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| KeyMan
Collectibles |
NEWSLETTER |
July 2024 |
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Lesser-Known and Privately Branded
Baseball Bat |
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Steven KeyMan |
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Labels Part V -
By Steven KeyMan |
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Founder of
Keymancollectibles.com,
and a long time
collector, Steven
KeyMan has more than 30
years of experience in
researching, and
cataloging information
on Baseball
Memorabilia.
Researching his own personal
collection, and helping others find
information on their
collectibles, the
website grew into the
largest online resource
for baseball
memorabilia |
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Ask
Steven: Direct your questions or feedback,
about Baseball Memorabilia to Steven KeyMan
Steve@keymancollectibles.com You can also Send
KeyMan pictures of your personal Memorabilia Display,
and get your own Free
Collectors Showcase Room featured on the website.. |
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With the growing popularity
of our national pastime around the
turn on the 19th century, it was
very common to receive a baseball
bat free with the purchase of men's
furnishing, such as a pair of
shoes, or a suit, to draw in
customers.
The
Giants Special No. G100 baseball
bats were given away free, with
every pair of Bull Dog suspenders
purchasd from Cadmus Men's Shop, at
296 Main Avenue in Passaic, NJ. The
store promotion was held from
October 7 to October 11, 1913,
coinciding with the 1913 World
Series between the Philadelphia
Athletics and New York Giants. The
stores window display was
artistically dressed with the
famous Bull Dog suspenders and the
Giants No. G100 baseball bats.
Obviously a Giants fan, the owner
of the shop, John Cadmus, also
posted the scores by innings.
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The
Peters Shoe Company, established in
1892 by Henry William Peters of Peters
Shoes Baseball Bat St. Louis, used the Weatherbird image for promotions from
1907 to 1932.
The Weatherbird was a
cartoon character in a comic strip that
was first published in the St.Louis
Post-Dispatch newspaper in 1901. Drawn
by Harry B. Martin the Weatherbird logo
was used on many promotional items such
as whistles, Clickers, noisemakers, and
baseball bats. By the 1940's Peters
Shoes used a new "Weatherbird" logo of
a Weathervane Chicken (Roster), that
was also used on the baseball bats.
The two largest shoe companies in St.
Louis, Roberts, Johnson & Rand and
Peters Shoe Company, merged in 1911
to form International Shoe Company. In
addition to Weatherbird, the International
Shoe Company made
Sundial and
Bonnie Laddie shoes.
There are three different Sundial Shoes baseball bat center brands. The
"Sundial Shoes" oval, Dash-Dot-Dash
center brand reads "Time Will Tell" at
the top, and "Wear Longer" below. The
barrel on these bats read "Major
League" The Dash-Dot-Dash might
indicate that the bat was made by
Louisville Slugger.
The Bonnie Laddie - "Time Will
Tell ~ wear Sundial Shoes" is an
advertising slogan that dates back to
1926, and into the 1930s. The Bonnie
Laddie trademark logo does not read
"Shoes for Boys and for Girls" |
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The Bonnie Laddie "Shoes for Boys and
for Girls" center brand trademark logo
was used as early as 1925. This bat
also reads 'Bonnie Laddie, A "Sundial"
Shoe For Boys and Girl' on the barrel.
The
Poll Parrot,
and Star shoes were two of the
shoe manufacturing and retailing
subsidiaries of Roberts, Johnson &
Rand, a Division of the International
Shoe Company of St. Louis, Missouri.
The company was started in 1898 by
brothers Jack and Oscar Johnson.
The bat with the Star Brand center brand featured the Poll Parrot logo on
the Barrel which reads: "Poll Parrot
Shoes - For Real Boys" The Star Brands
baseball bat and a baseball was offered
for 50¢ when you bought a pair of
poll-Parrot shoes in April, 1928. The
bat was given away free-with every pair
of boys shoe sold in May, 1928.
Established in 1869 in St. Louis,
Missouri, the Red Goose Shoe company,
which was originally named Gieseke-D'Oench-Hayes,
lasted nearly a century. The founders
name Gieseke (German) loosely
translates to 'goose,' so the bird
became a symbol of the company. During
the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904,
employees of the shoe company painted
the geese on the packing crates red.
The head of the company liked the idea,
and so Red Goose Shoes was born, and
trademarked in 1906.
In 1911 the company merged with the International Shoe Company, which
later bought Florsheim. The Red Goose
logo was used on many promotional items
such as Red Goose story books, Golden
Eggs, banks, Notepads, Shoehorns
etc...and baseball bats. One of the
earliest promotional baseball bats
produced for them had a
"Friedman
Shelby All Leather Shoes," center
brand, while the barrel featured a
goose illustration with the "Red Goose
Shoes" branding. Friedman-Shelby was a
division of the International Shoe
Company for Red Goose shoes.
Buster Brown, a comic-strip character
created by Richard F. Outcault, first
appeared in the New York Herald in
1902. It was Adopted as the mascot of
the Brown Shoe Company in 1904, Buster
Brown, along with Mary Jane, and with
his dog Tige.
The Brown Shoe Co. was founded by George Warren Brown in 1878, in St.
Louis, Missouri. The "Brown-Bilt"
Buster Brown Shoes ad campaign started
around 1920,
dating the bat pictured
above to the 1920s or later. The
"Buster Brown Health Shoes" were
introduced in 1926. |
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Marketed as an important advance
in children's shoe construction, they
offered the best possible protection in
correctly made and well fitting shoes.
"Buster Brown Heath Shoes not only
protect their feet--but their health as
well" Each child is fitted with good
sturdy shoes, with the aid of an X-Ray
machine to guarantee both comfort and
style
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Founded in 1860, the Lambertville
Rubber company took the name of the
area that housed the factory, the town
of Lambertville, New Jersey. Its top
selling product was the trademarked
Snag-Proof waterproof boots, first
marketed around 1876-1886 under a
patent by Elisha Stout. The
Lambertville Company eventually closed
and was absorbed in 1928 by the
Goodyear Rubber Company. |
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The United States Rubber Company started making their tennis shoe brand
in 1916. The shoe was rubber-soled
canvas shoes known as Keds. Converse
introduced its All Star shoe in the
same year. The Lambertville Rubber
company did not start producing tennis
shoes until the 1920s.
The baseball bat was produced to help
promote the tennis shoes.
The
Saginaw wood products company of
Gaylord, Michigan was established in
1907. The company produced wooden toys;
Children's ten pins, rolling pins,
Potato mashers, children's pastry sets,
croquet sets, and baseball bats. With
growing demand for their products, the
company expanded their factory, in
1912. Fire destroyed the Saginaw wood
products company factory in may, 1913,
with a loss of raw material for
$800.000. worth of wooden toys for the
next Christmas season. On January 31,
1927, the real estate and personal
property of the Saginaw wood products
Co. was sold in a public auction.
 The
Ace Hornsby baseball bat was
manufactured by the
Moss Brothers Bat Company, in
Clarendon, Arkansas. They produced
baseball bats from 1915 to 1927. In
1927 The bat company was destroyed by
the White River flood and inundated the
levee at
Clarendon, causing it to break, and
thus submerge the town underneath a
blanket of water. The town was rebuilt
and in 1937 when a new levee was
completed. The only bat known to
surface in the collectors market is
this Hornsby Ace of Clubs model.
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American
manufacturer of repeating firearms and
ammunition. The firm was established in
1866 by Oliver Winchester and was
located in New Haven, Connecticut.
Following the end of World War I,
Winchester expanded into other areas of
manufacture and product distribution.
After borrowing heavily to finance its
massive expansion, the company
attempted to use its surplus production
capacity to pay its debt. |
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Winchester adopted existing stores to
carry the Winchester products which
become a "Winchester Store." Marketing
consumer goods through "Winchester
Stores" the company put the famous
Winchester brand on nearly everything
from tools, housewares, and sporting
goods.
There were three basic center brands used during the 1920s. The
Professional Oil Finish 2400 series
models were top of the line bats. The
choice of models offers a bat to meet
the needs of professional requirements.
Letters listed in a catalog, appear on
the knob end, and suggest a
professional ball player such as "BR"
Babe Ruth, or "TC" Ty Cobb.
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 The McCarthy-Morris Co. was located at
309 Washington St., Boston MA. The
sporting Goods company carried, and
distributed a complete line of athletic
equipment for Baseball; basketball;
football; hockey; golf; and more.
They were athletic outfitters to Boston
college, Harvard University, and also
supplied uniforms and equipment for the
Boston Bruins. The
McCarthy-Morris
Company distributed Mormac Inc.
sporting goods. Baseball bat last name
block letter endorsement models
included: Mormac Special Foxx Style;
Mormac Special Gehrig Style; Mormac
Special Bottomley Style; Mormac Special
Simmons Style, Klein Special, and the
400 model.
Born in Austria-Humgry, Alois J.
Brecher came to the United States when
he was 26 years of age, where he was
employed by the CP & L Lumber Co. In
1922 Brecher moved to Powell,
Pennsylvania where he operated a
general store for 11 years.
Mr. Brecher then entered the lumbering business, an enterprise he
continued until his retirement. He
manufactured lumber, completed finished
baseball bats and bowling pins which he
sold to distributors. The combination
Keystone and Plumb Bob outline center
brand Reads "Makers,
A. J. Brecher, Powell, PA" at the
bottom, below the word Brand. Models
include: Full name block letter
endorsement model No. 10, Joe DiMaggio
Style. Model No. 1 Champion; No. 8
Professional; No. 10 Professional; and
No. 10 Jr. League.
The C. Prouty & Co. tool handle company
was established sometime around 1905 by
Chester and Agnes Prouty, in Eldred,
Pennsylvania. In 1897, Chester Prouty
patented a machine for rolling tapered
metal, to improve the manufacture of
tools-such as crosscut-saws,
cutlery-blades, and analogous articles.
The company conducted business to at least 1944, around the time the
baseball bats were produced. The
vertical center brand in the shape of a
keystone, with a baseball inside reads
"C.
Prouty & Co." above the baseball,
and Eldred, PA." below. Inside the
baseball reads "Keystone League" Model
numbers stamped into the handle side of
the center brand include: 24; 43-1; 44;
45-2; 45-3; and 46-2.
After completing World War I service, Vern McMillan formed a sporting
goods company in Terre Haute, Indiana,
McMillan Athletic Goods, which later
became McMillan Sports. Soon, he was an
industry leader by designing the first
football face mask with a nose guard,
originating the size coding for
athletic socks, and inventing a
basketball inflator that secured
universal approval. McMillan held five
patents in all. McMillan also served as
major of Terre Haute from 1941 through
1947.
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McMillan became par owner of the Terre Haute Phillies Inc., a baseball
team affiliated with the Philadelphia
Phillies from 1946 to 1954, and served
as league president of the Three-I
League (Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League)
Terre Haute Phillies tickets were made
available at the McMillan Athletic
Goods Store.
McMillan Athletic Goods Co. baseball
bat models include No. 54
Playground. |
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Also Read:
Lesser-Known and Privately Branded
Baseball Bat Labels Part I
Lesser-Known and Privately Branded
Baseball Bat Labels Part II
Lesser-Known and Privately Branded
Baseball Bat Labels Part III
Lesser-Known and Privately Branded
Baseball Bat Labels Part IV |
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There are hundreds of privately
branded baseball bats labeled by a
large variety of businesses that
include manufacturers of furniture, and
tool handles, to retail stores
promoting their business such as shoe
stores, hardware, discount and
department stores. These bats will be
cataloged in the
Vintage Baseball
Bat Dating Guide on the website, in
Misc. & Private branded baseball
Bats. If you have a bat that you
can't identify, and it wasn't
added to the guide, send some
pictures to
Steve@keymancollectibles.com.
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
RELATED RESOURCES |
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KeyMan Collectibles Baseball
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