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Today in Patriots History
Pat Patriot
Pat Patriot
April 19, 1960:
Cartoonist Phil Bissell drew what would become known as Pat Patriot as part of his $25-per-day newspaper duties.
Pat gets his name from that first cartoon. Courtesy Phil Bissell
Great article on Bissell with some Patriot history here:
The Story Behind Patriot Pat from the Cartoonist Who Created Him
In 1960, Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell, working for $25 a day, was handed an assignment that would change his life—and the lives of fans of the brand-n
news.sportslogos.net
In 1960, Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell, working for $25 a day, was handed an assignment that would change his life—and the lives of fans of the brand-new AFL football team coming to Boston.
“Sports editor Jerry Nason came to me and he said, ‘They’ve decided to call the team the Boston Patriots. You better have a cartoon ready for tomorrow’s edition.’ I sat down, I drew that cartoon original of Pat in about 45 minutes,” Bissell said. “I thought about it for about two minutes and went to work. I had to get the day’s work out.”
The whereabouts of that original drawing are a source of some consternation for Bissell.
“In those days, I was told I worked for the paper, they owned everything I did, and that was all there was to it,” he said. “And I told them at that time, a cartoonist should be able to get his material back, and what they were being paid—what I was being paid—should just be for use of that cartoon.”
After submitting it for publication, Bissell never saw the original drawing again.
“When the cartoon appeared in the paper, Nason took it, he gave it—G-A-V-E—he gave it away to Billy Sullivan, who was the owner of the Patriots,” Bissell said.
To make matters worse, the drawing would meet an untimely demise. As Bissell describes it, “It went up in flames in Billy Sullivan’s summer home on Cape Cod with all the original cover programs.”
That said, Bissell describes his relationship with Sullivan, who owned the Patriots from 1960 to 1988, as one of the best he’s ever had.
“When he got the cartoon, he wrote me a very nice letter thanking me because Jerry said I gave my permission for them to have it. It never happened,” Bissell said.
Upon learning about this miscommunication, Sullivan called Bissell into his office and not only paid him $100 for the use of his illustration, but hired him to create the artwork for the team’s now-famous program covers—placing an inordinate amount of trust in the cartoonist.
“Billy Sullivan told me, ‘I don’t want to see any of your covers until I enter the stadium, because when I see the covers in the hands of the people, and they are getting a smile out of it, I know the cartoons have been successful,'” Bissell said. “And that’s the way Billy Sullivan worked. He was an awful good egg.”
For the low, low price of $91.98 (with free shipping!), you can get your very own Phil Bissell paperback book, PatsPa!: 65 Years of Cartoons, Caricatures & Creating a Football Icon. Published in 2014, it is 222 pages long, with a foreward by Gino Cappelletti.
PatsPa!: 65 Years of Cartoons, Caricatures & Creating a Football Icon | Amazon
Renowned cartoonist Phil Bissell shares some of his favorite stories and works (many not seen in print for decades) from his remarkable sixty-five year career. Starting with a Boston newspaper in the early 1950s, he estimates he’s drawn nearly fifty thousand faces in his career including astronauts, presidents and countless hall of fame athletes. Best known as the creator of the New England football team’s Pat Patriot logo, his artwork is featured at the Baseball, Football and Basketball Halls of Fame as well as The Eisenhower and Ford Presidential Libraries and numerous professional sports museums across America.
2007 thread :
2015 thread - @italian pat patriot , how did you like the book?
Oct 10, 2022:
Patriots' throwback logo, a winning look, the work of Phil Bissell, one-time T&G cartoonist
The team stopped using the logo after the 1992 season, opting for the modern "Flying Elvis" artwork.
www.telegram.com
New England Patriots fans liked what they saw Sunday, when the rookie-led team took care of the Detroit Lions, 29-0.
Another welcomed sight was the old-school logo at midfield and on the players' helmets. The logo depicted the iconic Pat Patriot.
It was a one-time cartoonist for the Worcester Telegram and Evening Gazette, Phil Bissell, who created the logo. Bissell was a sports and editorial cartoonist for the affiliated papers from 1967 to 1975.
It was years earlier, while he was working for the Boston Globe, that Bissell came up with the logo, with the player in a tricorne hat.
In 1960, then working for $25 a day, Bissell was given an assignment to capture the then Boston Patriots, according to sportslogos.net. He came up with a unique image that was synonymous with the team for three decades.
Dec 1, 2022:
Meet the Mass. man behind original Pat Patriot design
"I just wanted to make a guy that looked like he's ready to go. That he had hands all broken because he was in the trenches digging holes."
www.wcvb.com
"I just wanted to make a guy that looked like he's ready to go. That he had hands all broken because he was in the trenches digging holes," he said. "He was a real fighter in the trenches, and that's what made him a good Pat."
The logo version of Pat Patriot was the Patriots' official insignia until 1993, when it was replaced by the current logo which is known as flying Elvis.
Bissell does not speak so highly of the present-day Patriots logo.
"Frankly, the flying Elvis was fine if it was on the car hood or something. But it didn't have any feeling. This guy's got feeling," he said. "That's why he was able to center the ball and do as well as he did."
Those who wore it fondly remember it. Bissell has a football not only signed by former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, but Zolak added his own rendition of Pat Patriot.
He added: "Best logo ever!!"
Artifact Spotlight: Phil Bissell’s Patriots-Raiders Game Covers | The Patriots Hall of Fame
www.patriotshalloffame.com
