Monday, March 13, 2017

Behind the T-shirt: First of Denver Cup Jacket Skiing Sheik Hoax


Check out this "First of Denver Cup" ski jacket I found last week. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/504005520/vintage-70s-ski-jacket-first-of-denver

 Little did I know it is connected with some "Fake News" from 1977. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/504005520/vintage-70s-ski-jacket-first-of-denver

The First of Denver Cup was a Pro-Am ski race held at Winter Park Colorado from 1977 to 1982 to benefit the Winter Park Handicapped Program. 

It was also the site of controversy when Sheik Abdul Haddad raced the slalom wearing flowing Arabic robes in the wake of the OPEC oil crisis in 1977.  




Turns out, however, the Sheik was a shoe salesman named George from Minnesota, and all the major international newspapers had been snookered. According to Skiing History Magazine,
Sheik Abdul showed up unannounced to compete in the Pro-Am charity race held during the First of Denver Pro Race weekend. The fundraiser supported Hal O’Leary’s innovative Winter Park Handicapped Program. The sheik was placed on the team captained by pro racer Jake Hoeschler (who was also director of skiing at Winter Park), with Heisman Trophy-winning football player Doak Walker and Andy Love, son of former Colorado Governor John Arthur Love. As the sheik flapped and fluttered across the finish line, the press corps clustered around him.
The sheik was a sensation: in the aftermath of the OPEC crisis, the very idea of an oil sheik carried the aura of vast wealth and veiled threat. The press wanted pictures, and quotes. All the VIPs wanted to meet him. The sheik’s bodyguard and translator intervened, explaining that Haddad spoke no English.
It turned out he spoke no Arabic, either. When photos and stories about the skiing sheik went out over the AP and UPI wires people in Duluth, Minn., chuckled. Color photos of Sheik Abdul made the papers in Paris, Moscow and Tokyo. But the Duluth papers quickly identified him as George S. Haddad, 56, owner of the Haddad Family Shoe Store and of Lebanese descent. The shoe store was located a few doors up from the Continental Ski Shop, where George was a frequent customer. He was also a well-known figure at Lutsen and other local ski areas, where he often skied in his “Arab” robes, no doubt avoiding entanglement in rope tows. The robes had been sewn by his wife, Dorothy Marie Haddad. Haddad even owned a U.S. patent on a bit of ski equipment he had designed: a retractable crampon to help a skier climb.
When the Duluth papers had their say, the story unwound. Hoeschler had arranged for Gerald Ford, Ethel Kennedy and Clint Eastwood to ski in the Pro-Am, but when Winter Park shifted the dates, Ford and Kennedy cancelled in favor of previous obligations.
A few days of panic ensued, and then Hoeschler, passing through Continental Ski Shop, spotted a poster of Haddad skiing in Aspen, robes and all. If he couldn’t get an ex-president onto Eastwood’s team, Hoeschler figured he could get a sheik.
And so, with the complicity of Winter Park President Gerry Groswold, Sheik Haddad arrived at Winter Park in a limousine. He came with a bodyguard in the person of Jim Bach of the Continental Ski Shop, and with translator George Abdullah, who taught at Drake University in Iowa. Haddad later claimed he was scared to run the course: With oil prices so high, he was afraid “some fanatic” might take a shot at him.
When the Duluth papers broke the story of the hoax, officials at AP and UPI were furious. UPI, in particular, had been burned in 1976 when Vail sent them a photo of a blizzard that had been taken two years earlier. They felt that the reputation of the press was at stake. But no one from any of the papers or wire services had bothered to fact-check any of the “oil sheik” stories.
The fallout for Hal O’Leary’s program was spectacular. People around the world saw the story and felt inspired to send checks to the handicapped ski team. “We raised 20 times as much over the course of the year as we had ever done before,” O’Leary told Hoeschler.
Haddad went back to his shoe store, and to Lutsen, where he was now a local hero. Hoeschler ran out his contract with Winter Park and returned to his law practice in Minneapolis.
All's well that ends well. Now you can own a very special piece of ski history and fake news history: First of Denver Cup Pro-Am Obermeyer 70s Ski Jacket

Wednesday, March 08, 2017

WTF Wednesday: Mike Pence Doll, Poodle with a Mustache


Hello Wednesday! Hello WTF! 

Hello welcome wall of bunnies.

wall of bunnies


Hello bucket of bunnies.

bucket of bunnies


Hello bull elk shedding antlers onto his own face.

Bull elk with dangling antlers


Hello quarterback aftershave bottle.

quarterback cologne


Hello clown crying over spilled eyebrow.

eyebrow clown


Hello Texas A & M bean bag potatohead.

texas a&m beanbag


Hello Mike Pence.

mike pence baby picture


Hello Misty.

misty


Hello harmonica gang.

harmonica gang


Please don't Ray, okay?

i won't mention it again


Last but not least, hello poodle with a mustache.

poodle with mustache


As with all wtf wednesdays, there are no answers, only questions leading to more questions. 

For more vintage wtf wonders (for sale), click here: vintage wtf

New WTF this week:

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

WTF Wednesday: Sandalfoot Knee Highs, Biblical Wealth Planning


Hola Wednesday! Hola WTF!

Hola sheepskin exercycle seat!

sheepskin exercycle seat


Hola craptastic birds gone wild!

birds gone wild


Hola foxes getting married. 

foxes get married


Hola Falkor wearing mascara!

falkor


Hola clothespin antelope pencil holder from Dillon, Montana!

clothespin deer


Hola sandalfoot knee highs in an Easter basket!

kneehighs


Kevin's a Capricorn - this is harsh but fair. 

capricorn


Hola Manatee in an Adirondack chair sipping on an umbrella drink!

manatee martini


Hola record For Doctors Only!

for doctors only


Hola Small Lonely Hill!

a small lonely hill


Hola cassettes about Financial and Estate Planning from a Biblical Perspective - Scriptural Basis for Wealth!

bible financial planning


Last but not least, I imagine the work order was "paint everything - the walls, the gutters, the downspouts, everything." "Everything?" "Everything."

painted flood lights


As with all wtf wednesdays, there are no answers, only questions leading to more questions. 

For more vintage wtf wonders (for sale), click here: vintage wtf

New WTF this week:

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

WTF Wednesday: Eye Shadow Cat, Snarling Tigers


Greetz, Wednesday! Greetz, WTF!

Greetz, giant-eared cat wearing eye shadow and kissing a frog. 

giant eared cat and frog


Greetz, gun-toting, leg-crossing hillbilly!

hillbilly


Greetz, backwards-footed, zoned out Eskimo baby. 

eskimo doll


Last but not least, greetz family of hissing, snarling tigers. 

snarling tigers


As with all wtf wednesdays, there are no answers, only questions leading to more questions. 

For more vintage wtf wonders (for sale), click here: vintage wtf

New WTF this week:

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

WTF Wednesday: Fitness Walking, Yoga Mice


Hello Wednesday! Hello WTF!

Hello suspect worm coming out of the Q in Tequilas.

tequilas


Hello triple dip mustache of Martin Luther King as seen through the eyes and crayons of a 5 year old.

mlk



Hello More Wealth without Risk. 

wealth without risk



Hello Fitness Walking for Women (right next to "How to Make Every Man Want You"). 

fitness walking for women



Hello Kids Are Worth It! 

kids are worth it


Hello Questionable Yoga Mice. 

yoga mice



Hello Bigger, Frillier Yoga Mice. 

tape mice


Hello Flamingo dressed in a lace clown suit. 

flamingo clown


Last but not least, Happy Tongue Out Tuesday! 

tongue out tuesday



As with all wtf wednesdays, there are no answers, only questions leading to more questions. 

For more vintage wtf wonders (for sale), click here: vintage wtf

New WTF this week:

Thursday, January 26, 2017

WTF Wednesday: Thursday Edition - On Shrooms at Ikea - Guadalajara Joe


Swedish meatballs fly around everywhere in sight!

Check out the crazy WTF newest funnest video from Guadalajara Joe - On Shrooms at Ikea!




Guady's silky Adidas rainbow paraglider shirt is from Skippy Haha Vintage!

Also if you like what you just saw and want to hear more, stream Guadalajara Joe's new album ('or more like a group of songs'), "Children of the Corn Dogs" here at bandcamp for the low, low price of zero dollars.  

(This week is GJ's birthday, so if you'd like to kick him a few bucks, that's cool too!)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/9601843c24/on-shrooms-at-ikea-guadalajara-joe-darien

I think we can all use some more laughing, singing, shrooms, and nuts dancing in capri pants and aquasocks in our lives right about now! 

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

WTF Wednesday: Found Drone, Let It Snow Gorilla


Hello Wednesday! Hello WTF!

Hello magnet head lady. 

magnet head


Hello found drone. 

found drone


Hello mailbox for Santa attached to the side of the Post Office.

letters for santa


Hello God has Blessed America, That's Why We're Number 1 Poster!

miss liberty


Part of the 1986 Statue of Liberty Day Anti-Welfare celebration. USA! USA! USA!

miss liberty small


Not surprised to see this photo at the Goodwill, I hope he didn't kill her. 

i hope she's not dead


Last but not least, hello gorilla in a Let It Snow vest. 

let it snow



As with all wtf wednesdays, there are no answers, only questions leading to more questions. 

For more vintage wtf wonders (for sale), click here: vintage wtf

New WTF this week:

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

WTF Wednesday: Politically Incorrect Novelties, Fluffy Cat Portrait


Greetings from Colorful Colorado! 

While I have not done much thrifting as of yet, I have seen a few WTF things along the way to share. 

From a truck stop in Kansas, a lovely vending machine offering Horny Goat Weed and Politically Incorrect Novelties. I never wished I had quarters more, but alas. 

horny goat politically incorrect


Herd of elk? In the yard? Okay then!

Herd of elk?


Dog in a fireplace. 

dog in a fireplace


Wood paneled 80's Pepsi machine!

wood paneled pepsi machine


Last but not least, extremely fluffy cat portrait. 

mountain cat


As with all wtf wednesdays, there are no answers, only questions leading to more questions. 

For more vintage wtf wonders (for sale), click here: vintage wtf

New WTF this week: