Question on Packers Helmet Decaling

[princip]

Re: Question on Packers Helmet Decaling

-not sure what you mean by "wasn't there a hand layering stage here as well?"

I guess what I meant to ask was there a manual stage that created the inconsistencies in some of the decals? Being that nowaday you have 30 pairs, all 30 will be identical. Yet, back in the day, if you look very closely the left side decal will look very slightly different from the right side decal. You pretty much answered my question though. Thanks.

[mvandor]

Re: Question on Packers Helmet Decaling

Thanks guys, knew you'd know. I'm putting together a Bart Starr TK lid for a signing and have the opportunity to obtain some thin mil two layer decals and might use em for authenticity.

[aeneas01]

Re: Question on Packers Helmet Decaling

Robert, not to hijack this thread too much, yet, I would like to include a writeup on this process, since, all of my 70s lids decals seem to be of this variety. Wasn't there a hand layering stage here as well? Not exact copies everytime, since, some of the decal's ink/graphics differed in relation to the placement of the transparent vinyl?

not sure what you mean by "wasn't there a hand layering stage here as well?" i think many factors contributed to the inconsistencies, often subtle sometimes not so subtle, found in helmet decals from that era. just the nature of the printing business alone, the rapidly evolving technology from year to year (inks, processing, innovations, increasingly better decal material, etc.) played a very big part i would imagine. throw in the fact that a given decal supplier could be dumped in favor of another and i think it's pretty remarkable that major inconsistencies weren't the norm!

here's a great little gem taken from helmet hut's fantastic website. during that era riddell apparently sourced and applied the decals to the helmets as can be seen in this work order which looks to have been kicked back the packers equipment manager for final approval. obviously the packers' em was no stranger to unauthorized changes in decals once in the hands of riddel and/or the printer given that he made it a point to write "do not mess with the color!!" on the back of one of the decal samples!

btw i've circled "vista-craft inc." in red which is still in business (georgia) after all of these years - the company was founded in 1973 and changed hands a couple of times. although they no longer produce helmet decals, they were one of the largest suppliers to the nfl back in the day.

http://www.helmethut.com/Packers/Packerdecal.html

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[princip]

Re: Question on Packers Helmet Decaling

"....by the very early 70s teams began switching to newly introduced decals that were printed on transparent vinyl with the ink applied beneath the vinyl as opposed to the surface - this produced a more durable helmet decal and also eliminated the need for two-part approaches."

Robert, not to hijack this thread too much, yet, I would like to include a writeup on this process, since, all of my 70s lids decals seem to be of this variety. Wasn't there a hand layering stage here as well? Not exact copies everytime, since, some of the decal's ink/graphics differed in relation to the placement of the transparent vinyl?

[aeneas01]

Re: Question on Packers Helmet Decaling

Anyone confirm that the Packers used to use two layer decals for the 'G' on the helmet, an underneathh green layer wiith a white layer over? Can you give me a timeframe that they were done that way?

the packers most definitely used two-part side decals in the 60s (from 1960 through about 1970) and they were just as you described - a green oval background decal with a white "g" decal applied to the top. but other teams used two-part decals as well during that era including the redskins, saints, and chargers. another interesting thing about decals from that particular era is the ink was applied to the decal surface resulting in a logo that didn't hold up very well to heavy contact. some of these decals were made of very thin, solid colored vinyl (lions, colts, giants to name a few) while others were made of a material very similar to glossy paper (steelers, raiders to name a few) - the "paper-like" decals really took a beating. by the very early 70s teams began switching to newly introduced decals that were printed on transparent vinyl with the ink applied beneath the vinyl as opposed to the surface - this produced a more durable helmet decal and also eliminated the need for two-part approaches.

speaking of vintage two-layered decals, the chargers sported solid navy decals for one year in 1966. prior to 1966 and after 1966 their decals were two-part as pictured below (navy background, yellow surface). what's very interesting is that their 1966 solid decals were simply the navy background portion of their pre and post 1966 two-part decals. so what happened in 1966? did their supplier drop the ball on the yellow portion of the decals? did the bolts decide to mix it up in 1966 given that they had lost two consecutive league championship games in 1964 and 1965? "enquiring minds want to know..."





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[princip]

Re: Question on Packers Helmet Decaling

Part of your question is answered in the last paragraph of this writeup by Helmet Hut:

http://www.helmethut.com/Robin.html

[mvandor]

Anyone confirm that the Packers used to use two layer decals for the 'G' on the helmet, an underneathh green layer wiith a white layer over?

Can you give me a timeframe that they were done that way?