California

1956 Golden Bears
(Authentic Reproduction)

An addition was made to the existing helmet that had first been introduced for the 1954 season as athletic gold three-inch military style identifying numerals were stenciled onto each side of the navy blue shell. Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf had decided prior to the start of the '56 season that he would retire from coaching and four days before The Big Game against Stanford, he informed his squad that the game would be his last. He was shocked that evening as the entire Cal band appeared in front of his home to treat him and his wife to a tearful midnight serenade. The season had been another poor one, 3-7 as soph QB Joe Kapp was taught the ropes. DB Mike White doubled at end to help Kapp and later helped the entire Cal program as its head coach. Tackle Proverb Jacobs, a transfer from Modesto JC who was also a talented shot-putter and expected to help in a big way, began the year well before punching out a teammate and being suspended from the squad. Waldorf walked off the field after defeating Stanford in his last game 20-18 and even the fans of their bitter rival gave the departing Cal coach an ovation. Waldorf, recognized by many historians as perhaps the best coach of all time at resurrecting downtrodden programs, retired from coaching with a 170-94-22 record and was elected to The College Football Hall Of Fame. He could not stay away from the game and became the personnel director for the San Francisco Forty-Niners from 1956 through 1972 where the relationships he fostered with college staffs altered the way in which the colleges and NFL carried on the business of scouting players.

If interested in any of these Cal helmets please click on the photos below.