites where it is unclear if it was used to sign legislation. Those pens that actually have signed legislation command a much higher price, and are very highly desired by collectors. Benjamin Franklin once said “The pen is mightier than the sword,” and this pen is a perfect example of that.
By David G. FirestoneLast week, I had a column run on Uni-Watch, and I delayed this article until this week. Two weeks ago, we discussed visors, this week, we will discuss what has become known as the “helmet stripe.” Helmet stripes came from IndyCar and Formula 1 cars, which are open cockpit cars. Helmets are clearly visible to television cameras and fans. As a direct result, helmet design in Formula 1 has become its own unique art form. Helmet designs become a part of the driver identity. The other thing that these open cockpits allow is for sponsorship opportunity. As such, a small opaque stripe is used on helmet visors.In NASCAR, the visor was slow to arrive. This is due to two reasons, first, many drivers up until the mid 1990’s chose to wear open-faced helmets. While these helmets had a shade to help keep the sun out of a driver’s eyes. While sponsor logos do show up, they were used for the driver’s name. This Brad Noffsinger example from 1988 is an example of that.The second reason that helmet stripes were slow to come to NASCAR is that in-car cameras, while used, were for many years positioned in such a way that the visor would not be seen. Even if helmets were painted, the visor had no stripe. When the in-car cameras were positioned to film the driver from the side and even from the front, the helmet stripe became the standard. The stripe is designed to fit over the part of the visor that overlaps the opaque part of the helmet, as this example shows.Helmet stripes have become standard. To show how it affects the overall look of the helmet, I took this Kevin Lepage helmet from 1999, and edited the pictures to show how it looks. Not bad, but let’s compare it side by side to the original helmet…Helmet stripes have become a unique way for a driver to customize a helmet, as this video shows:
Facebook pages and Twitter helmets are becoming standard on these. All visors that a driver would wear on a helmet have these stripes, which is standard, as visors are changed on a regular basis, and sponsors want the advertising space that they pay for.
Paint Scheme Reviews!
Because of the Uni-Watch article last week, I didn’t get to review paint schemes. Within the last couple of weeks there were a large number of 2014 paint schemes released. Now I know that many of these will change before the start of the 2014 season, but I will grade them anyways.
Tony Stewart #14 Bass Pro Shop/Mobil 1 Chevy SS I get that two companies with different desgin schemes are sharing the car, but this is just brutal to look at. The orange and camo contrast is hideous, and the overall design is overdone. C-
Tony Stewart #14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shop Chevy SS The white and black contrast just looks awful! I really hope this changes before the season starts, because this is a scheme that is painful to look at. I have to give it an F
Tony Stewart #14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevy SS As bad of a color scheme as this is, it is certainly better than the other two Tony Stewart schemes are. That said, the color scheme warrants an F while the design warrants an A, so I’ll split the difference and give it a C
Jeff Gordon #24 Pepsi Max Chevy SS I gave this scheme a C-, but given the *ahem* other Pepsi Max scheme, I’ve reconsidered, and I will give this scheme a B
Aric Almirola #43 Smithfield Foods Ford Fusion If the hood and front were done in the stars design, and the rest of the car was red and white striped, it would look better, and I would be able to give it more than a C+
Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowes Chevy SS Supposidly, this will be the main scheme for the whole season, and I have to say it looks amazing, and is an A+ grade
Jamie McMurray #1 Cessna/Auburn University Chevy SS The white hood and roof just look aukward, compared to the black covering the rest of the car. That said, it is still a decent scheme, and I’ll give it a B
Landon Cassill #33 T-Mone Chevy SS This is a perfect example as to why only one person should design a car. It looks like it took at least 3 people to design the car, each with a different idea as to what the car should look like. And in the end it is just a mess, and not even a good color scheme can give this scheme a passing grade. F
Kurt Busch #78 Wonder Bread Chevy SS To celebrate the return of Wonder Bread, Kurt is going to channel Ricky Bobby, except for one difference…this scheme is a lot better than the Ricky Bobby Scheme. No flames and the baloons coming from the brake duct are a great look for this car, and it earns an A
Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Mountain Dew/Xbox 1 Chevy SS It has a great color scheme, and that is the nicest thing I can say about it. The design is just awful, and it looks like it will give people seizures as it drives around the track. I give it an F
By David G. Firestone
It is an Eversharp 45, which was the predecease to the Parker 45, which became a staple for most political bill signer pens, presidential and governor alike. It has been mounted in a shadowbox with the pen box
and a plaque stating when the pen was used.
This is an example of an item that has changed the United States. This pen, which is made of plastic, metal, and felt was used by a President to sign a proclamation that did in fact change our world forever. While the Warsaw Uprising was in the end, a failure, it has a legacy left that tells the story of those who stood and fought for what they believed in.
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