With many of the league’s biggest stars already serving in the military or destined to do so, teams looked for ways to keep the public’s interest. One way was by drawing up new uniform designs. Only one team (Chicago) would be wearing the same uniform after the war ended that they were wearing before it started.
Three teams opted to cater to the increase in patriotic sensibilities that typically occurs during wartime: Philadelphia took the boldest step, adding stars and different-colored sleeves to their jerseys to emphasize their red, white, and blue color scheme; Pittsburgh temporarily dropped black and gold in favor of red and blue; and Boston re-introduced the red that had been absent from their uniforms since 1936.
Other noteworthy changes included the first appearance of the blackletter-style “Lords” on Baltimore’s jerseys, and the presence of a logo on Detroit’s caps for the first time since 1926. |
