Uniwatch story on the Vikings' original uniform

[oldschoolvikings 18,568]

Obviously, as a uniform nut and complete Viking homer, this article is fascinating to me, but I thought it would also be interesting to the community at large;

 

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21409647/the-full-story-how-viking-uniforms-came-minnesota

 

Check out this original sketch from 1961;

 

 

" Hubenthal's original design concept called for diagonally crossed stripes on the socks, evoking the leather straps or leggings worn by real Vikings. That seems like something Nike or Under Armour might come up with nowadays, but it was unheard of back in 1961. In addition, Hubenthal's original jersey design featured gold sleeve striping with a V-shaped pattern. That design element, along with the sock concept, didn't make it to the final on-field product."

 

What interesting to me is that road uniform design, with the UCLA stripes.  The Vikings didn't start wearing that until 68.  Apparently, someone kept that in the back of their head for 7 years, before giving it a go.

[OnWis97 4,735]

Fascinating story.  As another Viking fan, I'm not sure how interested the rest of us will be, but I thought this was really interesting and I knew none of it.

 

It's really amazing that this one link to this history hung on the designer's wall for decades while the rest of the world had no idea.  I'm glad the daughter ended up sharing it with the Vikings.  Almost nobody had any idea that the University of Washington inspired the colors.  And that the horns may (there seems to be no confirmation either way) have been inspired by a Rams fan.

[FinsUp1214 5,728]

Very, very interesting. It would’ve been fascinating to see how the V-stripes would turn out on the real thing. Thanks for sharing!

[8BW14 1,410]

I saw this this morning on uni-watch. I couldn't believe the prototype was something that was designed in the 60's. Way ahead of its time. The V sleeve stripes and "strap" socks do seem like something right out of Nike's playbook. I really like the mockup though.

 

The final product was much more traditional, obviously. I wonder who nixed the v stripes? I think those could have been something special.

[Sec19Row53 4,079]

This means that three of four NFC North teams (Bears, Packers, and now Vikings) had their colors chosen on the basis of a college-connection at the outset of the franchise.

 

Bears - Illinois (Halas)

Packers - Notre Dame (Lambeau)

Vikings - Washington (Rose)

[mjd77 1,564]

V stripes are definitely interesting but I don't know how you'd even make those work with today's jersey cuts.

[hettinger_rl 1,423]

I feel a nike fauxback set coming....

[oldschoolvikings 18,568]

5 minutes ago, mjd77 said:

V stripes are definitely interesting but I don't know how you'd even make those work with today's jersey cuts.

Not the same, but similar idea...

 

[lbj273 389]

I hope we bring back the UCLA stripes on the road uniform. And drop the damn purple pants on the road while we are at it.

[MJD7 3,400]

That’s really fascinating, I love seeing stuff like that, especially being a fellow Vikings fan. It’s pretty interesting that the option (A) has striking resemblance to the Vikings’ modern striping style.

[UnclearInitial 1,647]

Fascinating story and those uniforms are way ahead of their time. The current jersey is actually pretty similar to that V-stripe with the white sleeve

[OnWis97 4,735]

22 hours ago, oldschoolvikings said:

What interesting to me is that road uniform design, with the UCLA stripes.  The Vikings didn't start wearing that until 68.  Apparently, someone kept that in the back of their head for 7 years, before giving it a go.

That is interesting.  Maybe the design wasn't lost at that time.  Maybe the Vikings had a copy that's sitting in a landfill it was dumped in during the mob to the Metrodome.

[SFGiants58 14,559]

I like the unusual sock and sleeve stripes on those sketches. It fits with the whole 1960's athletic aesthetic standard of "innovative, yet grounded in good taste."

 

Given the University of Washington connection, I'm surprised that the Vikings never tried metallic gold trim instead of yellow. It probably wouldn't have looked as good as the yellow, but it'd be an interesting design.

[rtrich11 72]

So he is responsible for the mis-matched home and away jerseys. So weird to have UCLA shoulder loops on the aways and Northwestern stripes at home. Always seemed so arbitrary.

 

But I agree with the other points: V stripes = cool for 1960s cut jerseys and the socks are cool, too.

[Tracy Jordan 993]

On 11/22/2017 at 11:26 AM, hettinger_rl said:

I feel a nike fauxback set coming....

 

I'm surprised we haven't seen any type of fauxback/throwback Vikings unis since the 2013 update. 

[DouglasQuaid 928]

I too am a Vikings fan and I would love a fauxback of this set. This could work on a modern template and it would look better than the current sail stripe. The socks could also work but I would have the horizontal part be yellow.

[Lights Out 4,986]

Option A looks great. The Vikings should wear that as a fauxback someday.

 

I also never understood the point of the mismatched road jersey. Especially since they looked too similar to LSU, and NFL teams shouldn't be dressing up like college programs. (It's the same issue I had with the Patriots' pre-Elvis uniforms, which typically looked like Ole Miss or Louisiana Tech.)

[IceCap 22,605]

This was a great thread to stumble onto while listening to some Turisas.

[oldschoolvikings 18,568]

47 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

This was a great thread to stumble onto while listening to some Turisas.

 

Hadn't pegged you as a Norwegian death metal kinda guy. 

[Gothamite 24,652]

Norwegian?  Please.  Finnish.