Looking for vintage shots of rod & custom related Pendleton shirts

Hi there,
Hope this is not too off topic for the h.a.m.b. (otherwise dear admins please delete the thread) but need I some help for an article I write for a fanzine (nerd!).

Looking for rod and custom related 1940s-60s pictures (ideally free for usage)
of people wearing Pendleton shirts like the attached Motor trend cover or the shot from the back cover of Hop Up the first 12 issues.

Thanks in advance for any support.


P.S. if you have early surfer shots - perfect too.

 

try Low Rider sites

 

Wow, were the Beach Boys ever that young?
I had a few Pendletons, but no way would I work on my stuff in my best 12 dollar shirt!!!!
I also had a bunch of Sir Guys, which were much more Greaser than the Pendeltons. A Sir Guy, a pair of A1 Racers and a pair of Roach Stompers. Mid 60s style, for sure.

 

Why? Pendleton's were very popular with White Boy Hot Rodders in the 60's - at least in the part of So Cal I grew up in!

 

HUH alot of the old time custom guys wore them.....STILL do!

 

Most of them were wool and hot and scratchy.

 

Around Bellflower it was pendleton or sir guy shirts, levi's and white t shirt.

 

the Jalopy Journal: Traditional HOT RODs, Customs and fashion.

 

All Pendleton's are wool.

Same "uniform" in the Valley....

 

Yep .... at least once the AZ temps drop below what it is now.

 

Check out this site. They carry a excellent collection of Pendeltons as well as other vintage style Mens wear. Popular with the Bomb/lowrider crowd. Click on the link below.
http://greenspans.com/

 

In my part of the Valley (SFV), Pendletons were big with the surf set at the beginning. As time wore on, the cholos began wearing them, They didn't actually wear them as much as they used them as an accessory. The drill was khakis (Not the yuppie pants of today, but Dickey work pants) starched and ironed with razor sharp creases, worn several sizes too big. A belt held them up. This was way before the saggy assed look. Spit shined French toe shoes, a white tee shirt with a wife beater underneath. The Pendleton was carefully folded and held on the forearm. The pose was to lean against a wall, with one foot on the ground and the other behind him, on the wall. A bad assed look of total disdain, as if to say, "I can kick anyone's ass", was required. The Pendleton could, and often was, replaced by a Sir Guy.

 

Love it or leave it..

 

Lots of photos of Tommy Ivo wearing Pendeltons out there in cyberspace. One of him wearing one UNDER his firesuit, just after climbing out of his digger...

 

I'm amazed that shirts as common as rain and as universally popular in America since, like, 1776, can somehow be pegged to being specific to hot rodders. You can get plaid flannel or wool shirts virtually anywhere. LL Bean, Duluth Trading, hunting shops, etc. But if you really need a specific shirt, you might have to find some hollywood set / art directors / costume designers for help. Gary

 

Yeah when they were The Pendletones.

 

My Dad was not a Hot Rodder. But he had a very large collection ( over 100 )of Pendelton's. We buried him in one. Mom still has all of his shirts. RIP Dad.

 

Must a been a left coast thing, never saw many, if any, in North Iowa, unless, maybe, you were hunting pheasants. Cotton flannel was the mode. Not realizing "Pendletons are all wool" is just another one of my short comings.

 

great topic, now RL will be having them made in chinese sweat shops.

 

Thanks a LOT Special Ed, the Tommy Ivo advice delivered. Found some great shots

And also thanks to all of you who shared memories - very informative and helps a lot too.

@gnicols - no intention to peg them somewhere, as they primarily were work wear. But as above posts show - they played their part in the past of Hot Rod and Surf culture on the left coast and that's worth exploring. But no intention to portray them as THE uniform.

@Jitterbug. Let's hope not.

Any more advice you guys can give me or even better some images from your past? Thanks in advance for any support.

 

just as a side note - found this today while doing research...
recorded 1963 in Los Angeles,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAREipKMuTY

so trying to cash in on the trend was started long before RL

 

There was a real nice, Vintage Pendleton Jacket on that auction site last week.

 

Thanks for the advice, but I am really only interested in some vintage images for the article and input on how things were back then.


P.S.
already own about 50 vintage board shirts (pretty addictive)

 

I remember the Pachuco stance, late 40's.......early 50's, sans the Pendelton. They wore thick soled black leather oxfords, spit shined with horseshoe cleats. Always had the tattoo between thumb and index finger.

Pendeltons ain't what they used to be, and haven't been for a long time. They used to be so finely woven that they weren't scratchy, almost felt like cotton. We used to cut the sleeves off at the elbow and re-hem them.

 

assholes - not a club but a lifestyle

 

pretty sure Pachuco was an east coast thing. As to Pendletons, I had them when I was a HS hotrodder in the late 50s, early 60s as did most of the other cruiser dudes in the valley (WA/ID). In college, Pendletons were in big time....as a shirt or a jacket with tails out (shirt-jac). When I lived in Kodiak, AK (ten years) my daily uniform was one of a dozen Pendleton shirts (worn as a shirt-jac) with a corresponding/complementary colored t-shirt tucked into bluejeans, and socks that matched the color theme. Different theme everyday. Visit the Pendleton factory sometime....great place to view the manufacturing process and to purchase everything they make (including really neat bleacher blankets).

dj

 

You're kidding..........right?

Google; Zoot Suit Riots

 

totally agree...unless it is a real nice pattern I collect pre '65 only. Better woven wool, better colors, better cut.
The ones you can buy now - even the vintage fit one" have a too wide collar opening to keep them comfortable when the top button is closed. Just looks wrong and the wool can't compete with the vintage quality.
Some of their more expensive models are ok though.

But back to the topic of the tread and thanks for the asshole pic - did not know that one yet.

 

Like these dudes? http://pachucocarclub.com/

Seriously? better study your history man
Pachuco refers to a particular subculture of Hispanic and Latino Americans associated with zoot suits, street gangs, nightlife, and flamboyant public behavior popular in the Western United States from approximately 1920 to 1970, with its greatest popularity in the 1940s and 1950s and occasional resurgences in the modern era. The idea of the pachuco – a zoot-suited, well-dressed, street-connected flamboyant man of Hispanic/Latino heritage – originated in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and moved westward, following the line of migration of Mexican railroad workers ("traqueros") into Los Angeles, where it developed further.

 

I'm happy to see people remember Sir Guy shirts. That was my era in So Cal, for sure.