Okemo Mtn. Patch (Headdress Logo, Red Border) — c. 1970s

A vintage Okemo Mountain ski patch from Ludlow, Vermont, estimated to date from the 1970s, featuring the headdress figure in a yellow suit with a red and yellow bonnet, tucked over a snow mound on blue. Pointed shield, red merrowed border, OKEMO MTN. in red across the top.

Listed as a record of what the mountain printed, not as a thing to celebrate. Okemo takes its name from an Abenaki word, and the figure ran on its merchandise into the 1980s before being retired. It is here because removing it from the record does not remove it from the history.

Mid-century resorts reached for this kind of imagery routinely and without thinking about it, and Okemo retired the mark decades ago. It is listed here as a record of what was made, not as a thing to celebrate.

Keeping the object is how the history stays accurate. Pretending the design never existed is how it gets repeated.

Mountains across the country used similar marks in this period and nearly all of them have since retired them, usually without comment and usually long after they should have.

Embroidered on twill, merrowed edge. Photos are the condition report.