Green Bay Packers Memorabilia, 1944-1968

When thinking about important aspects of Wisconsin history, admittedly the rise of professional sports in the 20^th century does not immediately come to mind. However, browsing the Wisconsin Historical Society’s website led me to a handful of professional sports collections, including a collection of Green Bay Packer memorabilia.

There is no denying that the Green Bay Packers are an important part of Wisconsin’s past. In 1919, Earl “Curly” Lambeau and George Calhoun organized the Green Bay Packers with support from a local packing company. Since then, the team has won more league championships than any other professional football team, twice three-peating from 1929-1931 and again from 1965-1967. The Packers are also unique in that they remain the only publicly owned professional sports team in the nation, which basically guarantees that the Green Bay Packers will never leave Wisconsin.

By visiting the Wisconsin Historical Society website, any Packer fan has access to the Green Bay Packer Memorabilia collection available through the generosity of the Green Bay Packer Organization. The memorabilia collection covers the years from 1944-1968, with special emphasis on the glory years of legendary coach Vince Lombardi. Some items from the collection include souvenir booklets, schedules and rosters, and other assorted memorabilia. The collection can be viewed here: 

Below are some examples from this collection:

Page from Titletown U.S.A. ’61, a special edition of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, 1961

Image available at Wisconsin Historical Images, Image ID: 81766

Salute to Vince Lombardi tickets, August 7, 1968

Image available at Wisconsin Historical Images, Image ID: 81791

Just as one cannot deny the significance that the Green Bay Packers’ existence and success has had on the Wisconsin social culture in both the past and present, one can also not deny that the team will continue to be a part of the Wisconsin experience in the future.  The continued collection and preservation of Green Bay Packer memorabilia combined with open access to these items is one of many examples of the Wisconsin idea at work.

More collections covering the Green Bay Packers and other Wisconsin sports can be found here. 

Special thank you to the Wisconsin Historical Society for permission to use images for this blog post.

[Post Created by Molly Dineen]