The 1925 Project (Part 5)

Part 5 of our look at the New England(-ish) teams and uniforms of a century ago continues with eight schools that today are part of NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference), basically the Ivy League's Division III Mini-Me. (And if you don't believe it, just remember NESCAC decided to allow its football teams to compete in the NCAA postseason not long after the Ivies made the same decision.)

I'm not going to go in to mountains of detail on each team here, but I will leave a few notes:

• Amherst was coached by DeOrmond "Tuss" McLaughry, who left after the season for Brown. His time with the Bears is discussed here. He also coached at Dartmouth. Also, I don't believe the Mammoths/Lord Jeffs had an official nickname at this point, so that space in the graphic is left blank.
• Notice how in the cases of Amherst, Middlebury and Tufts, some helmets had stripes and others did not. I *think* this was done to differentiate players based on position (remember, this was before teams wore uniform numbers on the front), but I could be wrong.
• The Trinity uniform could be a mash-up (see note on the graphic).
• Middlebury might have had the toughest schedule of anyone here. The Panthers opened the season against Harvard and Yale and lost by a combined score of 121-0. Middlebury also lost 33-0 to NYU, a well-regarded program.

And at last, the uniforms:

UMass (1930) and Middlebury (1929-30)

In our last post, I promised another bizarre uniform from the late 1920s-early '30s in addition to Vermont's funky garb. Well, I lied: I'll give you two.

While searching through some old Middlebury Kaleidoscope yearbooks for Vermont action photos (Middlebury and UVM were annual rivals in those days), I came across this photo featuring the Panthers and the school that came to be known as UMass:

This might be the most bizarre old-time action photo I've encountered in this project, which is why doing uniform research so much fun and addictive. 

Let's start with the UMass Minutemen -- or the Massachusetts Agricultural College Aggies, as they were known then in the parlance of the time for agricultural schools, or "cow colleges," as they were derisively called. These guys resemble a prison team on the break, anticipating the early Pittsburgh Steelers (nee Pirates) uniforms a few years later. If that wasn't enough, the Aggies (God, that's weird to type) were given matching striped socks, although a couple players wore more conventional hose. 

The 1930 UMass ... Aggies.
I don't know what's more bizarre, the team name or the uniforms.
Better hurry up, the prison guards are coming!
And what's with the guy on the right wearing his shirt like a tank top?

Another oddity to this odd uniform, which was worn only one season: It appears the players wore no numbers on the back, which is kinda ironic for a prison-themed uniform, no? Take a good gander at the blown-up pic below from the 1932 UMass Index yearbook (which covered the 1930-31 school year):

Only stripes cross the back. That might be a relief for embarrassed players who couldn't be identified even with a scorecard. 

Shortly after the season, the school changed its name to Massachusetts State College (a named that lasted only until after World War II), and with it came a new name (the Statesmen) and new uniforms (plain maroon jerseys with numbers on front and back). The Aggies -- and their prison garb -- were never to be spoken of again, except perhaps by Depression-era uni-watchers.

The black helmets on the graphic, BTW, are just a guess on my part. Since UMass wore black helmets in the late 1930s and these lids appear to be a darker hue than the jerseys, I opted to stick with black.

On to Middlebury, which wore some flashy gear of its own in 1930: Big white stripes over a blue jersey. Also note the helmet, which has a white stripe across the sides and the back, but not the front. 

But a little digging shows that might not even be the most oddball uni in Middlebury's arsenal. In 1929, the Panthers used different stripes -- thinner and slightly curved -- on the jerseys. Maybe they were trying to look unique, or perhaps they were getting a jump on Halloween. Hey, football is played in the autumn ...

The inspiration for Middlebury's 1929 uniform?

For at least one game in 1929 (against Williams), Middlebury wore white short-sleeved shirts over the "conventional" jerseys, presumably to prevent confusion on the field since both team were wearing dark uniforms. And it appears these jerseys didn't have numbers, either:

The "skeleton" jerseys were worn from 1928-29, while the, er, less unconventional shirts were worn until the mid-1930s.

On another note, it's hard to believe Middlebury and UMass were once on similar athletic ground. One school wound up in Division III and the other is now playing D-I FBS football. Such was the case in the early years of intercollegiate sports, when teams were just looking for a game against anybody as long as it didn't require a lengthy road trip.

The Middlebury "skeleton" uniforms in action against Vermont, 1929.

Much, much more from UMass: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2000-02, 1986-87, 1978-84, 1975-77, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1966-68, 1960-62, 1953-54, 1951-52, 1938-39. Tribute: Dick McPherson.

And one other uni from Middlebury: 1978.

Middlebury Panthers (1978)

It's been a while. Vacation is over; it's time to hit the uniforms again.

We'll look at one last Division III uniform before returning to the D-I ranks later this week. Vermont's Middlebury College -- best known as the alma mater of Seattle Seahawks kicker Stephen Hauschka -- has worn Michigan/Delaware-style helmets since 1979, which means the Panthers could wear burlap sacks for shirts and pants and still have awesome uniforms. Well, here's what Middlebury wore in 1978, the last year before switching to the iconic helmet.

The Middlebury uniform fem 1978, the last season before the wings helmets debuted.
 The photo is from the Middlebury Campus newspaper archive.

The jerseys strongly resemble Maine's from the period, while the helmets and pants are plain silver with a blue stripe, which the Panthers retained for a while after the helmet change.

The winged helmet was introduced by head coach Mickey Heinecken, who previously played and coached at -- of course -- Delaware.