Chicago Bears 106th Anniversary 2026 Advent Calendar

The Bears started life in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys, sponsored by a corn-starch works, coached by a man who also played end. They moved to Chicago the following year and took the name in 1922. A hundred and six seasons later the franchise has outlived the starch company, the original league office and most of the teams it started with.

From Decatur to Soldier Field

George Halas was there at the meeting in Canton where the league was founded, and he was still on the sideline half a century later. That continuity is what the anniversary number is really counting — not trophies, but the fact that the same club has been showing up since the league had eleven teams and no forward pass to speak of.

What You Open Each Day

Behind each of the twenty-four die-cut windows sits an acrylic ornament, 3.2 cm square, with a hanging tab punched straight through the material rather than glued on. Both faces are printed — matte on one side, gloss on the other — and one of them arrives under a protective film that wants peeling before the piece goes anywhere.

The outer box is paper at 13.5 x 18 x 3 cm, 135 g, over a moulded plastic tray that keeps every piece in its own slot until you take it out.

The Name on the Front

Whatever name you enter at checkout is printed into the artwork itself. It is a small production detail with an outsized effect: the box belongs to somebody before it is even opened.

Living With It

Put it where the household walks past it every morning. As the ornaments accumulate they can go on a branch, a length of navy ribbon, or the tree. Keep the whole thing indoors and dry — Chicago winters are exactly the conditions paper and acrylic do not enjoy.

More of the 2026 run in our team collection.

Questions Buyers Ask

Why 106 and not 105?

The count runs from the 1920 season, when the club played its first year as the Decatur Staleys before moving to Chicago and changing the name.

What is the tab on each ornament?

A hole punched through the acrylic during manufacture, so there is no glued-on loop to come away. A hook or a loop of thread goes straight through it.

Do I have to open one a day?

Nothing enforces it — the windows are numbered, not locked. Plenty of people catch up on a Saturday morning when December gets away from them.

Will the box survive being posted?

It travels as a flat rigid carton with the ornaments held in their tray. Worth boxing again if it is going far; the printed lid is what scuffs.