Interesting 1970s helmet cutouts

[Evan]

70s-nfl-helmets.JPG (241.96 KiB) Viewed 17917 times

There's an interesting E-Bay auction of 26 cardboard NFL helmet cutouts that appear to be from 1974. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1970s-S ... 3aa50c4c57

There's not much information about these, so I was wondering if anyone remembers this kind of stuff hanging in restaurants or bars? The communal NFL TV viewing parties weren't that prevalent back then, so I wonder what these might have been used for as they seem like decorations of some kind.

Also, all the helmets seem correct to me except the Chargers helmet, in which the lightning bolt is placed higher on the helmet, is thinner, and lacks the white outline that it would have in 1974. Could this have been an early prototype or transitional design of some kind as the Chargers changed helmets from 1973 to 1974?

Any other oddities I'm missing here? Just wondering what our helmet forensics experts would think ...

[ChrisBabcock]

Yeah, that weirdness with the Chargers helmet caught my eye too. The Lions seems to have a gold-ish tint. Is this correct or just a glare or reflection on the photo? That early Dolphins logo always bothered me. They definitely improved it and made it more visually balanced when they made the orange ring and the dolphin centered on each other. Their new logo sucks, however.

[Mark L. Ford]

I think that the Lions helmet is definitely a mistake as well; it resembles the black on gold color of the Saints helmet to the right of it and doesn't look at all like the blue on silver Cowboys' helmet to its left, and I don't see that the lighting has distorted any of the other colors. The Lions helmet probably isn't a case of the "what-color-is-this-dress" discussion that was the buzz of the internet last week....

[Jeremy Crowhurst]

The Lions seems to have a gold-ish tint. Is this correct or just a glare or reflection on the photo?

So you're seeing gold and black instead of white and blue...?

[oldecapecod11]

It did not seem right, but...
looks like whoever created the cut-out was not the only one with the color selection?

http://www.helmethut.com/Lionsindex1c.html

[ChrisBabcock]

It did not seem right, but...
looks like whoever created the cut-out was not the only one with the color selection?

Yeah. Very weird. I'd definitely remember seeing that in old photos if they ever actually used that color.

[oldecapecod11]

And Sanders was with the Lions in 1969.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Sanders

[oldecapecod11]

Since we're lookin' for gnat poop in pepper...

The Lions' logo of that era was never black;

The oil rig seems proportionately large on the Oilers' helmet; and,

The ny on the Giants' helmet seems proportionately small?

A guess is that a stage hand studio artist created these for the wall of some show.
Someone with far greater knowledge can match logo to year but the opinion here is that it was a '69 / '70-type presentation marking the end of the AFL as it had been known?
(The use of the Sanders '69 hints at that but where in the name of all that is good and holy that came from
is still a mystery.)

Meanwhile, here's a couple of Sanders' shots. (year unknown)
NOTE: blu-ish tinge of helmet in one photo. (lens filter?)

[denverfan]

No white outline on the Chargers bolt logo. Also, gray facemask.

Isn't the Sanders gold helmet a pro bowl helmet?

[ChrisBabcock]

Isn't the Sanders gold helmet a pro bowl helmet?

aha! That could be.