Custom Sweaters
Made to order custom sweaters to your color style and leathering
The making of a sweater is what you want it to be. Whether to be to copy your grandfather’s racing sweater, or to have the sweater in your colors to match your motorcycle club, we can do it for you. Picking a color can be as simple as the color that the brand name was known for, for example, Pope grey, Cleveland dark blue, or even Reading-Standard sylvan green. A well-made sweater with felt lettering will stand out from the rest of the pack. You can wear these sweaters like a well-made leather jacket on the street or on the board track made to perform.
The history of the first competition letter sweaters can be traced back to Harvard University baseball team in 1865. The letter was usually quite large and centered. Stripes on one sleeve designated the number of letter won, with a star indicating a team captain. These first sweaters were of the pullover style.
The next use of competition letter sweaters would be with Penny-Farthing, also known as a high wheel and ordinary, was the first machine to be called a “BICYCLE.” The high wheel saw popularity in the 1870s and 1880s and you can rest assured the competition letter sweaters were there. The great glue that tied this all together is Albert Pope as he began manufacturing the Columbia Bicycle in 1878 outside Boston, starting their two-decade heyday in America. Pope’s company made a successful transition from high-wheel to safety bicycle in 1887. The company’s first motor-powered vehicle would be announced in 1897 when the April issue of The Motorcycle reviewed their electric motor carriage.
It is also important to remember the contributions made by magazines like Motorcycle, Bicycle Illustrated, Motorcycle Illustrated, and Motorcycling for their impact in bringing together motorcycle clothing styles. These magazines drove the styles for the late 19th century and early 20th century in motorcycle clothing. The many clothing articles, vendors’ ads, and pictures of riders brought together California with Massachusetts for its time. These magazines give us a time capsule, then as in now, for what clothing should look like.
Click on the pictures below to see more details of that sweater or jersey.
