When did hockey fans start wearing jerseys

[rfournier103]

One thing that I've noticed has been absent from this whole thread is the word "fun."

What could ever be wrong with wearing your teams colors to support your team? It's a very basic human instinct. People are social animals and want to be part of something bigger than themselves. "We" (and I say 'we' because I own a handful of jerseys myself) wear our colors and act like a bunch of yahoos and have a good time. That's what it really boils down to, I think - having a good time. That's why we play sports and watch sports. Because it's FUN. And by the way... the word "fan" is just an abbreviation of the word "fanatic." Fans wear the jerseys because they're fanatical about their team. It seems pretty harmless to me.

My wife might not like how much the jerseys cost, but I'm having fun and she's happy for me. I'll never suit up for the Boston Bruins. That ship has long since sailed for me, and if you ever see me out there on TV, that means the Bs are in very deep you-know-what. But I'm a third generation fan and part of the tribe. I belong to a "club" (not THE club, but a club all the same) and we all have a pretty good time, I think. If someone thinks that an adult fan wearing the jersey of his favorite sports team is foolish... bully for them. IDGAF and most other people don't either. We're having a good time, it feels good, it's not hurting anybody, and it builds a sense of camaraderie among fans and brings people together in a way not many things do anymore. It makes being a fan a little bit better, in my opinion.

 

[JMCx4]

... It seems we have reached "peak jersey".

Or run aground on Jersey Shore?

 

[Fenway]

It still wasn't a thing in Boston back in 1995



2004 it was starting

 

[Its a Trap]

The Devils Twitter posted a few photos of the cup win in 95. One of them has a decent view of the crowd and it’s seems to be a decent amount of people wearing jerseys.

I always wear one to a game but never anywhere else. I feel only baseball jerseys have that “wear whenever you want” look.

 

[Bougieman]

What an interesting thread. You know, this is one of those things where in my memory, people have been wearing them at games all over the place all the way back to when I started watching games back in 1983, but when I really think about it carefully, that isn't true at all. It was just a few fans here and there, and certainly not the majority. How odd that our memories take what is common in the present, and forget what came before so easily. Sort of like how it's difficult to remember sometimes what life was like before the internet! haha

 

[Bougieman]

I do remember though that you would see jerseys in the stands a little more often in the playoffs, just like you would see more stuff like facepaint and other crazy costumes and signs more often when the games meant more. Dressing up a jersey and wearing it to the game in the 1980s was something we did when we wanted to step it up and really go wild, rather than what it is now: expected.

I bought my first jersey in 1991. I found it in the thrift store. It had a 7-up logo as the crest! haha I think it was probably a company promotion jersey, since the bottlers had a factory there in Saskatoon at the time. First actual NHL team jersey I didn't get until 2001, when I got my first Canucks jersey for a X-mas present. Started wearing it to games at that time. Don't remember feeling particularly out of place, but it certainly wasn't as common as it is now.

 

[rfournier103]

Don’t ask me why I remembered this, but in the beginning scene of “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street” when everyone is skating around the big rink with the Christmas tree, you can distinctly see “Bob” wearing a Winnipeg Jets jersey. There are 9s on the sleeves, but no name or number on the back. (I looked on YouTube)

I think that first aired in ‘78...? Before the WHA folded! That’s probably the first time I ever saw someone wearing a hockey jersey that wasn’t actually playing hockey. Any earlier jersey sightings?

 

[Tarantula]

I worked nights in Toronto during the late to mid 80's and recall a lot of jerseys at that time on the subway and in the street on game night. However I highly doubt there were many STH at the Grand Ol Garden wearing them.

 

[Killion]

I worked nights in Toronto during the late to mid 80's and recall a lot of jerseys at that time on the subway and in the street on game night. However I highly doubt there were many STH at the Grand Ol Garden wearing them.

..... I shouldnt think so, no. For the vast majority of earlier & older generations of Torontonians so overt a display of ones allegiance decidedly dirigeur. Much more staid, conservative. Hockey jackets on young players attending with their fathers or as a group you would see but jerseys? I dont ever recall seeing that in the 60's, a wee bit by the late 70's & into the 80's before the floodgates really opened up in the 90's & it became a tradition of sorts for a great many though even at that in Toronto nor exactly a sea of Blue & White in the Lower Bowl given how the vast majority are Corporate nowadays.

 

[IceNeophyte]

I'd rather sports be the type of event where you wear a suit and tie to attend games but it is what it is.


Whenever I attended games I never wore a jersey and frankly always looked down on people who did.

Also, whenever the home team scores a goal, cheering should be limited to polite applause using only the fingers of one hand against the palm of the other, AKA "golf clap". Anything more is just rowdy!

I don't look down on anyone wearing a jersey or not wearing a jersey, dressing up or dressing down for games. Their experience is their experience, and they don't have to live it to my standard.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Plenty of places you can talk politics, folks. This isn't one of them.

 

[kook10]

When Gretzky came to LA every noob in the state got a jersey.

 

[the4thlinegrinder]

I have to say, having been born in the 90’s and growing up with fans wearing jerseys to games, I certainly look down on anyone who dresses in a suit and tie for a hockey game.

 

[Tarantula]

I have to say, having been born in the 90’s and growing up with fans wearing jerseys to games, I certainly look down on anyone who dresses in a suit and tie for a hockey game.

Some people work downtown and go out for dinner then the game, no time to go home and change. Who cares? As long as you're not wearing my clothes! Then we have a problem!

Seriously, the only problem with jersey guy is when it leads to drunken fights in the concourse or stands, granted the NFL is much worse for that.

I think there are more inappropriate places for a jersey then a rink! To each his own.

 

[the4thlinegrinder]

Some people work downtown and go out for dinner then the game, no time to go home and change. Who cares? As long as you're not wearing my clothes! Then we have a problem!

Seriously, the only problem with jersey guy is when it leads to drunken fights in the concourse or stands, granted the NFL is much worse for that.

I think there are more inappropriate places for a jersey then a rink! To each his own.

I was just making fun of what had been said previously in this thread, I don’t care what people wear.

 

[Tarantula]

Just pointing out some people could never make it home to change and make it back downtown. Went to a Jay game in my monkey suit as I had no option but to go straight to the game, sweating all night.