June 14, 1968: Turtlenecks now OK to wear in Northlands clubhouse

The Northlands clubhouse had apparently succumbed to the turtleneck craze of the day, said a story by Journal sports writer Don “Buckets” Fleming.

It was an about-face to a flat statement made a few months earlier by Walter Sprague, shortly before he moved up from chairman of the racing committee to the presidency of the Edmonton Exhibition Association, when he declared that turtlenecks would never become approved dress at Northlands.

The change appeared to follow what happened the previous week when National Hockey League player Earl Ingarfield, a centre with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was turned away at the door because his expensive ensemble included a turtleneck. However, since then, orders had apparently come down from on high to the clubhouse staff that the dress code rules had been relaxed.

The sign that adorned the entrance to the dining lounge area of the racetrack, still said all male patrons must wear jacket with tie, but inside, men wore windbreakers over their shirt and tie and some sported turtlenecks.

“If that’s the case, presumably, sports shirts worn with jackets will shortly become acceptable as well,” Fleming wrote.

Sprague had made no secret of the fact that his eventual plans called for a superposh Turf Club. Meanwhile, invoking a high standard of dress in the present exclusive section had presented problems.

To sidestep the rules, many racegoers had borrowed ill-matching ties or worn cheap string-ties with their shirts in order the beat the rap at the gate.

One racing owner, Joe Duggan, once even removed a shoelace from one of his shoes, tied it around his neck and “clippety-clopped” into the lounge to treat his friends after his horse Patterbum’s winning race.

At least one patron wasn’t happy with the relaxation of clubhouse rules.

“Heck, I purposely come to the track lots of times wearing just a sports shirt and a jacket so that I can’t get into the clubhouse,” said owner Red Rolls. “That way I won’t get into the lounge. Now they’re taking away my crutch. I’ll never be able to discipline myself (not to drink too much) if they go all the way with that tie bit.”

EDMONTON JOURNAL/FILE Prior to 1965, men weren’t allowed into the Northlands clubhouse unless they were wearing a suit jacket and tie. But in the mid-1960s, the times they were a changing.