The Bucks are going back to their popular "Cream City" jerseys. Here's why Milwaukee carries that nickname.
The Milwaukee Bucks are officially returning to their Cream City uniforms as the City Edition alternate-uniform choice for the 2025-26 season. The popular look caught fire during the 2019-20 season but was phased out because the color scheme clashed with on-court digital advertising.
The glitch has been fixed, and Cream City is back.
“This uniform embodies the history of Milwaukee and its ‘Cream City’ moniker with a design that celebrates the cream city bricks that our city was built with,” said Bucks chief sales and marketing officer Dustin Godsey in a news release. "The Cream City uniform has been a fan favorite since its debut, and we’re thrilled to see it back on the court this season.”
The Bucks will offer a retail collection on sale in November, and the dates when the Bucks will wear the uniforms are also to be announced. The Bucks also have a Cream City court planned for those games.
Why is Milwaukee called Cream City?
Milwaukee's Cream City nickname stems to the 1950s.
The cream-colored bricks that made up many Milwaukee buildings emerged from lacustrine clay, a substance high in calcium and magnesium content that happened to be abundant in the Menomonee River Valley.
George and Jonathan Burnham became the best-known purveyors of Milwaukee's uniquely colored bricks. The brothers began brick-making in the state after moving in 1843, and business continued to boom through the 1880s.
Production of the bricks slowed around 1900, though, when clay deposits grew more scarce and brickyards began closing. The Burnham family continued brick-making in select spots around Milwaukee until 1929.
Some high-profile Milwaukee spots that have Cream City brick include:
- North Point Water Tower, 2288 N. Lake Drive
- Old St. Mary’s Church, at 844 N. Broadway
- Pritzlaff Building, at 315 N. Plankinton Ave.
- St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, at 524 W. Historic Mitchell St.
- Turner Hall Ballroom, at 1040 N. Phillips Ave.
- Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, at 839 S. Fifth St.
— Cailey Gleeson contributed to this story
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks return to Cream City jerseys: How Milwaukee nickname started
Category: Basketball
