Reeder and McGaughey

[nycnftm]

Hello, after searching the web, it appears Reeder and McGaughey was a store in Atlanta years ago. I have an William Andrews, Atlanta Falcons jersey with the R/M tag on it that I think is on an on-field jersey. Since the place is long gone, have any of you heard if they were manufacturers of on-field jerseys in the early 80s? ANY help would be appreciated. I'm trying to figure out the jersey's history.

[JackHE]

Mark Hayne will be able to read you chapter and verse on this but the RM
tag was definitely present for on-field jerseys. I don't recall the year(s) when the red and blue Russell logo showed up vs the previous gold one but should narrow the timeline some.

Looks like you have a nice jersey there - would love to see pic of the whole thing.

J

[genius]

I'll bid if you put that up for auction!!!

[G1X]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no way that William Andrews could have worn the jersey in game action as he last played for Atlanta in 1986. The number was retired by the Falcons and no one has worn it since.

To answer the Reeder-McGaughey question, they were the local sporting goods store in Atlanta that supplied the Russell jerseys to the Falcons for many years. Some jerseys contained the Reeder-McGaughey tag, some did not. Sometimes, the tag washed out of the jersey. The Falcons also year-tagged their jerseys for the most past dating back to the mid-1970s. However, not all of the jerseys contained the year tag, and it is quite common for the year tag to either wash out, or else the tag remains but is unreadable and is often literally hanging by threads.

A quick side note: The year tagging on the red 1978 jerseys (78) was screened directly on the tail of the jerseys instead of being on the cloth patch (see below photo). However, the white jerseys had the usual year tag patch with the 78 stitched on the patch.

Hope this information is useful.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

Always looking for Falcons and WFL jerseys, and Willie McGee and Darren Lewis game-used items.

[G1X]

A quick follow-up to Jack's comment about the red and blue Russell logo tagging. The red and blue eagle head "R" logo replaced the gold-stitched tagging in 1983. Actually, 1983 was a transition year as there are Falcons jerseys tagged "83" that have the newer red and blue tagging, and some with an "83" year tag that have the the gold-stitched tagging.

See below photos for an example of each. Hope this is helpful!

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

Always looking for Falcons and WFL jerseys, and Willie McGee and Darren Lewis game-used items.

[G1X]

One final note (I hope). For those of you holding Falcons jerseys from 1984 through 1989 who suddenly became concerned about the year being screened-on to the year tag instead of stitched-on after seeing the photos of my 1983 jerseys, fear not as the Falcons switched to the screened-on method in 1984 (see below photos).

Also, from the best that I can tell, the 100% nylon flag tag did not start appearing on Russell jerseys until around 1985. At least that seems to be the case with Falcons jerseys. If anyone else has examples on that subject, it would be much appreciated.

In case anyone didn't notice, I collect Falcons jerseys!!! I'm always looking to add to my collection, especially older jerseys.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

Always looking for Falcons and WFL jerseys, and Willie McGee and Darren Lewis game-used items.

[sox83cubs84]

nycnftm:

What number is the jersey? The reason I ask is that I'm wondering if this might be a preseason lineman who never made the team, and not William himself? William Andrews wore #31, and was 6-foot and 210....hardly dimensions that would cause him to wear a lineman size of 50 with 5 inches of extra length. Maybe the sizing/numbering would explain the 1989 year tag as a preseason piece. If it IS #31, however, then it would be a team-issued jersey made up for non-game usage purposes.

Dave M.
Chicago area