I admit from the outset, I can better describe those hot, woolen band uniforms than I can the colorful gridders wear for the Warren Lumberjacks of yesteryear.
But those uniforms, even back in the golden years of the late 1960s and early 1970s, were indeed fashion statements. Sort of like the shiny headgear, camo style jerseys and fashion-form fitting football pants of today.
Lumberjack football uniforms were the best in SEARK. Maybe the state.
The only football fashion that has held sway was possibly the unique stripes of the Pine Bluff Zebras, atop their shoulder pads.
Somehow a discussion on the football uniforms began just before Homecoming 2016.
That is usually the one time – other than in the preseason – when all ‘Jack football players had a clean, non-grass stained uniform on. The white canvass pants were clean – and all the pads – hip pads, knee pads, and thigh pads were in place. Usually there was a big photo in the newspaper of the two captains escorting the beautiful Homecoming Queen in pre-game ceremonies.
The Lumberjack captains were always decked out in fine football wear.
Today I am not sure – especially at the college level – if there are pads in those pants – surely not where those hard, foam rubber or almost plastic-like pad inserts were inside the pair of football pants of yesteryear.
Now what I always thought make the Warren High football jersey of the late 1960s and early 1970s unique was the design.
I have to give credit to the local pool-hall owner, restaurant king and part-time athletic supply sales guru – Wayne Wisner.
He helped put, what I always heard were called UCLA shoulder stripes, on the WHS jerseys.
He made sure that the black jersey had a three-stipe addition of a thin stripe of white, a wider stripe of orange and then around thin stripe of white on each shoulder.
It made the jersey snap and look great.
The numbers were usually orange with a thin piping of white around them on the black jerseys. The orange was a color which stood out on the black jersery. The white home jerseys had orange numbers with a thin piping of black around the standard Roman-style numbers (not Roman Numerals) on the jerseys.
These were also in the pre-dated era of heated, press on numbers. These are sewn of numbers and stripes.
And then came the helmets.
I can really white helmets with a bid bold “W” today known as the Wisconsin “W” on the hard plastic hats.
My memory of that is the late Oscar King Littlefield, one of the most gifted free drawing artists I have ever seen, painted these “W”’s on the helmets each pre-season. My position of being underfoot at the Eagle in those days, also gave me the unique position of helping take a clear paste like product – like old round tins of paste shoe shine wax and buffing these helmets to a bright shine.
Later on came the orange helmets and a sticker of the log-rolling timber tool and an ax-wielding Lumberjack on each side of the helmets.
Tommy Massey who was a quarterback the year after my graduation has donated a full football suit to the Bradley County Museum. The helmet his senior year had been painted black with an orange stripe down the middle.
I can recall that all the face bars on the helmets were white or at best a dull shade of gray. One barrister in Pennington Township probably holds the record for the bloodiest face bar on his helmet for three years running. It is a wonder his shcnoz has healed these 50 plus after his hard hits on opposing teams.
Today’s orange and black helmet and modern uniforms are snazzy, sharp and every bit the stylish garb worn by Lumberjacks of yore.
Only one little tid bit of WHS uniform history needs to be preserved.
Once when the football program was just getting started in the early teens of the last century. The all-faithful timber magnate at the time told the local coach he would purchase the team some professional looking uniforms as the local football club was formed of high school aged young men. This was in the days before a school board would outfit such a squad.
The timberman was a Dartmouth College grade – hence the orange and black colors.
When asked by the football uniform supplier what numbers for the uniforms the timber man was puzzled.
When asked how many boys had come out for the team, he knew that number, 13.
And the coach.
So the first lumberjack professional prepared, sewn and outfitted team had numbers 1-13.
The coach wore a jersey with a big “C” on it for coach.
Another Pastime worth remembering.
Go ‘Jacks, Win State.
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