Maine Black Bears (1963-64)

In 1963, Maine made a small addition to its road jerseys that stuck around for nearly a decade: A pair of snarlin' bear heads were added to the shoulders. I mean, look at them -- would you let Junior go a game alone knowing that was waiting for him?

Very few teams in this era had logos on the shirts, and combined with the winged helmet, Maine had one of the more distinctive uniforms New England had to offer in the 1960s. Being a Maine grad, of course, I might be a bit biased. When I think of "old-school" Maine football, this is the uniform that comes to mind.

The Maine bench at home, 1963. From the 1965 Prism yearbook,
which covered the 1963-64 school year.

A neat photo spread of the '63 Bears showing off their new
road jerseys. OLD-SCHOOL POSES NEED TO MAKE A COMEBACK.

With a one-game exception, the bears never decorated the blue home jerseys, although radically different home and road shirts were quite common in this era.

The bears stuck around until 1972, when a mid-season change was made. In 1967, they began facing outward instead of inward. Perhaps they were looking to snarl at the world.

Maine went 5-3 in '63 and '64, with '64 marking the end of the old State Series games against Colby, Bates and Bowdoin. I hope to take closer look at that down the road.

In action against Vermont in '63. You can read more UVM's unis here.

Can't bear to be without Black Bear uniforms? Here are some more: 2015, 2014, 2011-13, 1997-99, 1985, 1976-84, 1975, 1974, 1965, more 1965, 1957-59, 1949-50, 1928-29. Rivalry week: Maine-New Hampshire.

Although UMaine canon says the Black Bears didn't use a costumed mascot until 1969,
here's a ... um, unique ... Bananas patrolling the sidelines in '63.
Beats the current version, that's for sure.