FRANK MERRIWELL SWEATERS

The heavy knit sweaters worn by football heroes in the '20s are back in many colorful guises

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ORIGINAL LAYOUT

Heavy knit sweaters, football favorites of the '20s and still beloved by cheer-leaders today are all over the sporting scene this fall. When a hand-knit one in a checkerboard pattern was pictured in SI, Sept. 6 a whole college fraternity wanted to buy others like it. Women are wearing white hand-knit sweaters with fancy patterns to dog trials, in open sports cars. The original Frank Merriwell, roll-collar coat sweater, first hand-knit by the Shakers of Pennsylvania, was called a "Shaker." A search for the old Shaker revealed one company still making it. There were also a raft of new heavy knits from six countries (next page), among them cardigans from France and Austria and an English yachting sweater called the "Pig's Whisker." Many are from Europe, in the newly popular cardigan which European skiers now wear with their brightly colored ski pants. Most of the imported sweaters are found only in metropolitan department stores and sports shops. But the demand for them has grown so much this fall that they'll soon be available in American versions in stores everywhere.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

RONNY JAQUES

TURTLE-NECK sweaters have long been popular with sportsmen who like their clean lines, and warmth at the throat. This new ribbed one is by Munroe of Scotland, imported by Abercrombie & Fitch, N.Y., $25.

PHOTO

RONNY JAQUES

HEAVYWEIGHT SWEATERS. Top row, left to right: Gaucho-collar sweater in ribbed stripe (Italy) at Sig Buchmayr's Ski Shop, $29.95; fancy-knit cardigan of water-repellent unwashed wool (Austria), Buchmayr, $29.95; zippered cardigan with contrast collar (Switzerland), Abercrombie & Fitch, $28.50. Center row: Yellow "Pig's Whisker" yachting sweater by Allen Solly (England), Saks Fifth Avenue, $25; black V-neck sweater with inset turtle neck (France), Dominique France, $48; blue cable-stitch (Switzerland), Norse House, $26.50. Bottom row: cobalt cardigan (France), Dominique France, $40; red turtle-neck classic (see previous page), Frank Merriwell-type Shaker coat sweater (U.S.A.), Alex Taylor, $24.