AMERICANA MEMORIES = PENNANT HEAVEN

And there it was Pennant heaven, I came across a booth at the Green Flea Market in Manhattan

and met Steven Melillo of Americana Memories . Steven told me that he lives in New Haven, CT and works for Yale University. Every weekend he drives down to the Green Flea Market to sell his collection of framed pennants and beautiful collectibles.

 "A lot of people consider college to be the best time of their lives," says Melillo. "When people see a pennant from when they were in college ... It's an emotional experience."

I bought myself a framed Princeton pennant, that's my way to experience the preppiness of an Ivy League University.

You can find Steven yourself at:

The Green Flea Market

100 West 77th Street

New York

CHAD GOES TO THE VARSITY 128

Coming Sunday, the 10th of April, the Varsity 128 will be held on the roaring waters of the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal. On this canal the crews of the different universities will have a battle who will bring the title back to their city. Will it be Nereus, Laga, Njord or one of the others? I will keep you posted.

THE LETTER SWEATER

Holiday 2010 by Rugby

Dartmouth University

Princeton

Buddy Lee in an University of Minnesota Sweater

Yale University

Scene from the movie Easy Rider

Harvard University

Deuce.....

shot by The Sartorialist

Page from Take Ivy

The idea of the varsity letter was first introduced in 1865, when the Harvard baseball team added an old English "H" embroidered on their grey flannel shirt. Ten years later, the Harvard football team followed and used the "H" also on their jersey's. In that time it was common use that the player who won an important game kept the letter as an award. First you had the Letterman sweaters followed by jackets and cardigans. The letter was quite big and centered if the sweater was a pullover. If it was a cardigan, the letter was placed on the left side. The stripes on one sleeve designated the number of letters won; a star indicated the team captain.