Seasons Greetings From Gene and the Pack

Heritage Auctions

This card was sent by the Packers in the early 1950s. It recently came up for auction at Heritage.

Early 1950s Gene Ronzani Signed Green Bay Packers Christmas Card - Only Example Known!   Offered here is an original Packers team photograph Christmas card from the early 1950s signed by head coach Gene Ronzani. Signed in 6/10 green ink, it measures at 4.25x5.5". VG quality exhibited throughout.

That's a new photo for me, showing the Packers in their early 1950s green-over-green combination.

Season's Greetings to you and yours!

"Champions of Them All"

Heritage Auctions

This amazing team photo comes from Heritage Auctions. They have a pair of championship banquet programs to be auctioned off next month, and this is the preview of the first.

The Packers had held a championship banquet for the Packers following every title won to this point, starting in 1929. This, the fifth World Championship, was no exception.

The Packers had been strong all season, finishing 9-2. The only team with a better record was the Eastern Division champion New York Giants at 9-1-1. On December 10, 1939, the two teams faced off at Wisconsin State Fair Park in the Championship Game. You might have expected two such dominant teams to play an even game, but when they took the field the Packers dismantled the visiting New Yorkers, 27-0.

Four days and 120 miles later, two thousand fans packed the Columbus Community Club building on South Jefferson Street in downtown Green Bay. Among the revelers was Wisconsin governor Julius P. Heil, "perhaps as real, honest to goodness sports fan as ever sat in the governor's chair".

In the words of the Milwaukee Sentinel, the room was

"jarred to the rafters with the flood of adjectives as speaker on speaker lauded the Bays for their marvelous performance all season and for the "greatest football display in the game's history" last Sunday. The Packers, themselves, took the adjectives like blushing school girls, but actually beamed with and more than one made a passing remark: "Gee, boys, this Green Bay town is the place to play your pro football."

The venue itself had a long history with the Packers; the Columbus Club building opened in 1925 as a recreational and social center, and immediately began playing an important role in Packer history.

Columbus Club Building circa 1930

There is a Packers Heritage Trail plaque on the building, listing some of that history:

In the 1920s, before radio broadcasts of Packer games, large crowds gathered on Sunday afternoons when the team was playing on the road. A play-by-play was transmitted by telegraph wire from the site of the game, and the results were posted here on a large board built in the shape of a football field.

From 1927 until the mid-1930s, the Packers used the top floor as a clubhouse. For five years, starting in 1930, their ticket office was located here, as well.

The building also was the site of championship celebrations and rousing public rallies that helped save the franchise. Banquets were held in the first-floor auditorium after the Packers won NFL titles in 1936 and 1939. On April 11, 1950, more than 1,500 fans filled the auditorium to kick off the Packers' third stock drive. And on March 31, 1956, more than 1,000 fans attended a rally in support of building what is now Lambeau Field. George Halas and Curly Lambeau were among the speakers. Three days later, the city-wide referendum passed in a landslide.

This also was where the Vince Lombardi Show was taped by WBAY-TV.

The building is now studios for WBAY, the ABC affiliate in Green Bay.

Google Maps

Columbus Club Building in 2012

Let's take a closer look at that team photo. Curly Lambeau is in the front row, far left, and on the far right of the second row we can see assistant coach Red Smith. Smith spent his offseasons as a catcher, coach, and eventually general manager for the Milwaukee Brewers, and in the early 1940s managed the Brews' farm team in Green Bay.

This is Lambeau's classic blue and gold uniform, introduced in 1937 and emblematic of the franchise through the 1949 season. Their socks still had stripes in 1939, although those would only last for a few years.

You can also see that the players are wearing at least two different number styles; undoubtedly the result of old uniforms being carried over (we would see this happen into the Lombardi era as well).

Some of the players are wearing "4"s with a "foot" on the bottom of the vertical line, and some are a fully sans-serif version.

For what it's worth, the photos I've seen of the Packers' white alternate jerseys from that season featured the sans-serif font.

The numbers on Hutson's jersey don't match any I've ever seen before on a navy jersey, and in any case by 1943 he would be wearing the "footed" 4.

What an amazing piece of Packers history this banquet program is. It's going to make some lucky collector very, very happy.

1934 Wadham's team photo

Well, the Packers have started their off-season a little early again. At least we can comfort ourselves by wallowing in the team's rich and glorious history.

This 1934 photo seems as a good place as any to start.

Back row:—Coach Lambeau, Jorgenson, Bultman, Kurth, Dilweg, Rose, Seibold, Peterson, Jones, Norgard, Asst. Coach Earpe.
Middle row:—Witte, Evans, Laws, Herber, Michalske, Goldenberg, Bruder, Schwammel, Perry.
Front row:—Monnett, Gantenbein, Barrager, Hinkle, Grove.

Beautiful team photo by Stiller, and I love the Art Deco numbers on each side.

The Packers are pictured in the plain blue jerseys they adopted in 1931; their first green jerseys were still four years in the future.

On the back, a schedule for the 1934 season and an ad for Wadham's Oil, a Milwaukee-based oil and gasoline company which at the time had over one hundred filling stations across Southeastern Wisconsin.

Wadham's sponsored "Sports Reports" on WTMJ in Milwaukee, covering news of the Packers and the American Association's Milwaukee Brewers baseball club.

1934 was not a great year for the Packers, who finished 7-6-0, third place behind the 13-0 Chicago Bears (who themselves went on to lose to the New York Giants in the second NFL Championship Game, now known as "The Sneakers Game". Scant consolation, I suspect, for fans of the Blues back in 1934.

1970 Team Photo Calendar

MEARS Auctions in Milwaukee sold this 1971 calendar a few years ago.

Lot #188: 1971 Green Bay Packers team photo calendar

At first glance this piece looks like a very impressive calendar issued by Production Steel of Illinois, featuring the 1970 Green Bay Packers squad. But, this may hold closer to a Packers fan's heart due to the fact that Hall of Famer Tony Canadeo, and former Packers head coach Gene Ronzani were sales reps for the company. Measuring at 18" by 27 1/2", this NM promo is in virtually unimprovable condition and preserved between foam board and shrink wrap.

This calendar is interesting to me for the look at the 1970 squad, a team often overlooked.

This was a time of great turmoil and transition for the Packers, one year after the departure of Vince Lombardi for Washington. They still had Lombardi-era greats such as Ray Nitschke and Bart Starr in uniform (second row, fourth and fifth from the left, respectively). That's Forrest Gregg, in the front row right. Lombardi himself had passed away during his second training camp in Washington.

1970 was Phil Bengtson's third year as head coach, and his last; by the time this calendar was printed he had been fired and replaced with former Notre Dame coach Dan Devine.

The uniforms were the same, and the coaches dressed much the way they were when Lombardi was at the helm—the "GB" caps make another appearance here—but these weren't the Packers of old.

1939 Team Photo

This photo was published in the Milwaukee Journal's color Sunday supplement on November 12, 1939.

Always a leader among professional football teams, the Green Bay Packers this year are again in the thick of the championship battle. Since this picture of the squad was made there have been several additions and releases of players. Cecil Isbell, star halfback, was not present for the photo. Shown are:

Front row (left to right) — Paul Engebretsen, guard; Francis Tewdell, guard; Pete Tinsley, guard; Buford Ray, tackle; Charlie Schultz, tackle; Paul Kell, tackle; Clarence Thompson, halfback; Don Hutson, end.

Second row (same order) — Capt. Milt Gantenbein, end; Eddie Jankowski, fullback; Buckets Goldenberg, guard; Arnie Herber, quarterback; Joe Laws, quarterback; Andy Uram, halfback; Russ Letlow, guard; Dick Weisgerber, halfback; Hank Bruder, quarterback; Frank Balazs, fullback.

Third row — Ernie Smith, tackle; Jack Brennan, guard; Frank Steen, Clarke Hinkle, fullback; Larry Craig, end; Bud Svendsen, center; Charlie Brock, center; Bill Lee, tackle; Al Moore, end; Harry Jacunski, end; Asst. Coach Richard (Red) Smith.

Back row — Ernie Smith, tackle; Jack Brennan, guard; Frank Steen, end; Tom Greenfield, center; Larry Buhler, fullback; Warren Kilbourne, tackle; Carl Mulleneaux, end.

—Journal color photo

You'll notice that the caption is a bit off. They've skipped the first two people in the third row, reprinting the first three people in the back row instead.

So who are our two mystery men? The first unidentified person is obviously Head Coach Earl Louis (Curly) Lambeau. The second eludes me. The Packers' website doesn't list anyone wearing #18 in 1939. Quarterback Hank Bruder wore the number in 1938, but there he is in the second row wearing his new #5.

I have another team photo from 1939, this time featuring the Packers' new white alternate jerseys, and there we find the answers.

There he is: second row, third from the right.

The caption identifies him as "Mulleneaux". Not wide receiver Carl Mulleneaux, who played for the Packers from 1938-41 and 45-46; he's there in the back row, fifth from the right, wearing #19. No, this was Lee Mulleneaux, Carl's brother.

Lee was in his eighth NFL season in 1939, having previously played for the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Gunners, Pittsburgh Pirates (now Steelers) and Chicago Cardinals. He came to the Packers from Chicago partway through the 1938 season and played six games for the Blue and Gold that year.

Lee Mulleneaux was injured early in 1939, possibly during Training Camp. It doesn't appear that he ever played in a game that season—he has no stats on NFL.com—but he reamained on the inactive list, and when the Packers won their fifth World Championship in December, the players voted to give Lee a full share of the championship purse.

Lee retired after that season, his brother Carl went on to have a Packer Hall of Fame-worthy career in his own right, and our mystery for the day has been solved.

1962 Team Photo

The 1962 Packers, widely regarded as Lombardi's strongest team, finished their season 14-1, including the championship game against the Giants. They have been getting significant attention in recent weeks, as the 2011 Packers' winning streak brings their dominance to the minds of sportswriters and fans alike.

Many points of interest in this promotional photo, from Dad Braisher and Bud Jorgensen (here misspelled "Jorgenson") to the coaches in their "GB" caps.

There's also a numerical oddity, as cornerback Jesse Whittenton is wearing an older jersey with mis-matched numbers.

We've seen this before, with players wearing 1959 jerseys in a 1960 game. But my research indicates that the 1960 sans-serif numbers were only issued in that single season, which would mean the jersey Whittenton is wearing in the team photo is two years old.

White After Labor Day - 1939 Team Photo

Ladies and Gentlemen, your World Champion 1939 Green Bay Packers, proudly posing in their alternate white jerseys.

Green Bay Press-Gazette archives

Back row (left to right): John Brennan (37); Frank Balazs (35); Harry Jacunski (48); Warren Kilbourne (58); Frank Steen (36); Tom Greenfield (56); Buford "Baby" Ray (44); Carl "Moose" Mulleneaux (19); Larry Buhler (52); Allen Moore (55); Don Hutson (14); Charles Schultz (60); Clarence Thompson (10); Assistant Coach Richard (Red) Smith.
Middle row: Coach Curly Lambeau; Larry Craig (54); Paul Kell (41); Clarke Hinkle (30); Milt Gantenbein (22); Arnie Herber (38); Earl Svendsen (53); Bill Lee (40); Cecil Isbell (17); Charles "Buckets" Goldenberg (43); Hank Bruder (5); Lee Mulleneaux (18); Russ Letlow (46); Paul (Tiny) Engebretsen (34).
Front row: Andy Uram (42); Charley Brock (29); Don Wilson (49); Herm Schneidman (51); Joe Laws (24); Clarence Thompson (50); Dick Zoll (57); Francis Twedell (62); Chester "Swede" Johnson (15); Dick Weisgerber (33); Pete Tinsley (21); John Biolo (32); Ed Jankowski (7).

This simple and elegant, with green numbers on a solid white jersey, formed the basis of the Packers' 2001 Thanksgiving throwbacks.

The Packers didn't get those throwbacks quite right, though. They used their standard block numbers, as seen here on Brett Favre as he munches down on postgame turducken:

Getty Images

The original uniform, as worn by Don Hutson, utilized a simpler number style.

Maple Leaf Productions, on the other hand, got the numbers right on their Packers uniform history plaque:

The Packers didn't have a #27 on the roster that year, but artist Tino Paolini borrowed Larry Buhler's 52 and Cecil Isbell's 17.

One more note on 1939; it wasn't only a white-and-green season. The Packers wore the whites in rotation with the era-defining gold-yoked blue jerseys. And on the biggest stage, the world championship game against the Giants, Curly's boys took the field at Wisconsin State Fair Park in their blues.

Although they were short-lived, I've always liked these white jerseys, certainly much more than the mismatched, overly-striped 1980s road jerseys they wear now. And in this age of disappearing sleeves, perhaps a simple design like this could make a comeback. Paired with the Packers' classic gold pants and helmets, I don't think even Emily Post would mind seeing these whites after Labor Day.

The Hutson Jersey Resurfaces

The 1940s Don Hutson jersey which sold for $60,000 in 2009 is back on the market.

It's part of the same upcoming Heritage Auction which will showcase Fuzzy Thurston's Super Bowl II ring.

From the auction listing:

Heritage Auctions

1937-45 Don Hutson Game Worn Green Bay Packers Jersey. One of the most influential players in the development of the modern game, Hutson was the first star wide receiver in NFL history, credited with authoring many of the pass routes still utilized today. His utter dominance of NFL flight paths during his eleven-season tenure comes into focus when considering the many records he continues to hold six and a half decades after his retirement. No other player has led the NFL more seasons than Hutson in receptions (8), passing yards gained (7), receiving touchdowns (5) or overall scoring (5). In the famous 1999 ranking of the 100 Greatest Football Players by The Sporting News, Hutson earned the number six spot, the highest position of any Green Bay Packers veteran.

This distinctive jersey style is the one most commonly associated with the pioneering pass catcher, utilized by the Packers franchise from 1937 through 1948. Hutson's retirement at the close of the 1945 season accounts for the possible range of this specific jersey's potential vintage, though the included letter of provenance would suggest the later years of that span. The handwritten page from the son of Packers equipment manager John Proski states, in part, "The enclosed Don Hutson jersey #14 Green Bay Packers jersey along with picture has been with me and my family since 1944 or ? It was given to me by Don on my 5th or 6th birthday when my dad would invite Packer players over for my birthday party."

Heritage Auctions

This dating presents the exciting possibility that Hutson may have worn this jersey in the historic 1944 NFL Championship game victory over the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium, where the Packers did indeed don these gold-shouldered navy blue beauties. The jersey exhibits solid use throughout with five team repairs clearly dating to Hutson's ownership, though we must note that the young Proski's letter admits some of the wear may be due to some of his own childhood backyard games. This later use may also account for the loss of the manufacturer's label on the amputated crotchpiece, though MEARS was able to match the material, style and collar to a Ken Keuper jersey which was supplied by the Shea Knitting Mills Co. of Chicago, IL. MEARS deducts three points for the loss of the tagging and the unrepaired holes, accounting for the final A7 rating.

The opportunity to own a genuine gamer from one of the great stars of the pre-war NFL might surface on two or three occasions in a hobby lifetime, and this is unquestionably the most important example to reach the public auction block in recent memory. In the football-mad town of Green Bay, where devotion to the team borders on religious zealotry, the jersey would be considered one of the franchise's most sacred artifacts. Letter of provenance from Joe Proski. LOA from MEARS, A7. LOA from Heritage Auctions.

The auction listing includes this photo of Hutson with fellow Packer legend Tony Canadeo.

Heritage Auctions

The closeup comes from the Packers' 1943 team photo:

I love this number style. There's something both solid and elegant about the straight block, maximizing the right angles in Hutson's famous #14.

Hutson is pictured wearing a jersey like this on the cover of the NFL's 1943 press book.

Looking at the auction listing, while "Hutson may have worn this jersey in the historic 1944 NFL Championship game victory over the New York Giants" (emphasis mine), I'm not sure I'd be willing to say that it's very likely that he did. I think the straight number font was phased out after the 1943 season. 1944 team photos clearly show a different number font, much more like the ones the Packers still wear today.

Unfortunately, decent photos of the 1944 Championship Game are rare, and surviving films are inconclusive. While it's not impossible that Hutson trotted out onto the field of the Polo Grounds for the biggest game of the year wearing an old jersey, the likelihood seems remote. Just one month before, as the Packers were preparing for their November 19 game against the Giants at the Polo Grounds, Hutson is seen wearing the new-for-'44 notched numbers.

I think it's far more likely that this jersey dates no later than 1943. Would make sense if it was in fact given to Joe Proski in 1944.

Regardless, it's a gorgeous-looking jersey, an example of the Packers' Lambeau-era iconic look.

No Sophomore Slump

GREEN BAY "PACKER'S" (sic) 1920

Delloye, Powers, Dwyer, Klaus, Nichols, Rosenow, Wilson, Sauber, N. Murphy, Tebo, Petcka, Gavin, Wheeler, Lambeau, Ladrow, Wagner, Dalton, F. Jonet, Zoll, Leaper, Zoll, Martell, McLean, Abrams, Medley

This is the 1920 Packers squad, in their second year of competition. They played home games on a sandlot at Hagemeister Park, next to the East River. The park was upgraded for the 1920 season with the addition of a single section of grandstand along one side, which allowed the Packers to charge their first admission fee.

And what games the fans saw for their fee; the Packers, playing other Upper Midwest-based teams, cruised to a record of 9-1-1. The lone loss came at the hand of the Beloit Fairies (named for their sponsor, the Fairbanks-Morse manufacturing company). That same Beloit team had dealt the Packers their only loss in the inaugural 1919 campaign. It has been suggested recently that the Beloit team called themselves the "Professionals", and the Fairy nickname was thrown at them by George Whitney Calhoun in his Press-Gazette coverage of the games. If so Calhoun's influence was vast indeed, as it shows up in many contemporary newspapers from across the Midwest.

"Dominant" is a word often overused in sports, but it certainly fit the 1920 Packers, who outscored their opponents 227-24 and recorded eight shutouts in those eleven games.

The following year, seeking tougher competition and higher profits, the Packers joined the American Professional Football Association, which changed its name in 1922 to the National Football League. And the rest, as the saw goes, is history.

They Wuz Robbed

This is the 1932 Packers squad, poised to defend their three-peat World Championship.

After winning it all in 1929, 1930 and 1931, the Packers rolled to a 10-3-1 record, which in those days before a championship game should have been good enough for an unprecedented four in a row.

Unfortunately for the Packers, the NFL discarded ties when determining standings. That meant the Bears, with a less-impressive 7-1-6 record, actually had a better winning percentage (.875 over the Big Bay Blues' .769) and were awarded the crown. Shameful.

On the uniform front, the Packers are shown wearing the unadorned blue shirts and gold pants Lambeau adopted in 1931. These simple uniforms would endure (save for the addition of white numbers to the chest in 1934) until Curly decided a total overhaul was needed and gave Green Bay their first green uniforms in 1935.

The Acme of Football

This is the squad that Curly Lambeau led into the fledgling American Professional Football Association in 1921, as the Packers went from independent powerhouse to member of the nation's top pro circuit.

GREEN BAY "PACKER'S" (sic) 1921

Martell, R. Lambeau, Cook, Abrams, DuMoe, Wheeler, Wagner, Coughlin, Barry, Carey, Murray, Lambeau, Hayes, Buck, Schmael, Wilson, Ladrow, (?), Howard, Klaus, McLean, Powers, LeClair

Although the team wore the Acme Packing Company's name across their chests, they never adopted that as an official team name. "Green Bay Packers" is the oldest team name in the National Football League, predating by two years "Chicago Bears" (which had previously gone by "Decatur Staleys" and "Chicago Staleys").

We also note that some players are wearing the sponsor name, and some are not; uniforms would soon be standardized but hadn't gotten there yet.

In recent years, the Packers have realized there is value in the team's roots, and "Acme Packers" has recently made its way to team merchandise:

It seems as though the Acme Packing Company, though long gone, may never be forgotten.

From Humble Beginnings

This is the very first Green Bay Packers team:

GREEN BAY "PACKER'S" (sic) 1919

Standing: Nichols, Powers, Coffeen, Martin, Sauber, Martell, Leaper, Ladrow, DesJardien, Zoll, Muldoon, Rosenow, Petcka, G.W. Calhoun Center: Lambeau Lower Row: Abrams, Gavin, McLean, Bero

The 1919 Packers dominated Wisconsin's semi-professional football scene, winning their first ten games by a staggering combined score of 565-6. The Racine Iroquois were the only team to even score against Green Bay's mighty Blues, scratching out six points (trimming the Packers' lead in the game to a mere seventy points). The Packers would meet finally their match in the final game of the season, when the Beloit hometown ref called back three Packer touchdowns and the mighty Blues fell to the Beloit Fairies (named for their sponsor, the Fairbanks-Morse Company), 6-0.

Curly dressed his boys in navy shirts and gold pants, reminiscent of his Notre Dame alma mater. Helmets, for the few who wore them, were unpainted leather.

That's Packers co-founder George Whitney Calhoun looking sharp in his very cool bow tie. Curly sits front and center with the ball. These men could now have known it at the time, but their eleven games in 1919 were the beginning of a glorious tradition. They were the first representatives of the most successful pro football team in history.

On the Cusp of History

This signed 1929 panoramic photo, from the estate of a former Packers staff member, is currently up for auction. It shows Curly Lambeau and his men in 1929, the team's first World Championship season.


This uniform, with its blue numbers in gold circles, was worn in 1929 and 1930 and was the inspiration for the Packers' 2010-2014 throwback alternates. In this photo, we also have exemplars of two styles of pullover sideline jackets from the period.

The 1929 squad tore through the National Football League, finishing the season with a 12-1-1 record. The only blemishes in the season were a scoreless tie with the Frankford Yellowjackets and a 16-6 loss to the Memphis Tigers in the final game. Oh, heady days. These men are standing on the cusp of history.

On, you Blue and Gold, to glory,
Win this game the same old story,
Fight, you Packers,
Fight, and bring the bacon home to Old Green Bay.

Going for the Gold, Part Two

After introducing the Packers' first gold jersey in 1923, Curly Lambeau re-designed the uniform for the 1925 season. He kept the gold base, but replaced the nine thin navy sleeve stripes with a navy shoulder yoke.

These uniforms were also kept for two seasons, before the Packers' sartorially mercurial founder reverted back to navy jerseys.

The yoke would return in 1937, with the blue and gold reversed, in Lambeau's most enduring uniform. Gold-over-gold uniforms wouldn't be seen again in Green Bay for nearly a quarter-century, when Lambeau's successor Gene Ronzani dabbled in gold himself.

Your 1931 Green Bay Packers

The Milwaukee Journal color section comes through again, offering this unique look at Curly Lambeau's Packer squad:

The Green Bay Packers of 1931

National League Champions 1929 and 1930 ...

Here they are—a sprinkling of new faces among the old—Coach Lambeau and the 31 players that started the 1931 season and their race for the third successive championship in the National Professional Football league. Today the Bay team, cut to 22 players, faces Philadelphia at Green Bay in the sixth game of the season. Front row, left to right: McCrary, Darling, Grove, Johnson, Herber, Woodin, Dunn, Bowdoin and Wilson. Second row: Comstock, Davenport, Gantenbein, Nash, Doncarlos, Jannison, Perry, Michalske, Molenda, Bruder, Radick. Standing: Coach Lambeau, Lewellen, Stahlman, Blood, Sleight, Dillweg, Baker, Engelman, Earpe, Zuidmulder, Fitzgobbon and Saunders.

The Packers had been unstoppable to this point in the season, beating the Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Chicago Cardinals by a combined score of 118-20.

The Bays would continue their run on that October day with a relatively tight win against the Frankford Yellowjackets, 15-7 (credited in the photo's caption as "Philadelphia", Frankford being a neighborhood within the City of Brotherly Love). After Frankford, the Packers would defeat the Providence Steam Rollers (twice), Chicago Bears, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants for a second time each, and the Staten Island Stapletons. They would lose two games, both in Chicago - once to the Cardinals and the third game they played against the Bears.

This 12-2-0 record was good for a winning percentage of .857 (the NFL of the time didn't count ties in the standings) and brought Green Bay its third consecutive World Championship. That was the first time any team had won three in a row, an accomplishment that has only once been equaled —by the 1965-67 Packers—and never beaten.

On the uniform front, this was the first year for this particular uniform (jerseys from the previous two seasons featured the player's number in a small gold circle on the chest). And although we can't see them in this photo, the Packers added white numbers to the back for this season. The Packers would continue to wear their solid blue jersey/gold pants/blue socks combination until 1934, when the white numbers would be added to the front of the jersey, where they remain today.

Mean Green Machine, Part II

After overhauling their uniforms for 1935, the Packers kept their kelly green and gold uniforms for a second season.

They are pictured here in the Sunday color section of The Milwaukee Journal from September 20, 1936, in advance of their Week Two contest against the Bears:

THE GREEN BAY PACKERS didn't come far from the national professional league championship last year and the 1936 team, shown above, is determined to do even better. They play their traditional game with the Chicago Bears at Green Bay today. In the lower row are Gantenbein, end; Scherer, end; Hinkle, back; Gordon, tackle; Letlow, guard; Butler, center; Rose, end; Smith, tackle; Engebretsen, guard; and Monnett, back.

Second row players are Eiduayan, guard; Paulekas, guard; Paul Miller, back; Mattos, back; Croft, guard; Oliver, back; Prime Miller, tackle; Clemens, back and Bruder, back.

In the third row are Laws, back; Herber, back; Kiesling, guard; Sauer, back; Becker, end; Agatore, tackle; Svendsen, center and Johnston, back.

Left to right in the fourth row are Trainer Woodward; Schneidman, back; Goldenburg, back; Evans, guard; and Hutson, end. On top are Coach Lambeau; Schwammel, tackle; Seibold, tackle; and Asst. Coach Smith.

These Packers would lose and lose badly to the Bears that day, 30 to 3. Curly's boys would bounce back, and that would be their only loss of the season, as they rolled to a 15-1-2 record and their fourth World Championship.

Mean Green Machine

In 1935, fifteen years before Gene Ronzani made the obvious-in-retrospect Green Bay connection, Curly Lambeau added green to his Notre Dame-inspired navy and gold color scheme. He sent his boys onto the gridiron wearing dark green jerseys with gold numbers over green pants.

The string bean look must not have been too pleasing; midway through the season, the Packers scrapped them in favor of kelly green jerseys with gold raglan sleeves and gold pants.

Here's the squad, most of which saw service in every game, which made the Green Bay Packers a deciding factor all the way in the National Professional league cahampionship.

At the bottom (left to right) are Mike Michalske, Bob Tenner, Nate Barragar, Ade Schwammel, George Svendsen, Lon Evans, George Sauer, Bob O'Connor, Bob Monnett, Trainer Bob Woodward.

In the second row are Buckets Goldenberg, Joe Laws, Tiny Engebretsen, Clark Hinkle, Arnie Herber, Roger Grove, Hank Bruder, Milt Gantenbein, Herman Schneidmann and Swede Johnston.

On top are Coach Curley Lambeau, Johnny Blood, Al Rose, Frank Butler, Champ Seibold, Cal Hubbard, Walter Kiesling, Claude Perry, Don Hutson and Ernie Smith.

These sharp uniforms would return for 1936 (and the Packers' fourth world championship), but proved to be short-lived. For the 1937 campaign, the Packers returned to their traditional blue with the introduction of Lambeau's classic navy-and-gold uniform.

Green remained in the Packers' scheme as an alternate color, but wouldn't again be on the home jerseys until after Lambeau left the Packers. Coach Ronzani, looking to looking to emerge from Lambeau's long shadow, would re-introduce a green-over-green uniform. It seems likely that he was unaware that Lambeau had done the exact same thing.

Dress for Success

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 1959 Green Bay Packers!

This is the first team photo of the Lombardi era. It's also very rare in that it's one of the few in which Vince Lombardi and his coaches actually appear. For the rest of Lombardi's tenure in Green Bay, team photos were for players.

I also love the travel blazers the men are wearing. Dress like professionals, play like professionals.

You'll Need a Jacket Out There

For as long as football teams have been wearing uniforms on the field, they've been wearing distinctive team jackets and coats on the sideline. We've taken a brief look at sideline capes here, today we turn our focus to jackets in all their forms.

This 1927 team photo shows Lambeau and his boys in their team pullover jackets, "GREEN BAY" proudly displayed across the chest. We know the socks were gold with two blue stripes, so we can perhaps infer that the jackets are blue with blue letters trimmed in gold, featuring gold piping (around the pockets?) and gold hoods.

(click for full team photo, including partial roster)

That's a pretty professional coat for the period. This Packers coat hanging in Canton (and identified there as belonging to the 1930 squad) is a standard duster bought off-the-rack with the team name hand-painted on the back:

The Packers were still wearing a variation of this style twelve years later, in 1942:

The Packers' Charles "Buckets" Goldenberg and an unidentified man at right wear team coats, or dusters, during a ceremony at halftime of the Packers' game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at State Fair Park in Milwaukee on Dec. 6, 1942. Fire Chief Ralph Drum gave Goldenberg a flag with 18 stars representing the number of Packers players in military service for World War II. (Press-Gazette archives)

Are those dusters navy or black, do you suppose?

What's really interesting to me about that photo is that Buckets Goldenberg appears to be wearing the team coat over his uniform, while the other man at right is wearing his over a suit. Versatile garmets, those. It makes me wonder if one of the reasons the dusters were chosen is that they could be purchased in large sizes and worn baggy over gear, much as sideline capes would later be.

At some point, the long dusters were replaced by waist-length jackets. From my own collection comes this 1949 gamer, issued to tight end Bill Kelley and worn during Curly's last year with the Packers. A plain, simple design, its lettering legible from the very last row of the stands:

The label proudly reveals the jacket was made by O'Shea Knitting Mills in Chicago, as were jerseys of the era.

Photo documentation of sideline gear is often hard to come by, but Don Hutson is wearing one in this 1947 wire photo:

It has the same cut, long cuffs, and set-in sleeves. From what we can see of the letters on his back it has the same distinctive serifed "S" and sans-serif "N". I'm pretty comfortable determining that it's the same style jacket.

Those simple blue jackets are a far cry from what the coaches would eventually wear on the sidelines:

More on this subject to come, naturally. There's an awful lot of ground to cover between those two extremes.