OU Logo Question

[Martin]

i stumbled onto this ebay listing for a vintage ou football. the seller claims that the ball is from the 1950's-1960's.

Oklahoma Sooners Vintage Game Used Spalding J5V NCAA Football- University | eBay

while i'm not in the market for such a thing, i initially thought it was a pretty neat piece. however, after thinking about it a little longer, i started to wonder if it's a knock-off. i don't think that the sooners used this particular logo in the 50's and 60's. now i'm curious for other opinions. is this thing an anachronism? i realize this isn't important stuff... i guess i just really hate it when folks try to cheat other people.


here's a pic:

[Pete]

No way that block logo was used in the '50s and '60s.

In 1965 OU went with the interlocking logo on the helmets (they had been white with a red center stripe previously), but it didn't look anything like what is on that football.

By the end of the '60s, the helmets had a logo that looked like a paperclip.

[Martin]

exactly what i was thinking... the sharp-angled block style logo didn't come around until around 2000. i don't remember ever seeing that block style anywhere before then. i'd think that a ball from the 50's or 60's would just say 'oklahoma' and could maybe accept the possibility of an interlocking ou in plain letters.

[Martin]

ugh... the nerve of this seller. he also has a listing for a "rare" appalachian state "ncaa" game ball which appears to be from the same era as the ou one.

Appalachian State Mountaineers Game Used Spalding J5V Vintage NCAA Football | eBay

except for the fact that app state didn't even join the ncaa until 1970.

[unfundedrick]

This gives a limited look at some past official logos.

https://www.ou.edu/brand/logos_trade...rks/vaultlogos

[Martin]

great link, thanks! looks like there was a sharp-angled logo used on something in the 50's but it wasn't interlocking.

[jedicurt]

yep. why i don't buy off ebay for my sports memorabilia. i have had enough problems with fakes in stores and having to argue with sellers... so i now stick to a few trusted places here in the metro and in Dallas for all my sports items.

[Bill Robertson]

We used to have an incinerator at work. A few agencies used it. One day we burned about 60 confiscated, counterfeit Barry Switzer signed footballs. Made me sad.

[jedicurt]

We used to have an incinerator at work. A few agencies used it. One day we burned about 60 confiscated, counterfeit Barry Switzer signed footballs. Made me sad.

which is just crazy, because Barry will sign everything and anything... so why do you need to counterfeit them? lol

[Martin]

yep. why i don't buy off ebay for my sports memorabilia. i have had enough problems with fakes in stores and having to argue with sellers... so i now stick to a few trusted places here in the metro and in Dallas for all my sports items.

exactly... what brought me to ebay in the first place was a "1900's" university of oklahoma pennant. it was kind of pricey but looked really cool. i have a billiards room decorated with b&w photos scanned from old ou yearbooks and a really nice panorama of the campus from the 1930's that i blew up to 6ft wide. i *thought* that the pennant would be a nice addition, but now i'm really skeptical.

[artynok]

I'm an OSU guy that worked at OU for 10 years, no way that is an authentic football. It was early 2000's around when Stoops came they changed to that style of logo.

[mugofbeer]

It's unrelated to the logo but while someone is added, does anyone know why OU stopped pushing the Big Red nickname - especially since Nebraska is gone?

[jedicurt]

It's unrelated to the logo but while someone is added, does anyone know why OU stopped pushing the Big Red nickname - especially since Nebraska is gone?

i always assumed it was because of the schools past association with the "little red" mascot and the trouble it caused, that it just slowly got phased out. i mean, by the time i was in norman in the 2000's i don't think i ever really heard it except from the older generations or in reference to the "Big Red Rally" which i think is still a thing.

[Dob Hooligan]

i always assumed it was because of the schools past association with the "little red" mascot and the trouble it caused, that it just slowly got phased out. i mean, by the time i was in norman in the 2000's i don't think i ever really heard it except from the older generations or in reference to the "Big Red Rally" which i think is still a thing.

I "think" I heard that since it was a shared nickname with Nebraska (and possibly others) which could not be exclusively trademarked, they decided to focus on Sooners.

[jedicurt]

I "think" I heard that since it was a shared nickname with Nebraska (and possibly others) which could not be exclusively trademarked, they decided to focus on Sooners.

that would make sense

[Better OKC]

It's been such a long time that my old posts don't even show up. I saw this and realized, when it was never corrected, that I had to post.
The OU logo on that eBay ball is definitely late 60's. The sharply blocked football helmets of the 21st century are actually a reworking of the late 60's - early 70's helmets worn by Steve Owens, Greg Pruitt, Jack Mildren, the Selmon brothers. The 'blocked vault' can be seen on some of their helmets here.
Steve Owens in 1968


Leroy Selmon 1969


The best shot of late 60's, early 70's helmet is Rod Shoate on the cover of Sporting News in 1974


Closeup of the helmet above


As for the football in the listing, I have no idea. I'm not going to defend the seller, but the Spalding J5-V actually was in widespread use in CFB at that time.
Anyway, that's all I have to share. The old block logo can also be seen in OU-TX 1969 on YouTube, OU-Nebraska GOTC 1971, and others.

[Martin]

As for the football in the listing, I have no idea. I'm not going to defend the seller, but the Spalding J5-V actually was in widespread use in CFB at that time.
Anyway, that's all I have to share. The old block logo can also be seen in OU-TX 1969 on YouTube, OU-Nebraska GOTC 1971, and others.

great info... thanks! i suspect that the seller is taking unmarked balls from the period (like the j5-v) and branding them.

i'll also have to look for those old games on youtube.