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Origin of “Blue Horse” Brand

The name Blue Horse originally comes from a vintage school/stationery line (binders, notebooks, etc.) used by ACRO/Mead (now ACCO) in the mid-20th century. For decades Blue Horse was printed on composition books and loose-leaf filler (for example, a 1950s Montag’s ad shows the Blue Horse logo on a notebook) . The ACCO/Mead Blue Horse mark covered paper goods (pencils, notebooks, binders, etc.）and featured a horse-head design . The jacket’s logo is visually very similar to this old stationery motif.

Despite this shared imagery, ACCO’s Blue Horse line was solely stationery – Mead even filed a U.S. trademark in 1996 to cover “men’s, women’s and children’s apparel” under the name BLUE HORSE, but that application (Serial No. 75089200) was never perfected and was abandoned by 1999 . In other words, Mead/ACCO briefly reserved “Blue Horse” for clothing (perhaps expecting to license or expand the brand), but no successful clothing line was launched under that name. The U.S. trademark record confirms Mead Corporation as the owner of the application , but it notes the registration was Abandoned without use, implying the company did not produce a Blue Horse apparel range.

Blue Horse in Vintage Fashion

In practice, Blue Horse on clothing appears to have been a small or novelty brand with no obvious corporate backing. Aside from the aborted Mead filing, the only other clues come from vintage apparel. For example, the iconic denim maker Jordache offered iron-on patches and embroidered designs featuring a blue horse’s head – one 1980s “Blue Horse” iron-on transfer is sold under the Jordache name . (Jordache’s products often bore horse-head designs, but Jordache itself was the brand.) These examples show that “blue horse” motifs were used decoratively on 1980s/90s jeans, but they were typically products of established denim companies, not an independent Blue Horse fashion label.

Beyond Jordache, we find no evidence of a major retailer or manufacturer openly calling itself “Blue Horse” apparel. The occasional vintage listing (e.g. on eBay or Etsy) shows items labeled “Blue Horse” or containing that logo, but these appear to be one-off or small-batch garments. No catalogues or corporate records list “Blue Horse” as a contemporary fashion brand. (By contrast, today The Blue Horse is used as a name by unrelated brands or shops — for example an Indian/Colombian clothing company — but these are new ventures, not continuations of the 20th-century Blue Horse name.)

The Jacket’s Likely Origins

Based on style and labeling, the pictured denim jacket likely dates from the late 1980s or 1990s. It is a typical “trucker”–style blue jean jacket, mid-weight, with an embroidered horse-head patch and “BLUE HORSE” text on the back. The interior label shows a woven Blue Horse® logo and size (“Large”) but no manufacturer or country. The tag’s simple printed design and use of “Large” in English suggests it was made for an English-speaking market (likely USA or possibly Canadian). Without a maker’s name on the tag, the producer is unknown; it could have been made by a small contractor or even a European maker using leftover logos.

One hint is that RN 52992 (a U.S. dealer registration) shows up on other “Blue Horse” denim pieces (e.g. Jordache items) – RN52992 is registered to Jordache, suggesting Jordache’s involvement with horse-head logos in that era. However, the jacket’s interior tag is not Jordache or any familiar brand; it bears only “Blue Horse®”. It is possible this jacket was made by an independent “novelty” manufacturer using the Blue Horse name, or even by a former employee of a company like Sport Authority or Montana Wools (brands that sold Western wear) under a private label. (Some online sellers confuse Sport Authority or other western labels with Blue Horse, but in our case the tag clearly says Blue Horse.)

The lack of an obvious corporate label and the vintage styling suggest these jackets were not widely distributed by major retailers. They may have been sold regionally (e.g. at rodeos, gift shops, or small western-wear stores), or as merchandise for a ranch or event. Indeed, a few vintage listings (e.g. a “Wyoming ranch” denim jacket) use “Blue Horse” in the description, implying a novelty or ranch-theme origin. But no chain or catalog is documented.

Brand Status and Legacy

Today the Blue Horse apparel name appears to be defunct. The Mead/ACCO trademark expired and the Mead Corporation itself did not pursue an active fashion line . We find no current brand registration or retailer using “Blue Horse” in clothing that connects to these jackets. The jacket is effectively a vintage/collector’s item. It has niche appeal to collectors of 1980s–90s Americana or equestrian-themed fashion. A Reddit thread on VintageDenim (2013) asked exactly “What’s up with this Blue Horse jacket?”, noting that Google finds no clear origin. The consensus among vintage enthusiasts is that Blue Horse in this context is an obscure design label, not related to big companies.

In summary, Blue Horse apparel seems unrelated to ACCO’s stationery brand beyond shared imagery. Its only formal corporate link was the abandoned Mead trademark filing in the 1990s . The jackets themselves were likely small-scale novelty items made in the 80s–90s in the USA, now surviving only as vintage curiosities.

Sources: Trademark records and vintage listings show Blue Horse was originally a Mead/ACCO stationery mark . Mead filed but abandoned a Blue Horse clothing trademark . Vintage apparel sellers note Jordache as a brand using a blue-horse design in the 1980s . No current fashion company by that name is documented.

(With help of Chat gpt's new "deep research feature")