Fame snuck into Green Bay under the black fedora of a man who knew just when to doff it.
Legendary Coach Vince Lombardi and his elegant wife Marie had big plans when they came to Green Bay in 1959.
They wanted to win football games, sure. But they also wanted to elevate the league.
To do that, they knew they needed the players’ wives on board too.
A famous picture of Coach Lombardi, surrounded by Packer wives (and one players’ mother) wearing mink stoles he gave them, tells the story.
Taken in celebration of the 1961 championship season, it shows the coach dressed in an expensive suit, seated in an office chair, grinning amidst the glamour he cultivated.
Fans took notice, and advertisers did too. As a result, life shifted a bit for the Packer families. They found themselves dealing with public interest in their everyday lives. People paid attention to what they wore and ate.
Some wives ended up in hilarious commercials, others walked in elegant fashion shows.
Doug Hart and his wife Marilyn shot a hot dog commercial framed carefully to cover Marilyn’s pregnancy, because, the company said, we don’t want people thinking that eating hot dogs will make you pregnant.
My Dad and his teammates shot a print ad for saunas wearing nothing but fluffy white towels.
Our family also got to shoot a Morning Glory milk commercial right in our own kitchen. The commercial aired locally, which was fun for my friends and me. Best of all, we got paid in dairy products.
For a whole year my brother Mike and I could order whatever we wanted each week and the milkman would deliver it right to our back door. Ice cream! Fudgesicles! Chocolate milk! Talk about Glory Years!
Episode four of the podcast my daughter Katherine and I host tells the story of how the Packer wives of the 1960s dealt with rising fame and life in a fishbowl.
You can find it on all your favorite platforms, including Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and more.
It’s fun to hear the ladies tell their stories in their own voices.
Here’s the YouTube version:
If you like the podcast episodes, and/or if you’re enjoying the book, we’d love for you to leave a review.
We’d also love to hear any stories you have about the Packers in the 1960s.
Meanwhile, we’ll see you tonight at Lambeau.
Go Pack Go!
