Hubert Greene’s Coveralls and More

Back a couple weeks ago we posted a two-part story on the history of Greene’s Boat and Motor.  Today we’re posting another Greene historical piece, but this one had nothing to do with boats.  In Hubert Greene’s Coveralls and More, we’re going to take a deep dive into the patches on this historical set of coveralls as well as some others that were on Hubert’s old desk at the time I visited in 2014.

Coveralls were the choice of most anglers for fishing back in the 1960s through the early ‘70s.  Back in the day, anglers showed their support of tackle companies by sewing industry patches on their coveralls, jackets, and shirts.  Then, as bass tournaments took hold in the late 1960s, anglers began sewing the tournament patches on their clothes as well.

As with many coveralls of the day, Hubert’s set is no different except instead of having maybe a dozen patches, it is host to 83 patches in all.  When the patches were sewed on is a mystery to me but there is a clue attached to the front in the form of the badge that shows Hubert was one of the B.A.S.S. 25^th Anniversary contestants.  This event was held at Beaver Lake, Arkansas, the same place where Ray Scott held his first event.  It is my guess that Hubert sewed these patches on this set of coveralls for this event.

Patches placed on the coveralls include tournaments that Hubert fished as well as companies represented. The earliest event patches are from 1967 and go through 1990.

As mentioned above, Andy Greene not only let me take photos of the patches on the coveralls, he also let me take pictures of the patches in Hubert’s office.  I’ll be talking about the coverall patches first and then will delve into the others later.

Coveralls

Starting with the front of the coveralls you notice that the upper chest area and arms are filled with several non-Bassmaster tournament patches.  Same is said for the upper back.  In my eyes as a patch collector, there are two patches that stand out above the others – the 1967 World Series of Sport Fishing patch and the 1967 World Invitational Bass Tournament patch on the right.  We have talked a lot of about the 1967 WSOSF, an event won by Dwight Keefer, but the second patch I’m not familiar with.

The patch below it may shed some light, though, as it is the same title event, this time from 1971 and put on by Project Sports INC.  Why I find this patch so interesting is Ray Scott and his All-American Bass Tournament started in 1967 (before he founded B.A.S.S.).  This means that PSI started sometime in the same year, probably after Scott’s first event at Beaver Lake.

Continuing with the upper portion of the coveralls we see the 1969 All-American BASS Tournament held on Lake Ouachita, the BASS shield, two Johnson Outboard Tournament Fisherman patches on the shoulders. On the sleeves there are a 1970 Lake Norman Champion Bass Tournament patch, a 1971 Sportsmen’s Show Fishing Tournament of the Carolinas, as well as a Confederate flag and American flag patches.

The Lake Norman Champion Bass Tournament patch was the patch given out to the contestants who fished that event.  We recently covered that tournament through Rhodney Honeycutt’s video of the event, in which he placed third.  Hubert Greene was featured several times in that video and placed 9^th in the event.

The American and Confederate flags on the sleeves were sold through Ray Scott’s Out House mail order catalog.

The upper back of the coveralls also had some great early patches like the Bagley’s Better Baits patch, Ranger Boats, the 1983 Bassmaster Super Tournament, Mann’s Jelly Worm, and American Bass Fisherman.

Back to the front of the coveralls just above the belt is a Project Sports INC patch, a North Carolina Wildlife Resources patch, a USA patch, an American Anglers Association patch and another Sportsmen’s Show Fishing Tournament of the Carolinas patch from 1972.  Also present is a Santee-Cooper Lakes Open Bass Tournament patch that signifies that Greene fished that event as a pro.  I have no idea who put that tournament on.  The USA patch again was sold through the Out House catalog.

On the back of the coveralls at about the same level in big print is Greene Boats and Motor Co., flanked by a Super Motor-Guide patch and Williamson’s Bear Cat line patch.  Then, below the Motor-Guide patch is a Willi-Worm patch, which I have never seen before.  The rest of the patches are all early Bassmaster tournament patches. If you’re interested in seeing more on those, I suggest you check out Jeff Haines’ collection of patches here.

Moving to the section below the belt, the coveralls are filled with more early Bassmaster tournament patches with some others mixed in.  I’m going to cover the non-Bassmaster tournament patches since we discuss those at length in Jeff’s collection.

On the right leg there’s another Sportsmen’s Show tournament patch from 1973, another Santee-Cooper Open Bass Tournament patch from 1973, an American Bass Fisherman patch, a United Bass Fisherman patch, as well as Johnson Outboards Racing and Mercury Fish Power patches.

The left leg features the B.A.S.S. Don’t Kill Your catch patch, sold through The Out House, as well as a 1972 Santee-Cooper Open Bass Tournament patch, two Terry Bass Boat patches and a Mann’s Jelly Worm patch.

Hubert’s Other Patches

As mentioned above, Hubert not only had patches sewn to his coveralls but also had several more in a tray that resided on his desk.  We’ll investigate some of these patches now.

Most of the patches in the tray were Bassmaster tournament patches that I won’t discuss here.  I will place them in the gallery below for completeness.  But there were several patches of interest that I will cover.

That’s about all I have with respect to the patches found at Greene’s Boat and Motor during my trip in 2014.  Below you’ll find the galleries with all of the patches talked about as well as the complete collection of Bassmaster tournament patches I have the galleries split into non-Bassmaster tournament patches and Bassmaster Tournament Patches.

Also, to see the original two articles posted on Greene’s Boat and Motor, click here for Part One and here for Part Two.

Gallery:  Non-Bassmaster Tournament Patches

Gallery:  Hubert Green Bassmaster Tournament Patches