ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) – The Packers are looking back at 100 years and have many Green Bay businesses to thank.
Gordon Bent Company Sporting Goods, Bertrand’s Sporting Goods, and Stiller Photography are all big businesses in Packer history.
Team Historian Cliff Christl says players some of the player’s equipment was provided by those sporting good stores, and players also had to stay somewhere when they were in town.
“You can start with the hotels like the Northland Hotel, where players stayed and where fans stayed. They certainly profited from the Packers.”
Christl says some players even had businesses of their own.
“Thurston and McGee would be two of the big ones. Bart Starr had some businesses, he had Bart Starr’s Little Griddle.”
According to Christl, it is believed that a few bars stayed open during Prohibition that players would frequent.
He says there were many local bars that were popular with early Packers’ players.
In the 1940’s and 1950’s, Don Hutson’s owned the combination bar and bowling alley on North Adam’s Street.
Christl says one place got a lot of player attention in the 50’s until Coach Lombardi banned it.
“In the 50’s when things weren’t going so well it was the Piccadilly where Hornung and McGee had all their fun in ’58,” was a hot spot according to Christl. “I think he banned the Picadilly because he heard all the stories when he got here in ’59.”
In the 1970’s and 1980’s the players headed south to Nicky’s in De Pere, with the Carlton also attracting players.
