An AWARD JACKET is a start and a finish. It's a person's first real badge of adult-hood--of accomplishment and victorious memory. It's a goal achieved, after years of dreams and sweat. An AWARD JACKET is a reminder of bruises and aching muscles. It's a symbol of belonging, a mortar of team and camaraderie.....of friendships earned. It is moments of victory and defeat, strung like white and crimson banners in the vast stadium of memory. It is the leather of adventure, the wool of combat and heroics. --The excited hum of competition--cheers that burst like sky-rockets. It's the color of loyalty, discovered and developed. In its creases and folds are loomed and tanned all the efforts of a person to become an adult. It is union between language, creed or color. --This is an AWARD JACKET. ....Author unknown

Most people have seen an award jacket. It is most commonly being worn by high school students. The jacket has a wool body and leather sleeves. The jacket has school colors with stripes on the collar, wrist, and waist bands. The jacket can be adorned with a school varsity letter, school name and mascot, student's name, year of graduation, sport or activity, special accomplishments and many other significant happenings. The adornment can be either embroidered to the jacket or a chenille (embroidered or stitch patch) attached to the jacket. The jacket is just a piece of clothing with awards attached to it. But what about the tradition that brought about today's award jacket. This is what VLAS (Varsity Letter Award Society) will try to explore. The purpose of VLAS is to understand and preserve the tradition of the award jacket. This understanding will involve the evolution that has lead up to today's award jacket. With this first issue of LEATHER SLEEVES it is hoped that some of the tradition can be shared. Also it is hoped that readers can help in this exploration and discovery and help in the gathering of knowledge and the preservation of this tradition. The question of how did the tradition of the leather sleeved jacket come about is a question that has been asked by many high school students to their parents. The parent could only answer that it was a tradition in high school when they went to school. But how did it start, is what sparked this journey. Inquires were made of the retailers who sell jackets. These retailers had little knowledge of the origin of the jacket. Then information was requested from jacket manufactures. This was much more rewarding in obtaining information. Then it was off to the library, where nothing could be found that has been written about the tradition of award jackets. Then it was research in high school and college picture yearbooks and sports history books. This was a very valuable source. Verbal history was another valuable source to obtain information from people who have had award jackets. VLAS is trying to answer the question of how the tradition of the award jacket has come about and how it is practiced today.

Last updated: October 10th, 1999

Jamie Richardson jerichar@fas.harvard.edu http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~jerichar/sleeves/