Early Americana

The Portsmouth Spartans were established in 1928 and played in pro football's national league starting in 1930. In 1934, the team was bought and relocated to Detroit, where they became the Lions.

The Chubby and Tubby variety store began in 1947 in a metal hut. It grew into a South Seattle institution but closed in 2003.

The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team based in Paterson, NJ that played from 1931 to 1950. The team was unique in that it occasionally had Hispanic players, who were also restricted from Major League Baseball, on it roster. In 1947,...

GrandPa Pidgeon's, also known as simply GrandPa's, was founded in 1954 by Tom and Mildred Pidgeon.??Over the next decade, several more GrandPa Pidgeon's stores opened in the St. Louis metropolitan area. At its peak in the early 1990s, the chain had a total of...

The Columbus Panhandles football club was established in 1901. In 1904, they joined the Ohio League, before becoming charter members of the American Professional Football Association (later called the National Football League) in 1920. They changed their name to the Tigers in 1922 and...

The original Bills football team was established in 1946 in Buffalo as the Bisons in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). In 1947, after a name-the-team contest, the new name was selected. In 1949, the NFL absorbed several AAFC teams but, oddly, the Bills were...

In 1995, Cleveland made it to the postseason for the first time since 1954. Though it didn't end well, it was an exciting season overall, and the players on that team endeared themselves to the city forever.

The first three pro football teams to call Dallas home played in the Cotton Bowl, starting with the 1952 Dallas Texans. The city's surviving gridiron squad, the Cowboys, moved into Texas Stadium in 1971. The facility's most unique feature is the hole in the...

The Kansas City Monarchs are probably the best-known Negro league baseball team in history, as well as the longest running. The team was established in 1920 and played until 1965. Their most famous player was Jackie Robinson. ??CHECKOUT OUR ENTIRE NEGRO LEAGUES COLLECTION *Design...

Camelot was a chain of mall-based record stores founded in 1956 in Massillon, Ohio. At its peak, it operated over 450 stores in 37 states. In 1998 it was acquired by rival Trans World operators of Record Town among other chains. Most surviving locations...

Captain Penny entertained children weekdays at noon on Channel 5 in Cleveland from 1955 to 1971, showing cartoons and talking to the occasional in-studio guest. Around the holidays, Mr. Jingeling would stop by frequently. Captain Penny was portrayed by Ron Penfound who originally had...

In the 1920s, three Swedish immigrants and brothers, Hans and Gunnar Lenell and their friend Aagard Billing, launched Lenell's, a Swedish bakery offering cakes, breads and cookies. The bakery was later renamed Lenell's Cookies, and later Maurice Lenell's Cooky Company, it remained family-run through...

The Providence Steam Rollers played in the NFL from 1925 to 1931. In 1928, they became the first football team from New England to win a league title. They remain the last defunct team to win an NFL championship.

Before the NHL's Islanders called the area home, the Island had this Eastern Hockey League (EHL) team to cheer for. The Ducks played from 1959 until 1973 (a year after the arrival of the Islanders), when the EHL folded. Their home ice was at...

The Indianapolis ABCs were a Negro League baseball team that played both as an independent club and as a charter member of the first Negro National League from 1913 to 1926.

The??Birmingham Black Barons??played??Negro League Baseball from 1920 to 1960. They alternated home stands with the??Birmingham Barons??in Birmingham's??Rickwood Field, usually drawing larger crowds and equal press. *Design is officially licensed from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

The Providence Reds (also known as the Rhode Island Reds) started in the Canadian-American Hockey League in 1926. They continued with that circuit when it became the American Hockey League in 1936. In 1976, the became the Rhode Island Reds, before moving to Binghamton,...

The Stars were a Negro league baseball team that called Detroit home from 1919 to 1931. Starting as an independent team, they played in the Negro National League from 1920 to 1931. CHECK OUT OUR ENTIRE NEGRO LEAGUES COLLECTION, AS WELL AS MORE SHIRTS...

The Royal Giants were a Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn from 1905 to 1942. They were an independent team for most of their existence but also played in the Negro National Association in 1907 and 1908 and the Eastern Colored League from...

The??Jacksonville Red Caps??were a??Negro league baseball??team based primarily in??Jacksonville, Florida. They played the??Negro American League from 1938 until 1942. ?? *Design is officially licensed from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Dick the Bruiser was a legendary professional wrestler from Indiana. He was born William Fritz Afflis in Delphi, Indiana and grew up in Lafayette. Before becoming a wrestler in 1955, he was lineman for the Green Bay Packers for 4 seasons beginning in 1951.

The Seattle Metropolitans played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924. In 1917 they became the first American team to win the Stanley Cup before that trophy became exclusively associated with the National Hockey League in 1926.

The Detroit Wolves were a Negro league team and members of the East-West circuit that played in 1932. The league only lasted a few months, but Detroit was clearly the top team, posting the best record. Their home field was??Hamtramck Stadium. *Design is officially...

Founded in Cincinnati in 1943, King Records was one of the most important independent record labels in music history. One of its sibling labels, Federal Records, was the original home of James Brown. King was purchased by Nashville's Gusto Records in 1974.

Founded in Lexington in 1957, Jerry's Restaurant offered fast-casual dining and through the '70s grew to have locations throughout the Midwest and South.

The Savoy Grill is part of the historic Savoy Hotel and Grill complex in Kansas City, Missouri and is the oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi.

Pup 'n' Taco was a popular fast food chain in Los Angeles. It served featured hot dogs (thus the "pup" tacos, tostadas, pastrami sandwiches, burgers, and fries. Russell Wendell started in the restaurant business in 1956 with Big Donut. He introduced Pup 'n' Taco in 1965. In 1984, most of...

The Columbus Red Birds began play in 1902 as the Senators in the AA American Association. In 1931, the team was purchased by, and became a farm team of, the St. Louis Cardinals, changing their nickname to Red Birds. In 1946, the Red Birds...

The Whistl'n Pig opened in 1947 at??818 S.W. Broadway in Portland. In 1954, it became Bruer's Coffee Shop.??Whistl'n Pig moved to 8640 S.W. Canyon Rd. and became the Whistl'n Pig Bar-B-Q Restaurant.

The Atlanta Black Crackers, originally called the Atlanta Cubs, were a Negro League baseball team that played from 1919 to 1952. They played as both an independent club as well as in various Negro leagues throughout their history. *Design is officially licensed from the...