When It All Began

On Aug. 11, 1919, a score or more husky young athletes, called together by Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun, gathered in the dingy editorial room of the old Green Bay Press-Gazette building on Cherry Street and organized a football team. They didn't know it, but that was the beginning of the incredible saga of the Green Bay Packers.

Lambeau and Calhoun struck the initial spark a few weeks before, during a casual street-corner conversation. It was apparently a “Why not get up a football team?” remark, but once they were interested, they wasted no time.

First they talked Lambeau’s employer — a war-time industry called the Indian Packing Company, where he worked as a shipping clerk for $250/month — into putting up money for jerseys.

Because the company provided jerseys and permitted the use of its athletic field for practice, the club was identified in its early publicity as a project of the company. With this tie-in, the name “Packers” was a natural, and Packers they have been ever since, although the Indian Packing Company had practically faded out of the picture before that first season was half over.

That first season the team won 10 and lost only one, against foes from Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Games were played in an open field with no fences or bleachers, and interested fans “passed the hat.”

Sept. 14 — Menominee North End A.C. (W, 53-0)
Sept. 21 — Marinette Northerners (W, 61-0)
Sept. 28 — New London (W, 54-0)
Oct. 05 — Sheboygan Company (W, 87-0)
Oct. 12 — Racine (W, 76-6)
Oct. 19 — Ishpeming (W, 33-0)
Oct. 26 — Oshkosh Professionals (W, 85-0)
Nov. 02 — Milwaukee Maple Leaf A.C. (W, 53-0)
Nov. 09 — Chicago Chilar A.C. (W, 46-0)
Nov. 16 — Stambaugh Miners (W, 17-0)
Nov. 23 — Beloit Professionals (L, 0-6)

What is Vince Thinking?

We’re not sure what’s on the mind of coach Vince Lombardi in this 1962 sideline photo, be we know we haven’t seen this expression much before. Perhaps the play of his team is perplexing him at the moment. Behind him, defensive coach Phil Bengtson (in fedora hat like Lombardi) is engaged in the action, while a policeman keeps order and provides protection from unruly fans. Not to worry, coach... your team will go on to win its second consecutive NFL title this year. Congratulations.

Coach and His Boys in Wartime

During the 1944 season, head coach Curly Lambeau poses for a shot with two of his best players, future Hall of Fame end Don Hutson (left), and running back Irv Comp (right). Green Bay won the NFL championship that season, the last they would win until Vince Lombardi’s team in 1961.

Depression-Era Packers

A play from the regular-season matchup between Green Bay and the New York Giants in 1936 is the subject of today’s photo. As the original caption states, the Packers beat the Giants that day by a score of 25-14 at the Polo Grounds in New York.

The 1936 NFL season was the 17th regular season of the National Football League. For the first time since the league was founded, there were no team transactions; neither a club folded nor did a new one join the NFL. 1936 was also the first year in which all league teams played the same number of games. The season ended when Packers defeated the Boston Redskins in the NFL Championship Game (their fourth championship overall). For the only time in NFL history, the team with the home field advantage declined to play at their own stadium and instead elected to play at a neutral site. Due to poor attendance, the Redskins moved the game from Boston to the Polo Grounds in New York City.

A Numerical Oddity

The original caption to today’s historical photo reads:

“Roy McKay, Packer fullback and the National League’s punting champion for the last two seasons, returns a kick against the Detroit Lions in Milwaukee in 1945. This was the game in which the Packers scored six touchdowns in the second quarter. McKay got back to the 27-yard line before he was stopped.»

McKay, out of the University of Texas, played for Green Bay from 1944-1947. For reasons unknown to us now, he wore the number usually worn by the great Packer back Tony Canadeo while he was in the service during the Second World War. When Canadeo returned, McKay switched to another number for the 1946 and 1947 seasons.

Papa Bear and St. Vince

Today ’s photo is an unlikely pairing of two enemies at an unknown function in 1968 — probably some sort of fundraising or awards banquet. The Chicago Bears’ founder George Halas (left) jokes with Packers’ general manager Vince Lombardi… a much friendlier time than when they faced each other along the sidelines. The Washington Redskins would soon be the destination for Lombardi, where he would coach for only one season before succumbing to cancer in 1970.

Bart’s Back

In another installment from our archives of press material, we have this from November 24, 1963, when the NFL went ahead and played its full slate of games two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The original caption (as seen attached on the left side of the photo) reads:

“Milwaukee, Nov. 24 -- BART’S BACK -- Green Bay Packer quarterback Bart Starr (#15) spots receiver Tom Moore (#25) as he makes a turn to take the pass. The pass was complete to Moore for a 6 yard gain in the first quarter at Milwaukee County Stadium today. Starr started the game against the San Francisco 49ers, his first full-time appearance since he suffered a broken hand against St. Louis more than a month ago. The Packers beat the 49ers 28-10. (AP Wirephoto).”

The young NFL Commissioner at the time, Pete Rozelle, made the decision to play the games while the majority of events that weekend around the country were being cancelled. Even the rival American Football League (AFL) postponed its games out of respect for the fallen President. Rozelle soon came to regret his decision to have the NFL play, and frequently stated publicly that it had been his worst mistake. However, Rozelle and then-White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger had been classmates at the University of San Francisco years before, and Rozelle consulted with him. Salinger urged Rozelle to play the games. Rozelle felt that way, citing that “it has been traditional in sports for athletes to perform in times of great personal tragedy.”

Packers on the South Side

Here's a snapshot of NFL football at Chicago's old Comiskey Park. Chicago Cardinals receiver Mal Kutner leaps into the air to snatch a pass under the goal post in first quarter of a game with the Green Bay Packers on November 27, 1949. The ball slipped out of his grasp momentarily but he grabbed again and held on for a touchdown. The pass was thrown by Jim Hardy in a game the Cardinals won 41-21. Old Comiskey Park, which was home to the White Sox from 1910 to 1990, was also the Cardinals' longtime home. The "Big Red" played there from 1922-1925 and from 1929-1958.

Vince’s Last Championship Trophy

On January 14, 1968, the Green Bay Packers played the Oakland Raiders in the second AFL-NFL championship game, now known as “Super Bowl II.” The Packers triumphed by a score of 33-14 that day at Miami’s Orange Bowl, in front of 75,546 football fans. It would turn out to be, as was speculated, head coach Vince Lombardi’s final game with Green Bay. Lombardi announced his retirement as Packers coach on February 1, 1968, but remained with the team as General Manager through that season before taking the reigns in Washington, D.C. with the Redskins.

U.S. Savings Bond Drive

In 1950, the Packers were enlisted to promote the sale of U.S. Savings Bonds to the public. We have no idea how effective this type of promotion was in the Green Bay community, but if we were residents back then, we surely would’ve taken the team’s urging seriously and bought bonds every pay day.