1960 NFL Enterprises Catalogue: Youth Apparel
The NFL started shifting into a different gear in the late 1950s and early 1960s. With television technologies improving and networks becoming fully integrated, the league was ascending and taking steps to better market itself and make more money.
Among the steps they took was to centralize television contracts and merchandising functions with the league rather than the franchises, leading to the creation in 1959 of NFL Enterprises as their licensing arm. Now, if you were the NFL in 1960 and needed someone with significant experience licensing their name, image, and likeness, who would you choose as your partner? In 1960, that person was the recording, radio, movie, cartoon, and television star, the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers, and his organization, Roy Rogers Frontiers, Inc. Rogers and company had a decade or more experience and already worked with 45 manufacturers, selling 400 licensed products emblazoned with his NIL, and while the companies looking to license Roy Rogers' image might not be identical to those of the NFL, there was plenty of overlap.
Between Roy Rogers Frontiers and NFL Enterprises, they produced a 30-page catalog for 1960 displaying their licensees and example products. Some licensed products may seem a bit odd when viewed through 2025 eyes, but they were looking through eyes 65 years younger and before our tastes and laws changed.
Since I need to limit the number of images per post due to email limitations, we'll review the catalog in separate stories covering three product categories:
Youth Apparel
Adult Apparel
Beer and Butts
There was likely overlap in the youth products licensing Roy Rogers and NFL imagery, though I have yet to see NFL-licensed six shooters and holsters.
Before showing the kids' apparel, let's review the fancy logos available for the then-thirteen-team NFL.
If your boy was a real man in 1960, the only outfit he needed was one that minimally resembled the gear worn on Sundays, but they advertised it as "Just Like The Pros Wear." MacGregor was the partner on this one.
That slick little uniform could be accompanied by all the fancy underthings football players wear.
Leave It To Beaver had an episode that premiered in 1960 in which Beaver played football. The McGregor gear looks better than the remnants Beaver and his friends wore.
I don't think they ever told us which state Beaver lived in, but it sure looked like he lived in a studio in LA, where it never rains. However, kids of heartier stock played in the rain and cold, so they needed proper sideline gear.
Kids needing protection against the elements slightly less sturdy than a sideline cape had access to jackets and sweatshirts.
While most kids wanted to play football and date cheerleaders, others preferred bossing others around and tattling when their friends broke the rules. For that ilk, you could acquire an unofficial official's uniform. Note that the stripes on the sleeves do not conform to standards.
The tattler wanted to sleep well at night, making a pair of NFL pajamas an absolute necessity.
There were one or two other kids-focused items, but no games or toys. However, if there's one lesson kids need to learn early, it's that football is more than a game, so there was no need for that silliness.
We'll be back soon with our review of other elements from the 1960 NFL Enterprises catalogue.
Football Archaeology is reader-supported. Click here to donate a couple of bucks, buy one of my books, or otherwise support the site.