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Uniwatch story on the Vikings' original uniform


oldschoolvikings

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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;

 

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" 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.

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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.

Disclaimer: If this comment is about an NBA uniform from 2017-2018 or later, do not constitute a lack of acknowledgement of the corporate logo to mean anything other than "the corporate logo is terrible and makes the uniform significantly worse."

 

BADGERS TWINS VIKINGS TIMBERWOLVES WILD

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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.

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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)

It's where I sit.

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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.

Disclaimer: If this comment is about an NBA uniform from 2017-2018 or later, do not constitute a lack of acknowledgement of the corporate logo to mean anything other than "the corporate logo is terrible and makes the uniform significantly worse."

 

BADGERS TWINS VIKINGS TIMBERWOLVES WILD

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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.

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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.)

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POTD: 2/4/12 3/4/12

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