Thanksgiving means football! And this year, so does Black Friday!
I don’t write about it often but I am a big pro football fan. What’s that got to do with comics? Practically nothing, which is precisely why I don’t write about it very often.
Nevertheless, I indulge my pigskin predilections every Thanksgiving here at 13th Dimension because I get to make the rules.
In the past, we’ve done 13 COVERS featuring superheroes and football, as well as features on that wackiest (and loudest) of table-top games, electric football.
This year? It’s 13 GROOVY 1970s NFL CATALOGUE PAGES, courtesy of our pal Ron Papa, a catalogue collector nonpareil.
As a kid, I would pore over these pages, gazing at the colorful jackets, coats, pajamas, uniforms, helmets and whatnot. And as it happened, I was very well stocked in the colors and logos of my beloved Miami Dolphins.
See? That’s me with the Batmobile! (If I look worried it’s because my Dad told me to stand behind the ropes and I was terrified I was going to be arrested.)
Anyway, if you dig football in the ’70s — the sport’s true Golden Age — or just pretty colors, you’ll dig this.
Happy Thanksgiving — and root for the Dolphins to beat the Jets on Black Friday!
1975
1976
1971
1973
1973
1972
1972
1973
1971
1973
1976
1976
1973
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MORE
— 13 Great ELECTRIC FOOTBALL Teams — RANKED. Click here.
— 13 COVERS: A Thanksgiving Football Frenzy. Click here.
November 23, 2023
I shall root for the Dolphins to beat the Jets on friday provided you root for the 49ers to crush the Seahawks Thanksgiving night.
November 23, 2023
I have no animosity toward the Seahawks — but deal!
November 23, 2023
Thank you so much for this! I never paid attention to football but my husband did! I lost him last Spring and this is my first Thanksgiving without him (but surrounded by family, thank God!) Thank you for making me smile!
November 23, 2023
Happy Thanksgiving, Jeff. I’m very sorry for your loss. I’m glad to play a small part in making this a better day.
November 23, 2023
Man, what a time capsule this is. Great post.
November 24, 2023
This was the first page I turned to when the Sears & Wards Christmas catalogs came out each year.As a kid, I had a Colts football uniform with helmet, robe, jacket, and knit cap.
As when I say “Colts”…I mean the BALTIMORE Colts
November 24, 2023
I’d always look and think “You could have 1/2 of those pictured…which ones would you get?”
Had my little gumball helmets for many years, but finally sold most off in recent years.
Memories of playing electric football (solo) and the one quarterback for each team that could actually stay on course and even do some amazing course correction to score. It was kind of spooky. Painted my own teams. Had a BIG set, but hardly ever put the stands up after a while.
Naturally it developed a bulge on one side where the printed sheet lifted part way to the end zone. Sliced it carefully and glued it down. But sometimes the cut-line would catch their little ‘feelers’ and redirect them a little.
Most players you never knew what they were going to do (like go in a circle). Houes would pass by so quick.
November 25, 2023
(Bringing it back around to comics… kinda.)
Oh no, Dan! You had that flocked Batmobile, too! I was so disappointed when I went to our local car show expecting to see that glossy, black beauty from the Batman TV show, only to get that “flockin” knock off! Mine had hot pink trim, too! Ugh!