As most of you may know, the Gridiron Uniform Database (the GUD) has been undertaking the task this summer of posting as many uniforms as possible from the BC era of the NFL, 1920-1932. Our webmaster Rob Holecko has been posting them on a year-by-year basis every week. 1920 through 1926 have already been added to the website and 1927 will join them this coming Tuesday. You'll note that many teams have a blank canvas, meaning that we currently have absolutely no idea of what those teams wore.
The task started
when I made a visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Mid-May to do
some extensive research of the Hall's research facilities and possibly
find some nuggets along the way in the museum. We decided
that enough information was gathered so we could share our findings on
the GUD's database.
From here, I
shot all of my findings to Bill Schaefer, our graphical engineer, both
by email and US Mail. Bill then worked his magic, creating the uniforms.
We conferred frequently by email to make sure we were on the same page
with the designs, colors, trimwork, etc. to be able to then ship off to
Rob for his weekly additions to the GUD. In the meantime, Bill has been
diligently digging through any online archives he can find to make
additions to the 1920-32 years. He has been a very good trooper in
finding some interesting items.
So far,
the main issues in making the finds from this era as opposed to the
1933-current era are vast. Here's a few things that I have found:
1)
Lack of photographs.
Newspapers in the 1920's, while plentiful, had few photographs of game
action. They were very rare. Even pictures of players in poses with
their uniforms are hard to find. In addition, there simply weren't that
many photographers at the games. Plus the cameras that were in use in
those days were
large and cumbersome. Maybe a few fans snapped a couple of shots with
their Kodak Brownies, but we haven't uncovered any of those yet!
2)
Difficulty with colors/designs. With 100% of the available pictures in
black & white, it is very difficult to find and determine the proper
colors for many teams. Sometimes the "colors" tend to mesh - or
"bleed" - so well with the basic colors of the jerseys and socks that it
may take Bill and/or I several different glances till we either agree
or disagree with what one or the other sees. We are fortunate
enough to have
documentation of almost every team's colors during this era, but
that doesn't always mean we get the combinations right. Knowing what I
know of the tricks certain colors can play under certain light
conditions is helpful, but I have been proven wrong more than once.
3)
Random photographs/generic jerseys. Occasionally we come across pics
where the one team in the photograph is known, by way of their
distinctive styling or a monogram on the front of the jersey, like the
"C" of the Canton Bulldogs, or the "CC" monogram on the sleeve cuff of
the Chicago Cardinals, or also the unique "YFJ" emblazoned on the front
of the Frankford Yellow Jackets, but their opponent is wearing a totally
plain jersey with just a number on the back. Sometimes we will wrack
our brains over that! Also, we may come across random shots where both
teams are wearing generic unis. Then we ask, is this a pro game or is it
a college game? And what year is it? Once we get into the 1930's we
pretty much have a working
knowledge of what we are dealing and can readily tell the difference of
the teams shown in a given photo. But in the 20's where teams are a
dime a dozen, and where - frankly - our uniform expertise isn't as
strong, we do struggle to look for unique branding that can help us
some.
4) The actual team names. We see that there is some debate about what some of the teams were known as popularly and what they were called versus their actual team name. For example the Racine Cardinals were perhaps the only team in NFL history to use their place name as the street on which their football field was located! When exactly did they begin going by the moniker, the Chicago Cardinals? Likewise for the Akron Pros, when did they become the Akron Indians? In fact, a very old Pro Football Encyclopedia, the one written by Roger Treat, listed the Pros/Indians as the "Steels!" We have to decide whether to list these teams by what they were actually referred to in game accounts of the day, or do we go by the "official" name that might be listed by today's NFL standards? Another example, the Staten Island Stapletons - or "Stapes" - were frequently listed as simply, Stapleton.
4) The actual team names. We see that there is some debate about what some of the teams were known as popularly and what they were called versus their actual team name. For example the Racine Cardinals were perhaps the only team in NFL history to use their place name as the street on which their football field was located! When exactly did they begin going by the moniker, the Chicago Cardinals? Likewise for the Akron Pros, when did they become the Akron Indians? In fact, a very old Pro Football Encyclopedia, the one written by Roger Treat, listed the Pros/Indians as the "Steels!" We have to decide whether to list these teams by what they were actually referred to in game accounts of the day, or do we go by the "official" name that might be listed by today's NFL standards? Another example, the Staten Island Stapletons - or "Stapes" - were frequently listed as simply, Stapleton.
There
are more issues to deal with when Bill and I do go back deep into pro
football's stone age, but as we become more acclimated to the era, we
should be able to gain a little more knowledge and confidence that we
can uncover those ancient riddles and hopefully solve more of those
puzzles as time quickly separates us more and more from the Roaring
20's, NFL style.
Special thanks go out to Larry Schmitt, Jeff Miller and John Steffenhagen for their generous 1920's/early 1930's help.