Saturday, March 17, 2007

Mystery Game


Today’s posting is a photograph of a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Rams in more simpler times of the National Football League. While the exact year of this image is not known, the location is also in question in my mind. They are playing the Rams, and judging by the face masks, it would appear to be a 1950’s-era photo.

While researching, I checked to see if maybe it was a late-1940’s image, but looking at the score (Packers: “21”), it could only possibly be a 1942 contest in Green Bay (Packers 45; Cleveland Rams 28), or a 1944 game in Green Bay (Packers 30; Cleveland Rams 21). But, the car in the extreme left middle behind the referee appears to be a Fifties-style automobile.

The other games in which the score indicates a possibility are “home” games in Milwaukee in 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, or 1957 — all against the Los Angeles Rams. That would make this photo from State Fair Park, since the Packers started playing in the new Milwaukee County Stadium in 1953 — and this isn’t County Stadium. So, that leaves only 1952 as the possible year — but that year they played their Milwaukee Rams contest at Marquette Stadium.

Anyway, even though we don’t know for sure where or when it was taken, it is interesting to note the neighborhood houses in the background, the wooden goal posts, and the analog time clock. Much, much different from the modern-day games at Lambeau Field.