{"product_id":"vintage-snow-valley-manchester-vermont-embroidered-patch-1","title":"Snow Valley Snowman Patch, Felt — c. 1950s-60s","description":"\u003cp\u003eA vintage Snow Valley ski patch from Manchester, Vermont, estimated to date from the 1950s or early 60s, cut to the outline of its own artwork — no border, no field, just the shape of a snowman standing on a cloud, die-cut from cream felt. He wears a red knit hat and a red scarf, holds a pair of skis upright in one mitten, and Snow Valley runs in red script through the cloud beneath him over MANCHESTER, VERMONT.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFelt puts this early — the fifties or the early sixties, before twill took over and patches started looking machine-made. Felt behaves differently with age. It does not fray so much as soften and go slightly powdery at the edges, and the colors do not crack, they just quietly leave.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSnow Valley closed in 1984. The lifts came down, the trails filled in, and the public face of a ski area that ran for four decades now consists of a cheerful snowman on a piece of wool, standing there with his skis, entirely unaware.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is something about mascots from dead mountains. They were drawn to be reassuring — to tell a nervous eight-year-old in the lift line that this was going to be fine. The mountain is gone and the snowman is still doing his job.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFelt patches are also considerably harder to find in good shape, because felt does not survive a washing machine, and a great many of them went through one on a jacket.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eChain-stitched on felt, die-cut to shape with no applied border. Photos are the condition report.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ropetow Vintage Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56978813288753,"sku":"RV-VT-021","price":140.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0996\/2048\/7473\/files\/ropetow-vintage-co-snow-valley-ski-patch_68787be1-b9ce-4822-8058-a51c1ba10aaf.webp?v=1792339819","url":"https:\/\/ropetowvintage.com\/products\/vintage-snow-valley-manchester-vermont-embroidered-patch-1","provider":"Ropetow Vintage","version":"1.0","type":"link"}