 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
* Original late 1960's CFL Spalding: Professional League J5V leather ball.
* Overall Condition: Used but not abused, good patina & no rough spots.
* Verification: Guaranteed authentic. Still has decent coloured Stripes.
* Verbal Provenance: Original owner knew Jake Gaudaur personally.
* Note of Interest: These footballs were not sold to the general public. This football is a genuine, early-era Jake Gaudaur game ball and our research tells us that, according to its style, it was most likely manufactured circa 1968 to 1973. The numbers "27" and "86"on both sides of the valve represent internal factory-code markings for that specific production lot, and remain completely unrelated to the calendar year 1986. It's known that "27" refers to the die cutter number for that type of handmade ball and the "86" is the colour dye reference number of that ball. Doug Mitchell took over as commisioner after Jake Gaudaur
retired in 1984, so, the number "86" does not refer to the year 1986.
1960's CFL Spalding J5V Football
Spalding Canada held the contract as the supplier of official CFL footballs until 1995 when they were replaced by Wilson. Spalding had hand-made the J5V in Canada for decades, but they were always in short supply. Their new bid called for the ball to be manufactured in South Korea.
The CFL instead opted to switch to the American made Wilson football; Spalding Canada was a wholly owned subsidiary of Spalding with manufacturing facilities in Canada. Any indication that the Wilson ball was machine-made may be a misnomer, as Wilson's info page did indicate the 3-layer lining was hand-stitched to the football panels. Wilson footballs were hand-made and I don't believe this has changed in the past 30 years, though hand-made with machine tools is likely the proper description for both footballs.
This may have not been the first switch to Wilson. It's believed that the league switched to a Wilson manufactured ball as early as 1961, though for how long we can't say for sure. The J5V model was not a signifier of the Canadian football size or specs but rather, it was used as a Spalding brand name that continues to today in its rubber and composite footballs sold in the US.
Unfortunately Spalding Canada closed its Brantford manufacturing facility in 1982, and ceased all manufacturing in Canada in 1996.
Rare Artifacts Ref No: 5T22 LOR-BA-S/MOEX
Authentic ca. late 1960's CFL Spalding: J5V leather football
Updated June 1, 2026 |
|
|---|
