Identifications of the 49 mystery helmets - numbers 1 through 12 -- Discussion of the 'Helmet Project' web site

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Date Posted: 23:34:17 01/04/22 Tue
Author: charles arey
Author Host/IP: 98.20.168.155
Subject: Identifications of the 49 mystery helmets - numbers 1 through 12

Thanks again to everyone who submitted identifications or guesses for these; I'll summarize what has been established and what remains unknown. Since there are so many and research will take a while, I'll break these down into smaller groups starting with #1 through #12. Thanks especially to No Name for his/her many identifications.

#1 is Southwestern at Memphis, an earlier name for Rhodes College. (#38 and #43 also turned out to be Southwestern at Memphis).

#2 is Baldwin-Wallace. I could not make any sense of the logo on the helmet in this particular photograph, but eventually found a nice photograph in one of the school's yearbooks which showed that it's a realistic light-colored yellow jacket inside a dark oval. The decal in this particular photo may be damaged, as the bug should have some dangling legs in the bottom portion of the oval. There also may be some small lettering (possibly "BW")

#3 may be Cal Tech; I think the photograph in the University of San Diego yearbook labels the opposing team thusly. I think the decal is either missing or damaged, and the dark blob may just be some dirt or a place where white paint flaked off, exposing a darker color beneath. I'd say forget about this one, particularly since both teams were apparently club-level teams that year.

#4 remains unidentified. Someone suggested Tuskegee and I think this could be correct, though I have not seen the logo (whatever it is) previously. I thought it might be a "100" logo, but as it turns out Tuskegee Institute was founded in 1879 so a centennial helmet logo for the school would have been two years early in 1979. The helmet color and stripe sequence appear to be correct for Tuskegee at that time (at least to the extent one can say from a non-color photograph). There are other photographs of this design in the 1980 Alabama State yearbook, but they are not any clearer than #4.

#5 is Fairleigh Dickinson

#6 is apparently Concordia Wisconsin (~95% likely). This photograph was apparently taken during a game called the 'Midwest Bowl' at the end of the 1983 football season. Concordia unfortunately did not publish a yearbook that year, apparently. But I think I remember seeing this design identified as Concordia in some other opposing team's yearbook, also.

#7 remains unidentified - this one is a real mystery! It would appear that there is some word ending in "E" followed by a space and a "U", which would presumably assist in identification. Hamline was suggested, but that team appparently used silver or white helmets with an "H" inside an oval-shape in 1975. Morningside was suggested - the dark helmet color seems right, but I have received a fair amount of information about that team through the years and nothing like this was ever reported. The school name also seems a bit long for that sort of logo. Could it read "STATE U" and be a Minnesota State-Mankato helmet? I have not investigated that team very much at all yet. None of South Dakota State's other 1975 opponents seem to be reasonable candidates. It is of course entirely possible that Hamline or Morningside used some weird one-game design.

#8 remains unidentified. It might be Tampa or Quantico Marine Corps Base, both of which have been extremely elusive as far as helmet information is concerned.

#9 remains unidentified, and I haven't yet put forth much effort into investigating it.

#10 is almost certainly Cal Lutheran.

#11 is Mercyhurst, and I was able to add this one to the website thanks to an excellent color photograph in that school's 1986 yearbook. The logo is the letters "MC" in an unusual style.

#12 is almost certainly Valparaiso. I'm not 100% certain because many other schools used a similar logo at that time (though I don't remember another college wearing it on their helmets) and Illinois Wesleyan did play another "Crusaders" team in 1973 - Wheaton - for which I do not yet have any 1973 information.

I'll comment on #13 - #49 at some point in the future.

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Replies:

[> Re: #12 -- David H, 18:01:04 01/05/22 Wed (174.212.163.226)

>#12 is almost certainly Valparaiso. I'm not 100%
>certain because many other schools used a similar logo
>at that time (though I don't remember another college
>wearing it on their helmets) and Illinois Wesleyan did
>play another "Crusaders" team in 1973 - Wheaton - for
>which I do not yet have any 1973 information.
>
>I'll comment on #13 - #49 at some point in the future.

#12 is Valparaiso and you have it on the site already - http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/Valparaiso_OLD16.gif

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[> Re: Identifications of the 49 unknown helmets - numbers 13 through 24 -- charles arey, 21:04:35 12/07/22 Wed (71.31.101.145)

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to these!

This is in reference to a message i posted about a year ago regarding a set of 49 unidentified/unknown helmet designs; the original message and its replies are here:

https://www.voy.com/53670/21833.html

Thanks again to everyone who suggested identifications; about half have been identified but others remain uncertain or entirely unknown.

Now on to numbers 13 through 24:

#13 remains unidentified; someone suggested that it might be a 'minor league' team called the 'Seattle Cavaliers'. This is certainly plausible since it's not unusual to see such teams on small college schedules dating from that era. I thought it might be UBC but have not been able to locate any photographs from 1970 for that team.

#14 - someone suggested that this was 'Saint Francis' (presumably St Francis PA rather than St Francis IL or St Francis IN, since neither of those teams uses red as a team color). The helmet logo is unclear to me, looking more than anything else like an "R" inside a red oval-shape, but it could perhaps be a "K" or "H" or more than one letter. St Francis PA does not have appear to have digitized any yearbooks or other media from the year 1983, so I have been unable to confirm the St Francis identification. St Francis PA are the "Red Flash" so maybe the "R" (if that's what it is) stands for "Red", though that seems a bit odd.

#15 is Mankato State.

#16 remains unidentified; the photograph is not very good so it may be a difficult one. If could also be a 'known' design that just doesn't show up well in the photograph.

#17 is unknown but I think is highly likely to be Wheaton College. Wheaton's yearbooks have been digitized and published on the internet but unfortunately are blocked from viewing by the general public, so photographs for 1984 Wheaton may have to be tracked down in opposing teams' yearbooks.

#18 is Rutgers wearing that elusive 'knight riding a horse' logo that has been discussed here before.

#19 is Maine Maritime Academy and #20 is Elmhurst. Both of these schools' yearbooks for the indicated year are available and there are good photographs in both of them, but no color photographs, alas. So it's not yet possible to add either of those to the website despite the identifications.

#21 remains unidentified. The opposing team is Dixie College, which was a junior college at the time, later becoming Dixie State University and then Utah Tech earlier this year. So #21 is probably a junior college in the western US, probably one of the California schools whose histories are almost entirely undocumented before ~2005, or one of the numerous defunct junior college teams from the Pacific Northwest for which no information has ever been located.

#22 is Wisconsin-Whitewater, a design which somebody recognized right away, enabling me to add that one to the website.

#23 remains unknown; someone suggested it might be from a preseason practice rather than from one of Colgate's games in 1966. None of Colgate's opponents in 1966 appear to be good candidates considering that there appears to be an "M" on the helmet.

#24 was verified to be Upper Iowa. Nearby Coe College has also used some cartoon bird logos in the past, but this one is Upper Iowa.

I will report on numbers 25 to 36 hopefully well before another year elapses. Also I intend to add a page to the website with some more unidentified helmets soon, probably way down at the bottom of the index, and will be adding new ones to that page as I run across them, for anybody who wants to assist in identifying them.

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[> [> Re: Identifications of the 49 unknown helmets - numbers 13 through 24 -- No name, 23:35:10 12/08/22 Thu (97.122.64.167)

Hey Charles!

I am the one who did most of the research on this project and submitted my findings.

It took me HOURS but it was very enjoyable and challenging!

#21. I am certain that this is BYU-Idaho who was known as Ricks College when that photo was taken.
I think they only wore that design for one year.
Try this link:
https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/BYUIYearBook/id/23758/rec/62
I could be wrong...

#14. St. Francis (PA). White "FCS" is inside the red oval. Check out 1984 Catholic yearbook (pg 136) for that same photo:
https://cuislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/achc-yearbook%3A26/datastream/PDF/view

That caption is incorrect. It is not Georgetown!
The best indication is on page 38! I am pretty sure that is is "SFC"! (page 38 of PDF and not the yearbook!)

I still do not know about #16 or #23.

It sounds weird but I am certain about #13 being a minor league football team called the Seattle Cavaliers.
At the time, I wish I took better notes! I will do this for sure next helmet hunt!

I thirst for MORE! Bring it on!
(I recall that I could not find concise answers for about 8 of the helmets for helmets #25-49! If I have time this weekend I will revisit!)

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[> [> [> Re: Identifications of the 49 unknown helmets - numbers 13 through 24 -- charles arey, 22:33:31 12/09/22 Fri (71.31.101.145)

>#21. I am certain that this is BYU-Idaho who was
>known as Ricks College when that photo was taken.
>I think they only wore that design for one year.

Thanks, I would agree that seems very likely to be the correct identification, since that would be an in-state opponent for Dixie College. I was not seeing the helmet logo as a "viking horn" but rather as a "bull horn" or something similar. But it's probably just an ordinary viking horn logo like that which every "Vikings" team eventually uses.

>#14. St. Francis (PA). White "FCS" is inside the red
>oval. Check out 1984 Catholic yearbook (pg 136) for
>that same photo:

That would also make sense. I was not noticing the "C" but was instead imagining a "R" or a "K". That's why I wanted to get other people looking at these!

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[> [> 17 = Wheaton -- David H, 01:37:44 12/15/22 Thu (73.113.22.8)

https://i.imgflip.com/6l5hah.jpg

This is from an Augustania / Wheaton game, same logo.

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[> numbers 25 through 36 -- charles arey, 17:31:04 12/11/22 Sun (71.31.101.145)

#25 - someone suggested that this is Emory & Henry, and I think this is probably correct. The logo appears to be similar to a cartoon wasp/hornet which was in widespread use at the time (see Rochester (NY) and Eastern Montana, for example). E&H was the only "insect" opponent of Catawba in 1965.

#26 - someone identified this as being Newberry. The helmet logo does appear to be an "Indian head" typical of the era, but I have not been able to verify the identification since Newberry has not (as best I can tell) digitally published any yearbooks or other media from that era which would clear things up. Newberry was the only "Indians" team which Catawba played in 1982.

#27 - the best guess on this one at present is that it is Treasure Valley Community College, as it is possible to see a "TV" logo on the helmet. The photograph is probably from the early 1960s, when Portland State mostly played against much smaller schools than they do today. A 1963 schedule for Portland State College shows a game against "Seattle Ramblers", which was apparently a semi-pro team. TVCC had a football team at one time, but not even the dates of existence are known.

#28 remains unidentified. I agree with others that the logo looks like it might be a "devil" similar to the one used by Northwestern State around 1970. But all of the "devil" teams I can think of are concentrated east of the Mississippi River (except Arizona State, which is obviously not this team). Perhaps it's another regional semi-pro team. A cursory review of Willamette's historical schedules shows them playing almost exclusively teams from the Pacific Northwest in the 1960s and 1970s, although "Alumni" appears on the schedule several times.

#29 - Southeastern Massachusetts University was suggested and this appears to be correct, as that school had an institutional logo that appears to match what's on the helmet (triskelion inside circle). This is the present-day University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

#30 is confirmed to be Rocky Mountain College.

#31 was suggested to be Hampden-Sydney (so the logo might be a "tiger head"). I think this is probably correct but have not been able to confirm it, since the college does not appear to have digitally published any useful information from that year.

#32 is Dickinson College; the logo is a cartoon "devil" apparently seated upon the letter "D". Unfortunately I have been unable to locate any clear photographs, or even an unclear color photograph of this design, which was apparently used from at least 1971 through 1973. Even the helmet color is unknown, but silver or gold are most likely.

#33 remains unidentified; Western Colorado is the only team that anybody suggested, I think.

#34 is Northern Arizona. About that team: the university has digitized most of its old yearbooks and published them on the internet, but they are almost completely useless for the purposes of the 'Helmet project' - there are few football photographs in the yearbooks, those that are in the yearbooks are reproduced very poorly, and almost none of them are in color (at least for the years that I need to investigate). Hence the lack of helmet images at the website for NAU pre-1999.

#35 remains unidentified; I thought the logo looked a bit like a "bear face" and suggested that Rocky Mountain College could again be the identification, but have not really investigated further. I don't think RMC was one of Willamette's usual opponents in the 1970s, but I have not checked the schedules for those teams.

#36 - it was suggested that this is a North Dakota State helmet with damaged or partially missing decal, and that the photograph is flipped backwards. I think this is entirely plausible.

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[> Re: Identifications of the 49 mystery helmets - numbers 1 through 12 -- No name, 23:12:58 12/11/22 Sun (97.122.64.167)

Hey Charles!

I think #9 is the...

The Franklin and Marshall Diplomats!

Checkout their yearbook for 1974

https://digital.fandm.edu/object/scholars-square7462

Pages 80 (bottom left, player on the ground) and 82 (football photo) of the PDF view finder (pages 75 and 77 of the Yearbook)

Not sure what the deal is with the criss-crossing stripes
The Diplomats did not have this design in 1972 or 1974.

#35 is not Rocky Mountain College. At least not for that year.

https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/1822?keywords=&type=all&lsk=5fdb23967e198d32c43ef438d7a91827

Page 42 indicates this. (green? "Bears" in cursive script on gold helmets?)

#36. You'll have to trust me on this one!
I am certain that photo came from a NDSU yearbook and they have their YBs online but now I cannot find the link for them!

Still doing research...anxious for what you have for 37-49
If I recall, I could not find #41 (LaVerne?) and 46

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[> Re: Identifications of the 49 mystery helmets - numbers 1 through 12 -- No name, 23:33:47 12/13/22 Tue (97.122.64.167)

Charles,

I was able to find a few more helmets/teams:

#4 is absolutely Tuskagee. I swear they did not have Year Books posted last year!
The logo is definitely a "100" with "CENTENNIAL ERA" underneath

#7 is definitely Mankato State
Took awhile to locate this one but found it using Mankato State student newspaper photos

#8 has got to be the Quantico Marines
Found evidence in YB photos Vs. 1970 opponents NE Louisiana and North Michigan

#9 Franklin & Marshall
Previous info submitted

#13 Seattle Cavaliers
Check for photo and caption in 1970 Western Oregon YB

#14 St. Francis College
Previous info submitted

#16 is assumed to be Fairliegh Dickinson
Found evidence in FD student newspaper (same uniforms and helmets as in the Kean 1972 YB). Not sure what the heck is on that helmet though

Will send you photos to assist and confirm

I agree on #3 being Cal Tech. If you look at their YB for 1970 their helmets are BEAT UP!

Cannot get info on Willamette #28 and #35
I perused their YBs from 1965-1990 to no avail
#35 photo is in 1979 YB. I agree that it could be Alumni?

I still cannot find #33 (Montana Tech) and #46 (Texas Lutheran)
Still think #41 could be LaVerne

That is all I got for now. Anxious for #37-49!

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[> Re: Identifications of the 49 mystery helmets - numbers 1 through 12 -- David H, 14:09:36 12/14/22 Wed (73.113.22.8)

33 likely isn't Western Colorado, I found this picture that implies they may have been wearing blank Silver Helmets around that time.

https://gomountaineers.com/news/2019/6/12/football-fb-bill-campbell-makes-nff-hall-of-fame-ballot.aspx

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[> [> ignore the above post.^ -- David H, 14:18:03 12/14/22 Wed (73.113.22.8)

>33 likely isn't Western Colorado, I found this picture
>that implies they may have been wearing blank Silver
>Helmets around that time.
>
>https://gomountaineers.com/news/2019/6/12/football-fb-b
>ill-campbell-makes-nff-hall-of-fame-ballot.aspx

I take that back, the photo in question in the article is from a 1978 game versus Angelo State, they could have added logos the next year.

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[> Re: Identifications of the 49 mystery helmets - numbers 1 through 12 -- No name, 17:07:19 12/14/22 Wed (97.122.64.167)

#33 is the Dickinson State University Blue Hawks!

The reason why this one was so difficult to solve is because that photo is not from 1979. It is from 1976!

https://issuu.com/dickinsonstate/docs/prairie_smoke_1977

The Blue hawks wore that helmet (white with blue "D" with blue-white-blue stripes) from 1975-1976.

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[> [> Re: Identifications of the 49 mystery helmets - numbers 1 through 12 -- No name, 08:34:23 12/15/22 Thu (97.122.64.167)

#46 is the 1971 PRAIRIE VIEW A&M PANTHERS!

Initially I thought that that might be an arrowhead logo ala the KC Chiefs or a typical oval logo.

Tried to figure out Indian nicknamed teams that might be purple? and metallic gold even though the logo is red.

Texas Lutheran yearbooks and student newspapers were not all that helpful. Covering a possible 10 years! takes time!

I recall Alcorn State having purple and gold colors, they are called the Braves and I was able to find their yearbooks so I started there.

The 1972 YB had a fantastic photo of what I thought was the #46 logo but the jerseys didn't match up and the Braves back then had a huge feather on their helmet
just like the Washington Redskins from the early 1960s. I felt I was on the right track but no cigar!

http://collections.msdiglib.org/digital/collection/p17313coll1/id/3954/rec/21

The logo on that helmet has a white "50" inside a red? oval.

Also, though not as noticeable, is "SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE" inside the oval.

The SWAC was founded in 1920 so the "50" indicates their 50 year anniversary!

OK so who else was in the SWAC in 1971 AND played Texas Lutheran that same year?

As posted before this site is super helpful with schedules especially for smaller schools, true.

https://michigan-football.com/

HOWEVER, I have found it doesn't always list ALL games!

(ex. that site indicates Texas Lutheran played only 6 games in 1971 when in fact, they played 11!)

https://tlubulldogs.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2022-23/files/2022_Media_Guide.pdf
(page 31)

TX Lutheran did play PRAIRIE VIEW A&M that year and their colors are Purple and gold! Hmmmm.....

The Prairie View yeabook for 1972 is posted but the photos are not very good and I wasn't finding what I was hoping for.

THANKFULLY they have some student newspapers on line and eventually I found the treasure!

https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1067&context=pv-panther-newspapers

(page 9 player #70)

https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=pv-panther-newspapers

(page 13 Vs. Bishop)

https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=pv-panther-newspapers
(page 9 Vs. Jackson State. This one is GREAT because it also shows the "50" logo on fellow SWAC Jackson State's helmets though the Panthers logos are not used!)

BTW Prairie View A&M student newspaper digital archives photo quality is REALLY good!
Many other digital archives are garbage for photos! Way too murky or just NO photos!

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>Thanks again to everyone who submitted identifications >or guesses for these; I'll summarize what has been >established and what remains unknown. Since there are >so many and research will take a while, I'll break >these down into smaller groups starting with #1 >through #12. Thanks especially to No Name for his/her >many identifications. > >#1 is Southwestern at Memphis, an earlier name for >Rhodes College. (#38 and #43 also turned out to be >Southwestern at Memphis). > >#2 is Baldwin-Wallace. I could not make any sense of >the logo on the helmet in this particular photograph, >but eventually found a nice photograph in one of the >school's yearbooks which showed that it's a realistic >light-colored yellow jacket inside a dark oval. The >decal in this particular photo may be damaged, as the >bug should have some dangling legs in the bottom >portion of the oval. There also may be some small >lettering (possibly "BW") > >#3 may be Cal Tech; I think the photograph in the >University of San Diego yearbook labels the opposing >team thusly. I think the decal is either missing or >damaged, and the dark blob may just be some dirt or a >place where white paint flaked off, exposing a darker >color beneath. I'd say forget about this one, >particularly since both teams were apparently >club-level teams that year. > >#4 remains unidentified. Someone suggested Tuskegee >and I think this could be correct, though I have not >seen the logo (whatever it is) previously. I thought >it might be a "100" logo, but as it turns out Tuskegee >Institute was founded in 1879 so a centennial helmet >logo for the school would have been two years early in >1979. The helmet color and stripe sequence appear to >be correct for Tuskegee at that time (at least to the >extent one can say from a non-color photograph). There >are other photographs of this design in the 1980 >Alabama State yearbook, but they are not any clearer >than #4. > >#5 is Fairleigh Dickinson > >#6 is apparently Concordia Wisconsin (~95% likely). >This photograph was apparently taken during a game >called the 'Midwest Bowl' at the end of the 1983 >football season. Concordia unfortunately did not >publish a yearbook that year, apparently. But I think >I remember seeing this design identified as Concordia >in some other opposing team's yearbook, also. > >#7 remains unidentified - this one is a real mystery! >It would appear that there is some word ending in "E" >followed by a space and a "U", which would presumably >assist in identification. Hamline was suggested, but >that team appparently used silver or white helmets >with an "H" inside an oval-shape in 1975. Morningside >was suggested - the dark helmet color seems right, but >I have received a fair amount of information about >that team through the years and nothing like this was >ever reported. The school name also seems a bit long >for that sort of logo. Could it read "STATE U" and be >a Minnesota State-Mankato helmet? I have not >investigated that team very much at all yet. None of >South Dakota State's other 1975 opponents seem to be >reasonable candidates. It is of course entirely >possible that Hamline or Morningside used some weird >one-game design. > >#8 remains unidentified. It might be Tampa or Quantico >Marine Corps Base, both of which have been extremely >elusive as far as helmet information is concerned. > >#9 remains unidentified, and I haven't yet put forth >much effort into investigating it. > >#10 is almost certainly Cal Lutheran. > >#11 is Mercyhurst, and I was able to add this one to >the website thanks to an excellent color photograph in >that school's 1986 yearbook. The logo is the letters >"MC" in an unusual style. > >#12 is almost certainly Valparaiso. I'm not 100% >certain because many other schools used a similar logo >at that time (though I don't remember another college >wearing it on their helmets) and Illinois Wesleyan did >play another "Crusaders" team in 1973 - Wheaton - for >which I do not yet have any 1973 information. > >I'll comment on #13 - #49 at some point in the future.
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