I don't know much about the history of Packers training equipment, but this image from the collection of Robert Harvell, auction director at GUU Auctions, makes me want to learn more.
I admit, the brown helmet is really growing on me.
Love the no-whites look, although it's not strictly authentic. Players of the day did wear white sanitaries, just rolled very low to show as much team color as possible:
The Reebok details don't bother me as much as they have in the past. The vector logo doesn't seem quite as intrusive when rendered in gold. 
I could, however, do without the ugly and misleading "NFL EQUIPMENT" logo. The modern shield is a sharp design, easily identifiable at a distance. It defines the NFL brand across all platforms; why isn't it considered strong enough to stand on its own on the uniforms?
On the whole, this uniform is a nice compromise between the classic style and modern requirements. I think Johnny Blood would be proud.
Donovan Moore, who runs the excellent ColorWerx site (the only blog and database devoted to the science of color in sports), recently posted the official color palette for the Packers' new throwback uniforms.
The Packers, like all pro teams (and most corporations period), use the PANTONE Matching System to ensure that the Green and Gold are rendered faithfully across all platforms, from websites to bumper stickers, books to banners to t-shirts. Different media will display colors in a different fashion, so Pantone produces a series of color swatches for various applications; coated versus uncoated paper stock, textiles, and more, all in an attempt to maintain color consistency no matter where those colors are displayed.
Moreover, Moore reveals that the Packers throwbacks herald a new age in color matching:Something I just discovered - the first professional sports team to use PANTONE Goe colors in one of their designs. The Packers new throwback uniforms (Acme Packers, with the Navy jerseys with the number within a Gold circle) use a PANTONE Goe color for the Light Brown used in the pants, and another one for the Dark Brown used for the helmet color. I'm probably the only one who cares about this, but I'm seeing it as a sign of things to come. The Goe system is being positioned by Pantone as their primary color set, with what used to be called the PANTONE Matching System (PMS) being regulated as an additional, supplemental set - which is why PMS is now called PANTONE PLUS.Of course, there's only so much Pantone can do when different materials reflect differently under various lighting conditions, resulting in a perceived mismatch like this:
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.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
Now we can see what that jersey might have looked like in person.
I think this one is gorgeous. I'd be tempted to pick one up myself. Very unique, from a forgotten moment in Packers history.
It's not perfect (his stripes are far straighter and more evenly placed than the originals) but it's still pretty fun. I suspect that the Packers meant that the gold "ribbing" against the blue jersey gave the impression of gold and blue stripes, rather than having blue stripes actually sewn on to the jersey.
His interesting take on this classic jersey is to replicate the short-lived variant with a satin torso, seen here on Arnie Herber and Don Hutson:
This is the one where his "Circa" embroidery bothers me the most, cluttering up the area between yoke and numbers.
Straightfoward enough - he's even closer to the correct font than the Packers themselves usually get.
I've long wished that the Packers would capitalize on their long uniform history; in the absence of action from the club, looks like fans are starting to step up. Hope the Packers are paying attention.
Centers previously had to choose numbers between 50 and 59, with 60 to 79 available if 50 to 59 weren't available. They now may choose any number between 50 and 79.The NFL originally experimented with assigning numbers by position in 1952, formally codifying the system in 1973 and amending it in 1989.
Defensive linemen may now choose from 60 to 70 and 90 to 99, and linebackers may pick a number from 50 to 59 or 90 to 99. These changes were aimed at recognizing the overlap between linebackers and defensive ends, especially in the 3-4 defense.
Also, the rules now permit a player to move from one position to another and keep his number, if he played the prior position for at least a year and if he is moving from a position that is eligible to receive passes to another eligible position, or if he is moving from one ineligible position to another ineligible position.
So here we go.
My first thought was "Acme Packers"? The Acme Packing Company was long removed from the picture by 1929.Since there wasn't anything particularly noteworthy for the sideline apparel from that 1929 season, the team focused in on the Acme Packers, the nickname of the club in 1921-22, to draw on the first decade of the team's existence.Ugh. Not a big fan. I don't mind updating the 1929 uniform to meet the NFL's current equipment regulations, but what's the point of mixing and matching from opposite ends of the decade? It's not as though the Packers needed some excuse to sell Acme Packers merchandise.
"We wanted to give it an old-time, weathered look," (said Kate Hogan, the Packers director of retail operations). "It's really about picking up the colors and what one would say has a 'vintage' feel to it. We really tried to think about what people would like, what they would enjoy. That's what we try and do. We want to make sure our designs keep in mind what our fans would be looking for."
I also have a hard time visualizing Mike McCarthy wearing the "old-time, weathered look" on the sidelines:
I do like the leather helmet graphic, though.
So there you have it. Merchandise goes on sale soon.NFL teams are allowed to have a third jersey that they can wear for up to three games per season (no more than two home games) for a five-year period. Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy said last month that the team will wear it for home games only, for one or possibly two games in 2010, with future use to be evaluated.And about the design process itself:
The Packers first began the process of working toward a third jersey more than a year ago. After first submitting its interest in doing so to the league, the team began to work with the NFL on a couple of different options. Hogan said the league put in a great deal of time and effort to assist the Packers with designs, looking through not only what archives the team had but also those at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (emphasis mine)Really? Couldn't tell by looking at it, unless they the archive search was ultimately fruitness in helping them find anything distinctive enough to sell. I don't really mind them wanting to jazz up the new sideline and retail gear with a contemporary flair (which is essentially what they did with the throwback uniforms), but linking them to the Acme Packers is odd. It's as though that's going to be the umbrella title for all blue-and-gold from now on out, which is extremely misleading at best.
Hogan said that two of the (proposed uniform designs) were historical ones that were re-creations of uniforms worn in the past, while another was what the league refers to as an 'alternate color' version. Since Green Bay wears green and white jerseys, that alternate jersey would have been a gold one.Hmm. Dodged a bullet there, I think.
They couldn't even use an appropriate font?
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.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.
Green Bay Packers to Wear Navy in a 2010 GameJust spreading the word....
by Paul Lukas
ESPN.com
March 30, 2010Courtesy of the Green Bay Packers
Can you imagine your Green Bay Packers in an outfit like this?
In case you missed it the other day, the Green Bay Packers recently unveiled a throwback alternate uniform, which they'll wear for one as-yet-unspecified game in 2010. The design is based on what the team wore in 1929.
If the sight of the Pack wearing navy instead of green is a shocker, it shouldn't be. They actually wore a variety of navy-based uniforms for the first several decades of their existence, like this 1940 design. The thing is, color photos from the NFL's early days are rare, so most fans have no idea what their favorite teams used to look like. Neither do many of the game's historians.
That's why a recent discovery by reader Chance Michaels is so amazing. It's a rare newspaper color insert from 1940, providing one of the best views available of the NFL's early color schemes.
Some of the teams are vaguely recognizable — that's an Eagles player at lower right, and a Redskin at lower left (Andy Farkas, incidentally, is generally credited with being the first player to have worn eye-black, even though he's not wearing it in that photo). But it's weird to see Mel Hein of the Giants wearing so much red — and even weirder to see him, as a center, wearing uniform No. 7!
Meanwhile, is that a Cardinals player at upper right? Nope — it's Perry Schwartz of the Brooklyn Dodgers, which was an NFL team for over a decade. And who's that in the center? It's Parker Hall of the Cleveland Rams -- the same franchise that later moved to L.A. and now resides in St. Louis. And they still wear blue and gold, even if the shades have changed.
