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The third-oldest team in pro football got its name from a World War I era company whose involvement with the team was over almost before it began. According to the Packers official site, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, and numerous fan sites, the team was named for the Indian Packing Company in 1919. This company happened to employ Earl "Curly" Lambeau, one of the founding athletes of the team, who would later become the team's head coach. In 1965, the team's stadium was also renamed to honor Lambeau. Lambeau convinced his boss Frank Peck to put up money
for the fledgling team's jerseys and allow the team to use the company's athletic field for practices. Initially, the team was called "the Indians," after the Indian Packing Company. But by the end of its first season, the Green Bay press was calling the team "the Packers," and the name stuck. In 1921, the Acme Packing Company obtained a franchise for the team from the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922). Now two packing companies had financially backed the local team, making the name apt indeed. There was a short-lived campaign to change the name in September of 1922 when the Green Bay Football Club was incorporated as the team's new backers.
The name "Big Bay Blues" was suggested, perhaps because the team's colors were blue and gold at the time. But it seems the fans liked "the Packers" name best. In 1933, when the team financially reorganized yet again, the new corporation was named the Green Bay Packers, Inc., which settled the name issue for good, and green uniforms were introduced in 1950. Interestingly enough, the Packers haven't always played in Green Bay, Wisconsin. During their early years, the team played in Green Bay's East Stadium (also called the old City Stadium). Then, between 1952 and 1957, the team played their home games in Milwaukee's County Stadium. In 1957, the team moved into a newly built Green Bay City Stadium, but the Packers continued to play several home games each season in Milwaukee until 1994. Of course, the two cities can both boast of the famous Wisconsin cheese -- which Packers fans celebrate with their infamous cheeseheads.
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