The (Somewhat) Complete Holy Cross Uniform History, Part I

For some reason, I've had Holy Cross on the brain lately. Maybe it's because of the Crusaders' recent return to excellence (four straight Patriot League titles, 25-5 record since 2020 heading into the 2023 season) after a string of so-so years. As I've probably noted before, this program has had the highest of highs (undefeated seasons, an Orange Bowl berth) and the lowest of lows (a season called off because of a hepatitis outbreak, a coach who took his own life).

With the 'Saders flying high (as long as Boston College doesn't poach coach Bob Chesney anytime soon) and positioning themselves as a legitimate FCS national title contender, I thought I'd take a look at their uniform history over the last century-plus. Today, we'll work our way up through World War II.

One disclaimer: Figuring out what shades of purple Holy Cross has worn over the years is about as tough as Worcester rush-hour traffic. Some of the graphics you'll see previously used darker shades in earlier post, but I fear there may be some inaccuracies along the way. 

With that outta the way ...

1915: About as plain as you can get. Leather helmet, tan pants, purple jerseys and socks. The team had no nickname, and the jerseys don't even have numbers.

1919: No changes except for a little white showing on the socks. (The uniform crowd probably went wild over that one at the time.)

1923: By this time, numbers are in use. Going by photos from the 1924 Purple Patcher yearbook, it appears Holy Cross used two different shades of purple for the jerseys.

1926: The "Crusaders" nickname is in use by this point, and the lighter purple is in full use.

1928: The 'Saders add striped socks that would look good on the wicked witch of the east (or is it west?), and some pants have stripes down the back.

1929: Holy Cross replaces the plain front with a friction-stripe pattern that was all the rage in the 1920s and early '30s. By this time, I think the helmet color matches the jerseys, but I am not 100%.

1930: After just one year, the friction stripes are gone, replaced by uniform numbers. I'm not sure who was the first team to adopt the practice, but Holy Cross was definitely one of the first in New England.

1931: A bunch of funky stripes are added to the jerseys and helmets. Numbers were worn on the front for some, but not all, games. 

1934: The jersey stripes are gone, and the Crusaders return to tan helmets, only with purple stripes.

1935: Holy Cross introduces silver helmets and pants, which the Crusaders wear into the 1950s, and the darker purple returns. For at least one game, white cutoff shirts are worn over the jerseys; the number font is only a guesstimate.

1936: Stripes are added to the helmets, as are Cornell-style striping on the sleeves.

1937: The sleeve stripes are removed.

1939: The Crusaders add a white jersey.

1942: The helmet stripes change, and the white jersey adds stripes. Holy Cross wore the white jerseys in the 55-12 rout of undefeated Boston College in a game that was followed by the fatal fire at the Cocoanut Grove that killed nearly 500 people; BC was supposed to attend a postgame party there but declined after the big loss.

1945: The purple socks vanish. The Crusaders wore this style for their first (and only) trip to the Orange Bowl.