Naming a Franchise: The Green Bay Packers
The Packers acquired their name in 1919 when founder, Curly Lambeau, requested funds from his employer, Indian Packing Company. Curly did not have enough money to purchase equipment for his new team. The Indian Packing Company supplied Lambeau with $500 in start-up capital with the condition that the organization be the team’s official sponsor. I guess this makes the Packers among one of the first franchises to officially sell out. The team was initially referred to as the “Indians”, but the name was changed in favor of “Packers” sometime before the team took the field for its first game. And the name has stuck ever since.
Their original uniform color scheme of navy blue, tarnished gold, and brown was inspired by Notre Dame’s school colors. Lambeau wanted to invoke the ethos of his alma mater, just as contemporary George Halas had used Illinois colors for the Chicago Bears uniforms. Lambeau failed miserably and his uniforms were nightmare porn. During this period of franchise history, the Packers were colloquially referred to as the Bays, Blues, and occasionally the Big Bay Blues. The Packers abandoned their navy blue uniforms for their iconic green and gold color scheme in the 1950s and never looked back. The team experimented with different shades of green and gold through the 50s, but finally settled on the classic “forest” green, white, and metallic gold combination by 1959, which coincidentally, was the year Vince Lombardi was hired as head coach.
The Packers still wear the navy blue and brown uniforms on occasion, but where these uniforms remain most prevalent is the ugliest uniform of all time debate. Curly Lambeau was many things, but he was not a gifted designer.
