Heading North Again

We’re heading north again this weekend — for the main reason of moving into our new Green Bay headquarters. It will serve as our nerve center and lodging for Packers’ home game weekends through the 2014 season, as well as for the Shareholders’ Meeting and during Training Camp. But we don’t plan on arriving in town tomorrow with guns blazing, as Jean Nicolet did in 1634 (seen above), unsettling the Native American population.

In case you don’t have it on your calendar, camp opens on July 26th — that’s in less than a month, fans.

We’d love to be able to drive through downtown Green Bay back when this photo was taken.

And perhaps stay at the old Beaumont Hotel, at the corner of Main & Washington.

And maybe take in a show at the old Bay Theater, which still survives as the Meyer Theater. We’ll share some photos of our trip, including a new set of construction photos from Lambeau Field. The new Packers Pro Shop will open on July 17th.

1969 Mailing Envelope

While looking at some Green Bay Packers photos offered for sale on eBay, one set also features this Packers’ mailing envelope from 1969. Our motto is: if it’s vintage, we love it! You can bid on the photos and this envelope here.

Packerville is Back

We’re back from being completely “off the grid” last week — something that is good to do once in a while in this “connected all the time” age. But we’re still trying to get caught up on what happened while we were away. One thing we saw was this auction of Reggie White items being sold by his family. You can go to the auction site here. White left us way too soon, and it would’ve been good to have him around these days, enjoying the Packers’ success and working with the team as an ambassador.

Packerville is Closed

This is the time of year when the majority of NFL personnel go on vacation, before the long season starts up at the end of July. News is usually scarce, and we’re heading off for a week as well. We will be back to open up the new Packerville, U.S.A. office in Green Bay and get ready for the season after a bit of a rest. See you then.

eBay Photo Day V

Back with another eBay Photo Day, featuring some images we culled from the auction site, and with links to the seller’s page if anyone is interested. Now, if you’d like to irritate that special Chicago Bears fan in your life, send them the above photo of QB Jim McMahon in green and gold from 1995 or 1996. Bid on the photo here.

FB Jim Taylor heads to the edge while sweeping during Super Bowl I in Los Angeles, with T Forrest Gregg clearing him a path. Bid on the photo here. 

The “other” No. 12, QB Lynn Dickey, looks to hand the ball off against the Bears in an unspecified year. His time in Green Bay spanned 1976-77 and 1979-85. Bid on the photo here.

Based on our readers’ comments, the eBay seller is misinformed about which years these three team photos are from. We have not had time to research it ourselves. Stay tuned. 1970's team photo. Bid on the photo here.

1970's team photo. Bid on the photo here. 

1970's team photo. Bid on the photo here. 

HB Paul Hornung, pictured in 1963, the year he was suspended from the NFL for gambling. Bid on the photo here.

LB Ray Nitschke during pre-game introductions at a Packers’ home game. Bid on the photo here. 

G Jerry Kramer (No. 64) waits in the Packers’ huddle for the resumption of game action on the road. Bid on the photo here.

Kramer in recent years. Bid on the photo here.

Taylor is stopped upright by the Detroit Lions’ line at a Milwaukee County Stadium game. Bid on the photo here.

Nitschke: What I Did In The 1968 Offseason

After seeing the reunited, remaining Monkees perform in downtown Milwaukee last night, your Packerville, U.S.A. editor was reminded of the small role Ray Nitschke played in their 1968 film Head. From Turner Classic Movies: “The remarkable thing about Head is how well it holds up today despite being mired in the counterculture of the sixties. Some of the satirical jabs and anti-war rhetoric are as timely as ever (including) the scene where a deranged football player (Green Bay Packers' middle linebacker Ray Nitschke, above) repeatedly tackles Peter Tork in a foxhole while chanting, "We're number one, we're number one!"

You would have this same look on your face if you were in a foxhole with Nitschke, and he was repeatedly smashing you up against the side. 

Tork used no visible stunt double, and Nitschke was nailing him pretty good. 

The surprised Tork doesn’t know quite what to make of this situation, but he knows he needs to get out of there. 

Again and again, Nitschke pummels him into the dirt. 

After one too many hits, Tork decides to get the heck out of there. 

A seething Nitschke sizes Tork up for another hit. 

But Tork evades the mad linebacker and jumps out of the foxhole. 

Meanwhile, Nitschke piles his head into the side of the foxhole. 

Angry, he takes his helmet off and throws it at Tork. 

An unhappy Nitschke now that “the game is over.”


Enjoy the whole film, or check out the scene described above. It begins at about 11:48.