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 1:03 PM ^
I can't imagine sweating my ass off in a suit at a game the first week of September.
February 13th, 2020 at 1:11 PM ^
People ACTUALLY used to dress up PERIOD!
Vegas up until the 70's wouldn't allow you inside a casino (as a man) without a shirt and tie, most casinos would even require a 'sport coat' or full on suit. Now imagine doing that while walking inside from your car during August in Vegas (110 degrees).
For the longest time while I was working there I did wear a shirt and tie... lunch breaks were brutal.
*You become accustomed to it, and your body adapts...
February 13th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
Looking at that attire and visualizing Michigan Stadium bathrooms makes me wonder how in the world these people dealt with them.
When it comes to stadium bathrooms, I think a hazmat suit is most appropriate.
February 13th, 2020 at 1:32 PM ^
Where are the concession stands?
February 13th, 2020 at 1:42 PM ^
BRING IT BACK
February 13th, 2020 at 2:03 PM ^
The outside of the stadium doesn't look that much different than when I attended in the 80s. Totally different story now of course.
Looking at the people, the youngest ones are probably now or close to 80 years old, if they are still alive. That's how far back this is.
February 13th, 2020 at 4:41 PM ^
That young girl in the picture was probably in the 9-12 age range in 1954. So she could still be alive and be around 75-79. The rest of them in those pictures are dead.
February 13th, 2020 at 2:23 PM ^
People were so much classier then, refined and cultured. Today's culture is trash.
February 13th, 2020 at 2:30 PM ^
That's just plain ignorant.
February 13th, 2020 at 2:59 PM ^
"Back in my day.........."
Put me out of my misery if I ever start talking like this, ugh
February 13th, 2020 at 3:46 PM ^
It really, really, is, and I'm a pretty progressive guy. People used to give a shit about how they presented themselves to the world, especially if they were poor. Now no one seems to give a fuck. It's actually kind of sad.
February 13th, 2020 at 10:46 PM ^
I thought you once said you had a lot of body art and piercings.
February 14th, 2020 at 3:20 PM ^
Ha! No. Nothing like that.
February 13th, 2020 at 2:57 PM ^
I went to my first UM football game as a little kid in 1957 or 58, all dressed up with my mom and dad. We took the Football Flyer Train from Detroit and got out right in front of the stadium, where there were (and still might be vestiges of) train tracks. There was no such thing as the I-94 freeway, and 275 and M-14 were 20 years in the future.
You either had a long drive, or took the train. We took the train.
There was a dining car and a bar car. There was a lot of drinking and singing of school fight songs (Purdue was the opponent and plenty of Purdue fans were on the train).
It seemed like my parents had fun. I did, too, but mostly because they bought me food and souvenirs, because I was too little to grok football.
By the time I was at UM as a student in the late 60s, guys were still wearing khakis and sports jackets to games, usually with a sweater instead of a tie, but it was starting to change to jeans by around 1968-9.
Anyway, yes, I remember those days well! Can someone please hand me my walker? Thanks.
February 13th, 2020 at 4:50 PM ^
Thanks for the recollection. I started at UM in 1988, and fashion was as casual as it is now. I was wondering when the change happened.
February 13th, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^
The craziest picture in that set is the one with the OSU frat boy in the background wearing a JT Barrett jersey, cargo shorts, and sunglasses. Guess fashion hasn't progressed much in Columbus
February 13th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^
yeah, that's pretty awesome!
February 13th, 2020 at 4:40 PM ^
Thank god we don't dress that way all the time now, I mean yeah people can dress like slobs now, but a suit to watch a sporting event is just bizarre.
February 13th, 2020 at 5:20 PM ^
Aside from a few banners it appears Michigan swag (jerseys, t-shirts, hats, etc) didn't exist in 1954. It's odd to see a crowd full of Michigan football fans wearing no swag. I couldn't imagine going to a game in a suit and tie.
February 13th, 2020 at 5:26 PM ^
Back when people knew how to dress
February 13th, 2020 at 5:57 PM ^
That's one of the reasons the great generation was called great. They had class...and they wouldn't have allowed the crap that goes on today in many facets.
February 13th, 2020 at 6:55 PM ^
I always find the change in popular culture and norms between say 1964 and 1970 truly astounding. It seems like within a handful of years everyone went from cleancut and orderly to looking like a hobo.
We talk about social divisions and negativity today but just how bad must people feel about things to change like that within a handful of years.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:06 PM ^
Very true but it produced some amazing music.
February 13th, 2020 at 9:28 PM ^
The good old days sentiment is hilarious, there was plenty of things wrong with that era of history. People dressing up everywhere does not mean that stuff magically didn't exist.
February 14th, 2020 at 2:34 AM ^
Of course. But no one is saying that everything was better then. Only that some things were.
February 13th, 2020 at 10:48 PM ^
How about dressing up for an airplane ride? I remember having to wear a stuffy suit and tie as a kid and everyone dressed up like they were in a Mad Men episode, eating TV tray meals with silverware in coach, with stewardesses dressed to the nines. No TSA either!
My dad smoked two packs of Camels every day driving me in around in a 60's VW bug with the main windows up . I squeezed myself into a small luggage compartment next to the rear hood,right above the warm engine, with no seatbelt or ventilation (unless he opened the triangular windows). while he racing around Detroit. How I am alive today is somewhat amazing. He quit cold turkey and is 92 and still raising hell, so you never know.
My first UM games were on band day versus Navy, the Rutgers of old. Our school always got cheap tickets and we sat in the endzone thinking we were so cool. The hour bus ride, a hot dog, coke and ticket was $8. I even saw the legend Bob Ufer in the pressbox with Lundo. There was no question where I was going to college after that. Great marketing by Don Canham who made UM football a family experience and a pioneer of sports marketing. Get the mom to come and you have the entire family.
Carry on and get off my lawn.