The VIM Patch

[ohiofraun]

Wondering if anyone is familiar the VIM patch. I have a nice vintage 5-finger with patch information: Black background, red lettering VIM genuine(above VIM) athletic clothing (below). Seems strange. (VIM apparently exists as I have seen VIM brand for a vintage tennis racket) I cannot read anything else on the mitt except on the palm Professional Model and A-1 at wrist.

[Bravosin99]

Private message sent! Thanks

[goldy10]

VIM must have been a sporting goods company because I have a 1920s wool swimsuit with the same VIM label as on the baseball glove.

[murphusa]

Private message sent! Thanks

as soon as I read this the "Jaws" theme came into my head

[mikesglove]

Your glove may have come from the "VIM Radio & Sporting Goods Co." The were a combination appliance and sporting goods retailer. I saw some references to them back into the 1930's. Here is a pic of a VIM glove box from http://www.baseballglovecollector.com. There is a listing of other VIM gloves in the Glove Gallery section. Hope this helps.

[mikesglove]

VIM Sports Radio and Davega CIty Radio were fierce competitors in New York City from the 1920's until the '60's. They both started as electric goods retailers and sold motors, radios and expanded to include appliances and televisions. They both developed their own record labels and cut records of various artists. It seems incongruous now to imagine an electronics/music store selling sporting goods but both started marketing equipment in the 1940's to broaden their customer base to gain an upper hand. Both businesses had 20-30 stores in the New York area in their heyday.







A new Davega store around 1950.


VIM is just below the boot, circa 1938

[mikesglove]

Wondering if anyone is familiar the VIM patch. I have a nice vintage 5-finger with patch information: Black background, red lettering VIM genuine(above VIM) athletic clothing (below). Seems strange. (VIM apparently exists as I have seen VIM brand for a vintage tennis racket) I cannot read anything else on the mitt except on the palm Professional Model and A-1 at wrist.

The VIM glove shown is the same model as the VIM/X-AC brand glove mentioned in another post. One can just make out the X-AC logo in the photo. VIM originated in Chicago.

VIM began selling franchises in 1925 as part of an effort to open chain stores. The stores caught on in the New York/New Jersey area. They stopped selling sporting goods about 1950 and concentrated on their core business. VIM went out of business in 1967 and the storefronts stood derelict for a long time. Two brothers bought a couple stores in the 1970's. They couldn't afford to totally remodel the storefronts so they used the old VIM sign and named their business V.I.M. Jeans. They became very popular and opened many other stores in the New York Area through the 1980's.