Snake America: Edition 11
Snake is a regular email covering joints on eBay, Craigslist, YouTube, ephemera, errata, culottes...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221321022787 - No one gives credit where it's due. There is a massive disconnect between the sweatshirt's design--the lion, safari patches, two-color champion tag, it's a Positive White Sweatshirt, the A&F tag, the double tag--and its asking price. How can this only be $60? And still for sale? Well, tags are felt and not seen, which is one. This came out ... in the 1970s, maybe early 1970s (before Abercrombie's 1976 bankruptcy filing*) well before either company's re-branding and/or resurrection (2011 for Champion and 1995 or something, for Abercrombie). This is one of those rare two-label collaborations from that era, the best example being the LL Bean-Champion T-shirts (ones with no logo, just two tags, differ from the LL Bean shirt Champion made) or the made-by-Nike Champion stuff from the 1970s. (The worst example is a spate of old Patagonia pullover fleeces with tags displaying different camping stores sewn inside, on lame colors.
The Abercrombie safari jacket, pictured above, is equivalent to Champion's crewneck, or grey tee, I think, but hasn't been retroed and isn't much available, and no one really talks about it. Abercrombie was Teddy Roosevelt's favorite hunting brand and Champion Knitting Mills, the company's first name, is now in Montreal. Probably not the same one, but it's something. Still, the sweatshirt, pedigree and all, is beyond hideous and should be worn with a bad Looney Tunes sweatshirt or something shameful. Stay away unless you are stout and/or obese.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/360647174639 - This book seems pretty cool. I really don't know where to start with rare books or graphic anthologies or "inspiration" books or whatever. Is this better or worse than Craphound? Is there a secret key or terrible image on one of these un-scanned pages? Will I find something shocking? Is the book jacket dusty? Which of the Tadanori Yokoo books is the best? Is he cooler than Peter Max? How many Mustangs does he have? Are some of his books bad and only one of them good? Is this more like Judge Dredd Complete Case Files 05 (England, 2012) or the Three 6 Mafia back catalog? I bet there is a cross-section of graphic designers working right now that can figure out whether something's by Yokoo or a Tadanori Yokoo ripoff within a second of looking, like my friend Kenny, who can distinguish fast foods by smell. I think Ken has the rarer and more subtle skill.
Thanks, once more, for reading. Questions, comments, tips, complaints on my driving can be sent here in a reply. Thanks again.
Snake
* Not pretending I know if clothing companies have a season left of joints after they file, etc.