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This zipper front baseball
jersey was made by the Empire Sporting
Goods Manufacturing
Co., Inc., 92-100 Bleecker Street, New
York, N.Y. Established in 1919, the
company made athletic uniforms, camping
and military clothing. The Empire
gold-on-black manufacturer's tag on
this jersey was used from the late
1930s to the early 1950s. The zipper
style was used in the mid 1940s into
the early 1950s. The jersey's pattern
is common from the late-WWII and into
the 1950s, however the shorter sleeve
length pushes the bottom end of the
range into post-war. The undersides of
the sleeves are reinforced and include
vents.
Zippered uniform jerseys hit the
playing field in the 1930s. The 1937
Chicago Cubs were the first major
league team to zipper up. By 1940 and
’41, half of all big league clubs had
zippered jerseys. But, only a handful
of teams wore them into the 1970s. The
last major league club to wear a
zipper-front jersey was the
Philadelphia Phillies in 1986.
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