The H-Cubed & FH2I Forum

[ChargersBoy78]

I found this site recently and really admire the level of research that has gone into it! I am a 28 year old graphic designer in San Diego and an avid Chargers fan. I have spent quite a few years doing research on the team's helmet history. I thought I would offer what I have to ensure the most accurate information available. This is especially important to me seeing as the Chargers "powder blue" uniforms used from 1960-1973 (specifcially the ones used from 1961-65) were voted the best looking in all of sports history. Even Chris Berman on ESPN agrees! (I know -- who would have thought that ESPN was aware of a sports team existing on this planet OTHER than the Yankees and Red Sox? ... but I digress)

I have rendered all of the helmets used by the team over the years in Adobe Illustrator, and posted them below:



1960 - (smaller navy bolt outlined in gold, block numbers in black, outlined in gold.) The team used this helmet the entire 1960 season it spent in Los Angeles. These colors were only speculation for quite a while, until better and VERY hard to find photographs were found depicting the gold outlines around the bolts and numbers.

1961-1965 - (gold bolt outlined in NAVY, modified Helvetica numbers in black) This span of years is what the current "throwback" uniforms the team uses once or twice a year, depicts. The city of San Diego won the "All America City" award in 1963 and the mayor had the award shield displayed all over the city during that year including official letterhead, billboards and on the football team's helmets. As far as I know, it was only worn in 1963, because in 1964 it the award went to a new city.

1966 - (navy bolt, modified Helvetica numbers in black) This helmet was worn during this one season only. The owner though the powder blue jerseys looked "too passive", so he darkened the bolt, changed the pants from white to gold, and changed the bolts on the pants into stripes to mimic the Green Bay Packers. This look proved very unpopular, and so the uniform was changed the very next season with only the gold pants staying.

1967-1973 - (gold bolt outlined in BLACK, modified Helvetica numbers in black) On most websites, I have seen this helmet used for 1961-65 as well. The navy used around the bolt back then was dark, so many incorrectly thought it was black.. not so until 1967, after the rediculous "meaner look" of 1966 was dropped.

1974-1987 - (royal blue helmet, gold facemask, gold bolt outlined in blue and white) There is not much to say about this helmet except for the fact that I have heard murmors that the color of the shell MAY have darkened slightly... in either 1978 or 1985. But I have seen images of Charlie Joiner wearing the helmet in 1987 and it looks just as light as when Fouts had his in 1975. So that is only a rumor at this point.

1988 - present (navy helmet and facemask, white bolt outlined in navy and gold) This is the current helmet worn by the team.

Helmet Numbers

I have dug through over 2500 fonts at work, and have never found an exact match to what the Chargers equipment manager used from 1961-1973 for the helmet numbers. I know that if you take a medium Helvetica (also known as Arial) and modify the lengths of the stems of some numbers, you pretty much have it. In various throwback games dating back to 1994, Avant Garde (also known as Futura) was incorrectly used on the sides of the helmets. Though this style looks "1960-ish" it is wrong. I have rendered the two styles below:



Alternate Uniform Helmets (Throwbacks)

Rendered below are the various helmets the Chargers have worn during their "throwback" games.



1994 - As you can see, during this 75th anniversary year, the well-intentioned equipment manager (or maybe the NFL itself?) got some of the details wrong. For one, the incorrect font Avant Garde was used for the helmet numbers. Second, the bolt was outlined in powder blue to match the jerseys. Though this looks great, it's wrong. Most of the full-sized and mini-Riddell helmets you see autographed today are unfortunately in this manner as well.

2000, 2002 - This time they got the bolts right and outlined them in navy like they were supposed to. Unfortunately, they still have the font of the numbers wrong.

2003 - present - It would appear that thanks to the popularity of "retro everything" and the notiriety the Chargers "powder blues" have recieved, the team finally got the helmet right to match the rest of the uniform. The gold bolt outlined in navy and the modified Helvetica numbers in black are present to complete the 1961-65 look.

I hope this helps all you folks who are as anal about the details as I am! Ben, I have the modified Helvetica numbers here in vector-based format (AI and EPS) if you need them. Thanks again!

-- Steve

[misterhabs]

Wow. Thanks. Once I have the time I'll make the adjustments.
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[PANTONE]

[ChargersBoy78]

The jerseys did in fact get darker for the 1985 season, but as to whether or not the helmets did, it is hard to say. Comparing photos is difficult as well, seeing as the navy colored shells look lighter in direct sunlight and trading card makers seem to love to bump up that brightness so much, that even a 2006 set of cards will show the Chargers blue looking almost royal again -- oh well.
-- Steve

[stoat2337]

Forgive me for being a doubter (and a newbie), but how cetain are you that the '67 helmets had the bolt outlined in black rather than navy? This is the first I have ever heard of this. Thanks.

Stoat

[ChargersBoy78]

Hey, no worries! It's like anything else really. If you do enough reaearch and obsess over something enough, you'll uncover all the little details. I just happen to be the anal, obsessed, detail-oriented type so this sort of thing is right up my alley

This point you bring up is one of the more "known" aspects of the Charger helmet history actually. In 1966, the owner decided to go for a "meaner" look a la the popular Green Bay Packers and ditch the VERY attractive 1961-65 look you have seen the Chargers go back to twice a year the last few seasons: The pants changed from white to gold, with the bolts on the sides replaced with a solid stripe. The shade of "powder blue" for the jerseys were darkened and the gold helmet bolt outlined in navy was scrapped in favor of a solid navy bolt.

Well, this look didn't go over well with fans or the players, so for the 1967 season, the bolts were put back on the pants (pants stayed gold though), the jersey color was returned to Powder Blue, and the helmet bolts were gold again except that this time, they were outlined in black instead of navy. I have no idea why, maybe they wanted to retain a wee-bit of "mean" somehow

[stoat2337]

I kinda figured you had done yer homework based on your first post! I am all about being thorough too! I like your style!

I am an avid collector of pocket pros, and I have big plans on completing my collection. I have just (barely) started to create my own customs after several disappointing purchases on eBay. So finding out about yet another helmet for me to add gets me giddy! Thanks, bro!

Stoat

[ChargersBoy78]

If you go to www.helmethut.com and scroll down the page to where it says Chargers "Gear Through the Years", you'll see that the team headquarters has a display case with at least one of every kind of helmet type in there.. including the navy-outlined bolts that existed before the solid navy one, and the black-outlined bolts that came after it. Also, don't forget to add the brand new helmet that's part of the 2007 uniform update! Gold bolt, outline in powder blue and navy; black numbers on the BACK of the helmet, a la Colts.. not the sides like the throwbacks had.

[stoat2337]

Yep! Added the 2007 helmet last month. Thanks again!

[mparks]

ChargersBoy78 wrote:

If you go to www.helmethut.com and scroll down the page to where it says Chargers "Gear Through the Years", you'll see that the team headquarters has a display case with at least one of every kind of helmet type in there.. including the navy-outlined bolts that existed before the solid navy one, and the black-outlined bolts that came after it. Also, don't forget to add the brand new helmet that's part of the 2007 uniform update! Gold bolt, outline in powder blue and navy; black numbers on the BACK of the helmet, a la Colts.. not the sides like the throwbacks had.

EXCELLENT! I got mine too
Thank you.
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[Kolorado Klaus]

The West Texas State Buffaloes is the last helmet that was added to Helmet Hut and that was a long time ago. They still have Helmet News every month and Dr. Del Rye had a feature just this month but no new additions. Just wondering what's going on. I guess I got spoiled...
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Klaus

www.klausgebhard.com/infinitehelmets/index.php