Great Photos: The Way People Dressed Up For a Michigan Football Game in 1954
People got all dressed up for everything in the 1950s - including football games. Here are a bunch of incredibly cool photos of how people dressed for the Michigan-Minnesota game in 1954. It's also really interesting to see the way the outside areas of the stadium looked back then.
This is really, really cool. LINK.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:26 PM ^
I started college in 2004. I used to throw my clothes in the washer and take a shower as soon as I got back from the bar. By the time I left college, every bar was smoke free. It would've been nice if the bans happened 5 years earlier -- and not having to smell smoke on the hair of non-smoking chicks who came home with me after a night out. On the flip side, the smoking ban made it harder to tell which chicks smoked. That was always a deal breaker to me. One singular time, I hooked up with a chick who I didn't realize had slipped outside to smoke at some point or points -- I'll never forget that God awful taste from her mouth. Ever.
February 13th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
The worst flight I was ever on was in 1979 on a business trip with this older guy who had us sitting in the back of the plane in the smoking section. The only reason I made it through the flight was it was short - Detroit to Washington D.C. Between not being able to breathe easily and the eye irritation, it was absolutely awful.
February 13th, 2020 at 3:49 PM ^
Gotta take them out to eat in Kentucky, where it's still a thing. Hell, smoking is mandatory in the maternity wards there.
February 13th, 2020 at 4:20 PM ^
When I was working part-time at the Federal building in A2, a lot of the Federal workers were smoking in the early 80s. Most smoked pipes and cigars, though there were some cigarette smokers, especially the Women. In 1984, smoking was prohibited but the Feds use to get 10 minute breaks every hour to smoke outside the building. I would say 99 percent of Federal employees no longer smoke.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
Love the men's hats.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
That was my era. Students didn’t dress like the adults but Levi’s with a nice sweater for the boys and skirt and sweater combo for the girls. Also notice how many of the women are wearing flowers. It used to be tradition for the women to wear yellow mum corsages for the homecoming game.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:01 PM ^
Different flowers for other games, or were homecoming games the only ones that rated flowers?
February 13th, 2020 at 7:13 PM ^
As I remember flowers were just for Homecoming.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:11 AM ^
If it were up to Big Tobacco we'd all be smokin'.
I thought this was a good read:
http://www.cigarettecentury.com/
(Sorry for bad placement in thread ... intended as response to Hail-Storm's post.)
On-topic, it's amazing how things changed between the early '60s and late '60s / early '70s. Night and day as far as fashion was concerned ...
February 13th, 2020 at 11:15 AM ^
So you’re saying they were equally as likely as current stadium attendees to pull off a Maize-out?
I kid. Kinda.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:18 AM ^
I guess there was still no such thing as casual comfortable clothes back then. Women wore dresses, heels and pearls. Men wore suits for any occasion. Can't imagine the early September games were particularly comfortable.
Neat pictures, though.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:23 AM ^
Linen, my man.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:48 AM ^
I wish people still dressed like that every day. When you look good, you feel good. We are such fucking slobs in this county now.
Mrs. Hatter still wears a dress most days, God bless her.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^
I wore a suit and time for the first 20 years of my career, glad as hell I am in jeans and a sweatshirt 90% of the time now. I cannot ever imagine ever wearing a tie again unless someone has died.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:09 PM ^
I haven't owned a pair of jeans since high school. Nothing against them, I just don't like the way they look on me. I'm pretty much always overdressed for any occasion. Which according to my mother is better than being underdressed.
Also, am I the only one that has noticed a distinct lack of ball room in pants now? Did everyone's genitals shrivel up all of a sudden? Half the time I wear suit pants, even without the jacket and tie, just for the ball room. Otherwise I have to buy a size bigger. It's weird.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:13 PM ^
I worked at the HQ of Domino's Pizza years before Dave Brandon - and we had two work clothing choices, a suit or the Pizza Boy outfit. I chose the Pizza boy outfit. I still have to wear business casual 10% of the time and that is fine - but not so much for wool suits and starched white shirts.
February 13th, 2020 at 1:19 PM ^
Also, am I the only one that has noticed a distinct lack of ball room in pants now?
Yep and it sucks.
I'm for a tailored look... but this skinny sizing shit needs to go. I'm a 34 waist and there's zero room for my junk or thighs in pants these days... when I can find pants that go below my ankles as that seems to be a thing now too.
February 13th, 2020 at 7:55 PM ^
this is a big problem for me with stocky germans and dutch in my family geneology. i've found the lucky brand jeans are the only ones with enough space through the hips and thighs so that your junk isn't squeezed any time you sit down. costco is my friend with lucky brand jeans for $24.
for other pants i'm still at a loss. i did read somewhere that a company started by former hockey players is catering to people with thick thighs and actual gluts but normal waist sizes. i forget the name of the company but i bet google knows....
February 16th, 2020 at 11:39 PM ^
i did read somewhere that a company started by former hockey players
Found it!
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25707545/the-struggle-real-why-hockey-butts-jeans-mix
Decades of hockey, soccer, and cycling has blessed me with some decent legs. Thanks for the tip!!!
February 13th, 2020 at 3:32 PM ^
hatter. pants haven't changed, you have. take off little hatter's pants and go get your own.
February 13th, 2020 at 9:17 PM ^
This guy feels your pain.
https://twitter.com/eddiesteak/status/1139600775737483264?s=21
February 13th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
WD is shaking at the thought of that. Such a barbaric time.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
That bottom one looks like the governor, George Romney.
edit: Duh, thats why it says it in the preceding paragragh. :P
February 13th, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
It is. Story says that one was from a game in 1962, to illustrate that people were still dressing up then.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:27 AM ^
not all the pics were from the minnesota game. the one with romney looks like we are losing 13-0 to sparty at the start of the second quarter.
love the outfits.
virtually none of the people in the pictures looked like students.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:35 AM ^
No it doesn't look like many students. I was looking for that also. Only ones I'd say are in #14 and #6, with their "bobby-socks and saddle shoes".
February 13th, 2020 at 11:56 AM ^
You know what else I noticed?
Diversity, at least at this football game, was a LONG way off.
100% caucasian.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^
We've come a long long way in 60 years. It's quite amazing when you think about it. 60 years is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
February 13th, 2020 at 1:00 PM ^
I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be saying in 2064 when Michigan finally wins a B1G title.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
This is still my favorite
February 13th, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
He was always there.
February 13th, 2020 at 10:35 PM ^
But he left us and did not take the bus ride to Columbus on the last game of the 2018 season.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
Well done.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
Hey, I think I'm in one of those pictures!
February 13th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
pics or it didn't...er...uh wait
February 13th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
It's important to note that this was roughly 15 years before Don Canham was our AD. Canham really changed the perception of what a Michigan football game was for the fans. Before he was AD, a Michigan game was more like how these photos illustrate, but after, it became the tailgating family fun experience that it more or less is today.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:36 AM ^
Canham just happened to be the AD when there was a huge culture and social change in the latter 1960s. Add to that when Bo arrived in 1969, the winning culture of the football program was fun and Michigan Stadium was full to capacity. Win, and they will come.
I think Canham did pioneer the tailgating experience and should get credit for that. He was a master of promotion and in all of the athletic department, as he once told me in person.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
It's like they're going to church.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
Culture has changed radically since the 1950s. The dress down era we now live in can be disgusting at times. Back in the 1950s, there was a certain pride in dressing up, including the working middle class.
Agreed that the peak of the smoking period back then was no fun. I can easily recall smoke filled office work places as the second smoke was no fun. The no smoking period today is for the better. Never was a smoker and have some concerns about breathing all that second hand smoke all of those years.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
I started smoking in the early 80's, when there was little, if any, stigma associated. You could smoke almost anywhere on campus back then, including the stadium.
Fast forward to 2020 and a diagnosis of stage 4 laryngeal cancer was my New Year's gift. Smoking is an incredibly bad habit, but also an incredibly difficult habit to break.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:04 PM ^
Shit, sorry about the diagnosis. Any chance to beat it, or is this it?
February 13th, 2020 at 2:21 PM ^
sorry maizeMN, that's super serious stuff. i hope they can help you.
February 13th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
Hang in there. My brother had stage 4 lung cancer. The doctor said it wasn't from smoking and we suspect it was asbestos related as the Coast Guard ship he was on was filled with it.
Anyway, my brother beat the stage 4 lung cancer. He's cancer free going on 5 years now.
He credits having a positive outlook (in addition to chemo and radiation) as what got him through it.
You can do it too.
February 13th, 2020 at 2:52 PM ^
I appreciate the thoughts, thank you. They are recommending a laryngectomy with chemo and radiation to give me the best chance of long term survival.
I've opted for the chemo and radiation without the removal. It may or may not give me the best chance, but there's only about a 10-15% difference in the 5 year survival rate and I think it's a quality of life choice for me. At least right now.
February 13th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^
You are welcome.
You have a plan. Best wishes and stay strong.
February 13th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. My mom had "advanced throat cancer" back in the late 80s from 30+ years of smoking and drinking. The doctors said, that combination is absolutely lethal. She endured chemo and radiation for over a year and had the tumor removed and was "cancer free" for a couple of years before I found her dead on her bedroom floor when I got home from work.
Now I am taking of my wife who has stage 4 liver cancer. I dread the day I wake up and am "alone".
February 13th, 2020 at 5:58 PM ^
bad ju-ju AMazin. hang in there. tough.
February 13th, 2020 at 7:36 PM ^
My thoughts are with you and yours. God speed
February 13th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
I am really torn between my desire to dress comfortably and my desire that all of society stop looking more and more like slobs.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:41 AM ^
I have always enjoyed old photos of sports fans (here--Madison Square Garden in the '50s).
