6 Game Day Collectibles to Celebrate the Return of College Football

With college football kicking off this week, it's time to suit up—and deck out your space. From vintage varsity jackets and band uniforms to felt pennants, these classic collectibles bring home plenty of school spirit.

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Letterman Jackets & Patches

The iconic letterman jacket started as a simple knit sweater worn as part of the 1865 Harvard University baseball team uniform. It quickly became a status symbol used to distinguish top athletes, and by the 1930s, the jock jackets (mostly wool jackets with leather sleeves) rose to popularity. Most start around $150 but can reach several hundred dollars in value. Letters were originally wool but evolved into the chenille patches (shown) in the '50s and '60s. They typically go for $10 apiece (and take up significantly less closet space!).

Marching Band Memorabilia

While bands themselves are centuries old, the first school halftime show performed by a marching band is believed to date to 1907 at the University of Illinois. The shows quickly became more elaborate, involving band formations (the first was a block "P" at Purdue University), school fight songs, dance lines, baton twirlers, and majorettes in the 1940s to 1960s. Most vintage uniform pieces go for around $60–$150 (those with extra embellishments or from lauded programs like Florida A&M, Grambling State, and Ohio State tend to fall on the higher end), while finds like sheet music or brass lyre music clips are more affordable.

School Pennants

Felt pennants with collegiate logos can be spotted in old catalogs and photos from the early 1900s. Many of the oldest iterations were handmade and sprang up on Ivy League campuses but became more mass-produced in the '30s, '40s, and beyond. Pennants can vary in size (about six inches at their smallest, a few feet at their largest) and often display school seals or mascots. Super-rare 19th- and early 20th-century pennants sometimes sport hand-stitched appliqués and are very valuable (think $500+). Early makers were often located near colleges, but they're usually hard to identify due to the lack of markings on pennants.

Cheerleading Uniforms

Princeton students were the first to "cheer" on their athletic teams as early as the 1860s. Cheers and fight songs gained in popularity, and during a particularly close University of Minnesota football game in 1898, a student offered to lead the cheers. Thus began cheerleading, an all-male activity until 1923, when women were allowed to participate (they began to dominate squads during WWII, when men were overseas). Older wool uniforms (shown) can go for about $50–$150, depending on condition and embroidery, while megaphones have a surprisingly high value (think $100+ for older, larger ones). Pom-poms, while festive, are not particularly collectible, as their condition deteriorates easily over time (the sets shown are likely from the 1980s).

Football Schedules & Programs

Distributed at the beginning of each football season at high schools and colleges (and, now, professional leagues), these handy booklets detail the season's schedule and sometimes feature player profiles or were custom made for particularly high-stakes games, like championships or rivalries. Most showcase illustrated cover art and make for affordable collector items at around $10 apiece, but a few rare finds have garnered thousands from bidders on eBay, like a program from the 1926 Alabama vs. Washington Rose Bowl game.

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