Today's Tidbit... M is for Moline

One of the first Tidbits I posted featured the image of the 1910 Olivia (MN) High School team wearing an assortment of homemade shoulder pads on the exterior of their jerseys. I posted the image to tell part of the story of early shoulder pads and illustrate the limited budgets available for teams and individual players at the time.

I’ve since acquired a new or old RPPC (real photo postcard) showing the Moline (IL) High School team from the same year. Each player wears a sweater or jersey emblazoned with the letter M. What’s notable, however, is the assortment of typefaces among the Ms. There are short ones and tall ones. Some have serifs, others do not, and a few widen at the bottom of one leg.

Moline was a fair-sized, prosperous town at the time. One of the Quad Cities, it was home to John Deere, had a street car system, and boasted 45 miles of paved roads by 1915. So, some of those folks had money, they just did not spend it on football letters.

Of course, times change, and by the 1928 season, the Moline boys were wearing the latest in football gear - friction strips on the front of the jersey shaped in an M

An RPPC of Ed Wood and his football profile in the 1929 yearbook.

---

Subscribe for free and never miss a story. If you are a regular reader, consider becoming a paying subscriber to support my work.