Jay Thorp remembers getting his letterman jacket.

The year was 1971, and Thorp was the junior quarterback on the Auburn High School football team.

After earning his letter, Thorp and his parents, like hundreds before them, went to Rottles Clothing and Shoes and spent about $100 to purchase the ultimate, leather-sleeved expression of school spirit.

“It’s a huge deal when you’re in high school,” Thorp said. “To achieve that and earn that letter ‘A’ was a huge thing. You got the patch, then you put a little insignia on it. Mine was for football.”

The idea of lettering in sports has been around for almost 150 years.

In 1865, baseball players at Harvard University were allowed to wear the letter “H” on their gray, flannel jerseys after the season ended if they had played in the team’s important games. It was a symbol, an acknowledgement of their contributions.

By the 1930s the tradition had spread to sweaters and the letterman jacket, usually a wool coat with leather sleeves.

Rottles got into the game in the 1960s, according to John Rottle, store president.

“Back when we started doing this, it was a sweater-driven industry,” Rottle said. “It has since become a jacket-driven industry, although there has been a resurgence in sweaters.

“Back in the ’60s and ’70s we dealt with just a few schools … Kent-Meridian, Auburn and Enumclaw. Now it’s expanded into a region-wide phenomenon for us. We support no fewer than 20 schools.”

Today students from schools as far away as Eatonville and as close by as Federal Way visit downtown Auburn to design their coats at Rottles.

“It has involved into a very custom business,” Rottle said. “Where it used to be a stock jacket that involved nothing more than patchwork with graduation years and names on it, now it involves sleeve patches, custom back patches and a lot of different nuances within the same school.”

Initially, Rottle said it was just the athletes who earned letters.

“Now the spectrum of who qualifies for letters has broadened,” he said. “We probably do more jackets for girls than guys anymore. We do jackets for cheerleaders, dance team and band members.”

The array of styles has broadened, Rottles said.

“They have become sport or activity specific,” he said. “For instance, the Auburn Riverside guys who play football like their coats to look the same way, which almost emulates the colors in their uniforms. Whereas the tennis players, golfers and cross country runners may want a totally different look.”

With many choices available, from coat and sleeve color, to choosing which patches and embroidery spruce up the coat, Rottle says the store works with students to navigate the process.

“The inherent nature of the custom coat can be an overwhelming experience for many,” Rottle said. “There is so much to choose from – sleeve color, patches, different color patches, different badges. So we take a little extra time to allay any fears and make sure the jackets are the way they want them. This is not only a custom coat but a custom experience that is rather fun to go through, involving the parents and the kids alike.”

For starters, Rottle suggests keeping the jacket simple.

“We encourage people to get a basic coat to begin with. I especially encourage underclassman to keep it simple,” he said. “We can help them build a coat as they progress. You develop a different mindset of what you want as you get older. What we don’t want to see is someone have misgivings later about what they have.”

The jackets – which are made locally in Tacoma by TM Athletics – start at about $400 for basic designs, although customization can send the price much higher.

“They can run upward of $600 to $700 if they want to deck them out,” Rottle said. “We did an Enumclaw one last week that was about $940 before tax. But that is an extremely elaborate coat.”

Although business is still brisk for letterman jackets, Rottle says it is down from its peak a couple of years ago.

“With the downturn in the economy there has been a small pullback in the amount of jackets we’ve sold,” he said. “And the jackets aren’t as elaborate as they used to be.”

For many, however, the price is a small one for something that will last a lifetime.

“I’m sure mine is still around somewhere,” said Thorp, who graduated in 1972. “My daughter wore it when she was in junior high school. She thought it was pretty neat. I think it’s packed away with my old football jerseys.”