Found in a thrift store, a 1940s Charlotte Observer blue silk boxing robe goes viral
Charlotte, it seems, is eager for two things.
Tiny pink robots and vintage boxing robes.
Of course, that’s an overstatement. I can only say this based on some recent posts on Twitter that have attracted a lot of attention. And most people aren’t scrolling through the social media site on a daily basis.
Still, there is an appetite, especially when a mystery is involved. Enter the 1940s era wrestling robe. Or, should we say boxing robe?
This past Saturday, I was strolling through the Vintage Charlotte spring market at Camp North End. My parents were in town visiting for Easter weekend, and I wanted to show them what the city had to offer.
In between restaurant outings and neighborhood tours, we drove over to the historic Ford Factory where more than 80 vendors were spread out across the floor for the market.
We had walked around Camp North End the day before but my dad forgot his camera. I thought this would be a good excuse to bring him back.
We were on our way out when my dad — a former reporter himself — spotted a blue satin robe hanging up with some other clothing.
We pulled it back to reveal gold lettering on the back: The Charlotte Observer.
I think I remember my jaw dropping. What business did The Observer, the newspaper I work for, have on the back of a satin robe?
The tag said it was a wrestling robe from the 1940s. The vendor, Reunion Vintage Goods out of Asheville, was asking $150.
As I held it up to take a picture, my parents told the vendor operators that I worked for the paper.
They explained they got the robe from a “nice old lady” in Hickory who, if they remember correctly, used to always pick up vintage clothing at church rummage sales and antique malls.
They didn’t have much more history beyond that.
I had a thought. Why don’t I ask Twitter?
Twitter always has an answer
Over the next several hours, my account blew up with responses and retweets.
Among the responses, there’s this one from my former colleague in Virginia: This is amazing and perfect for the WFH (Work From Home) life.
Another response from a reporter in Michigan: All newspapers need to have a professional wrestler on staff.
Soon enough, the picture became more clear on the robe’s history. In the meantime, I held off on buying it.
A patch on the front of the robe was from the AAU, or Amateur Athletic Union, one North Carolina writer, Jeremy Markovich, tweeted out. Brad Kutrow then chimed in that the Observer had once sponsored an amateur boxing tournament.
Further sleuthing by Markovich and others showed that in January 1940, the Observer had an article about prizes being given out for an amateur boxing tournament.
One of the awards? A “blue and gold satin boxing robe.”
Then, I got a notification that the UNC Charlotte Special Collections and University Archives Twitter account had posted about the robe.
Photos from the Observer and The Charlotte News show eight boxers clad in the robes, the group posted on Twitter.
The image quality “leaves much to be desired,” the group wrote, but to my eyes the images look like a match to the robe we saw hanging at the vintage market.
The group found one more photo from November 1942 showing the back of the robe, but said the poor image quality makes it hard to tell if there was any design under “The Charlotte Observer.”
It appears the mystery was solved.
The fate of the robe
At that point, I had left the market with no robe. I wasn’t prepared to spend $150.
Later that evening, I emailed the vendors. I let them know of the history that my Twitter following had come up with.
“Did you end up selling it?” I asked tentatively.
The answer was yes. Turns out an editor with Axios Charlotte saw the Twitter postings and ran over to buy it.
The robe had gone viral and found a new home. I’m just glad to be part of its next chapter of history. A few questions remain: who wore this robe and where are the others?
Let me know what you find out. I can be reached at grago@charlotteobserver.com.
