To see photos mentioned in text below, go to this URL:
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CougFan.com: ‘Best WSU football uniforms by
decade: 1894-1959’
By CougFan.com 7/22/2018
LONG BEFORE
THERE were different Cougar football uniform combinations, there were these.
Cougar football began in 1894, back when the school was known as Washington
Agricultural College and long before different color combos, matte finishes and
alternate jerseys came into play.
It was
until the 2000's that college football uniform business wars truly kicked off,
with the effect being felt in several different areas, including
recruiting. But there once was a time
when the uniform combos were fairly stable across the college football
landscape. As collegefootballuniformstudy.com points out, for home games, pants
were white and jerseys were dark. Road uniforms were often white jerseys with
white or dark pants. Teams throughout the season featured just one helmet design.
Of the
photos we could find from those early years at Washington State from 1894-1959,
it appears some of the players made their own. The '94 and '97 team photos
featured what appears to be long underwear. Meanwhile, the '99 uniforms were
mostly evocative of prison stripes.
Here's Part I of our look at the best Washington State football uniforms
by decade. And still to come on CougFan.com;
The best uniforms from 1960-2017.
=1894-1899 season
Slide 1 of
7
The '95
squad pictured above looked best to our eye. And they played with a football
that you would definitely need to use both hands to hold onto.
=1900-1909 season
Slide 2 of
7
The 1901
uniforms made a strong case -- classic
black with a prominent W on the chest. Meanwhile, the ’07 and ’08 unis
incorporated lots of striping (to dubious effect). But assuming the 1909 squad
wore the same uniforms on the field as they did in this team photo - just for
trying something unique and different - that gets our vote.
=1910-1919 season
Slide 3 of
7
The 1910
Cougar uniforms, similar to the ’01 group, featured classic black and the
prominent W.
=1920-1929 season
Slide 4 of
7
The 1920
Cougar teams just couldn’t get away from some sort of striping on the jerseys.
The ’25 squad in our view were the best of the lot.
=1930-1939 season
Slide 5 of
7
From what
we were able to surmise, the 1934 squad was the first Cougar football team with
numbers on the jerseys.
=1940-1949 season
Slide 6 of
7
Just like
recent seasons out on the Palouse, the Cougs' 1947 version of the icy white
uniforms would have shown up GREAT on HDTV! (Alas, high definition was still
decades away and regardless, most Americans didn’t own a TV in ’47. Indeed,
most spent an average of five hours per day listening to the radio).
=1950-1959 season
Slide 7 of
7
Except for
the ’51 team (more stripes) the 1950s uniforms featured a classic look. We went
with the 1959 squad, featuring prominent numbers, for best of the decade.
Still to
come on CougFan.com: The best uniforms from 1960-2017
#
