Norwich Cadets (1953)

Time to shake things up on the blog a bit. 

While I'm not planning to do comprehensive histories for Division III schools -- after all, D-III teams are almost as common in New England as weeds -- I thought it'd be fun to try something different and add selected uniforms over the next few weeks.

We'll start with Vermont's Norwich University, since it's the inspiration for this mini-project.  It's a military school in the hippie capital of New England, but don't let it fool or scare you. It's a gorgeous campus with a fun atmosphere for football games. A Homecoming game I attended in 2012 drew something like 5,300 fans, which is 53,000 by D-III standards.

While at the post office a couple months ago, I saw this gem sitting at the top of the recycling bin:

Bliss.

And this is just the cover! The inside has a phenomenal article on Norwich athletic equipment then and now, with tons of illustrations. You can read (and see) the whole article here. And of course, there's a page devoted to football:

Bliss, part 2.

Some digging through Norwich's Archives and Special Collections filled in the blanks on the early 50s helmets and pants. Check out the photos below from the site:

A group of Norwich U. players, 1953. No. 89, second from right in the front row,
is wearing the jersey likely shown in the magazine article above.

The '53 Cadets, who went 4-4.

I couldn't find records of road jerseys, which doesn't mean they weren't worn ... just lost to history for now.

Later this week, we'll head to the wilds of western Massachusetts for some NESCAC fun.