I stopped watching NFL football ever since the St. Louis Rams abandoned our fair city in 2015, and for eight long years I could not bring myself to watch a game in its entirety, even as the Kansas City Chiefs participated in three Super Bowl games since 2020. At a restaurant a few weeks ago, though, I could not escape the Packers game displayed and blaring on every television, and my youngest son inquired how the Packers earned their name. I promptly told my son that Earl “Curly” Lambeau, a receiving clerk at Indian Packing in Green Bay, Wis., asked his employer to sponsor his amateur football team. But when my son started peppering me with additional questions, especially since the football team was tangentially related to the meat industry, I recognized that I knew more about the Green Bay Packers than the defunct packinghouse that helped start the football club over 100 years ago.

Founded in November 1916, Indian Packing Company in Green Bay was, in the words of Advertising Manager Arthur Raff, the offspring of the New England Supply Company in Providence, R.I. Owned by F. L. Peck, George B. Gifford, and John Clair, both companies provided “wholesome” canned meat products domestically, but both companies played a critical role in supplying canned meat products to American and Allied troops in Europe during World War I. The government contracts proved to be lucrative for Indian Packing and New England Supply Company, and in November 1918, it allowed Indian Packing to acquire Green Bay Packing Company. They were also debt free by early 1919, and the company reorganized in the state of Delaware in July 1919 under the new trade name, the Indian Packing Company at 425,000 shares. The sales and marketing offices were in the Consumers Building in Chicago. The plants operated in Green Bay and Providence and manufactured canned meat products such as sliced creamed beef, Vienna style sausage, corned beef, roast beef, tripe, hamburger steak and onions, and veal loaf.

With the reorganization, and undoubtedly the loss of the wartime cash cow, the Indian Packing Co. launched a massive advertising campaign to capture domestic demand in an increasingly saturated market. As reported by Arthur Raff in Advertising & Selling in November 1919, “We banked considerable on publicity, of course, and late last year planned the advertising campaign which is now running full blast.” Indian Packing changed its canned goods from “Indian Brand” to “Council Meats” as to avoid copyright infringement. Indian Packing’s catchy slogans such as “A Meat Market for Your Pantry Shelf,” “From the Wisconsin Country to You,” and Fresh from Sunshine and Pure Air” could be found in widely read magazines such as Good Housekeeping. Consumers could even order a pamphlet entitled “Appetizing Suggestions” directly from Indian Packing.

The timing of the reorganization and advertising campaign in August 1919 also coincided with the organization of the Green Bay football team on August 13, 1919. Even though Indian Packing’s sponsorship of Lambeau’s football team makes for good sporting lore, the timing of the advertising campaign and organization of the football team within days was no coincidence. Simply put, Indian Packing's sponsorship of the Lambeau’s football club was part of a larger and calculated marketing campaign to promote meat products in the Midwest. The agreement was simple and straightforward: Indian Packing provided uniforms for 20 players, some equipment, and allowed the team to practice on the company’s athletic field, which was just an empty lot next to the packing plant. In return, the team bore the name “Packers,” and they also advertised “Council Meats” on their uniforms.

Indian Packing sponsored the Packers during the 1919 and 1920 season, but the aggressive marketing campaign launched in 1919 and additional acquisition of two canning plants in Indiana came at a cost. By late 1920, the officers of Indian Packing announced the terms of a potential sale to Acme Packing Company on Christmas Eve in 1920. Under the terms of the agreement, Acme, based in Chicago and founded in 1909, would assume all Indian Packing’s property, assets, and liabilities. Conversely, Indian Packing would pay Acme $637,500 to purchase 127,500 shares of Acme Packing stock at $5 per share and therefore be able to repay the loan of $637,500 back. The companies finalized the deal on Jan. 2. The New York Times confirmed the agreement and capitalization of Acme Packing Company at $12 million on Jan. 10, 1921. In terms of corporate leadership, John Clair, secretary of Indian Packing, was the only officer to remain, and he became vice president of Acme Packing. It should be noted that John and his brother, J. Emmett Clair, owned the rights to the football franchise.

Under John Clair, Acme Packing sponsored the Packers again in 1921, and the players sported uniforms with “Acme Packers” emblazoned on the front. The Acme Packers entered the American Professional Football Association (later known as the NFL) in the same year. In early 1922, both the football club and Acme Packing were struggling financially, and Curly Lambeau secured the rights to the team from the Clair brothers. The team eventually became the publicly owned Green Bay Football Corporation. But out of respect for the companies that helped “some young pigskin chasers,” the team kept the name, “Packers.” As for Acme Packing, it closed during World War II, but the Pack lives on.

Go Pack Go: Indian Packing Co. and the Green Bay Packers

Join for free* to continue reading.