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Nineteenth
century woodworking shops joined
Sorting Goods companies to meet the
growing demand for baseball bats.
Some, like J. F. Hillerich & Son
were successful. Others, such as
horse and buggy manufactures, made
baseball bats to supplement their
business during changing times.
The Overman Wheel Company was an
early bicycle manufacturing company
in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts
from 1882 to 1900. Overman had
contracted with the A.G. Spalding
sports equipment company as their
sole bicycle distributor. This
worked well for a few years, but in
1893, the two companies brought
lawsuits against each other.
Overman sued Spalding for $100.000,
and Spalding filed papers in a
counter suit for $160.000. Then
they began competing head-to-head
for the sporting goods market.
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The A.G. Spalding company
started making their own line of
bicycles on their own factory in
Chicopee Falls, and automotive wheels.
The Overman Wheel company entered the
sporting goods market with baseballs,
bats, footballs, and boxing gloves,
"everything in the sporting goods line
that the Spalding's made." This
baseball bat is one of two known
examples of an
Overman produced, Spalding & Co.
Baseball Bat.
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E B Estes & Sons was one of the earliest documented bat makers in the
country. Estes, produced baseball bats
before J.F. Hillerich & Son. The
company also manufactured; turned
Wooden Boxes, Handles, Indian Clubs,
Dumb Bells, Toothpicks, Wooden Tongue
Depressors, Tenpins, Bowling Balls,
Bicycles, Toys, Novelties, Furniture,
and more.
There are Five known examples
of
bats made by E.B, Estes & Sons in
the hobby today. Two with the "Estes
New York Crackerjack" center brand. The
other three bats are the "Estes
Professional" Model bats which have a
center brand of a handlebar mustache
player wearing a Pill Box Cap.
This
Sears, Roebuck & Co. branding was
used until about 1907. From 1908 until
1961 Sears, Roebuck & Company sold a
wide variety of sporting goods, under
the brand name "J. C. Higgins."
John Higgins was the manager of the headquarters' office bookkeepers, and
consented to Sears use of his name for
a new line of sporting goods. Since he
did not have a middle initial, Sears
added the "C." As documented by
catalogs Louisville Slugger produced
the baseball bats with the J.C. Higgins
brand from 1908, until 1961 when Sears
introduced the Ted Williams brand of
sporting and recreation good.
The H.G. Clark Company, a general
merchandise business was founded in
1876, by Hugh G. Clark in Omaha
Nebraska. After Clark's death in 1892,
his only son, Walter G. Clark took over
the firm.
In 1905 Walter organized the Walter G. Clark Co. and by 1912, it became
the largest retail and wholesale
sporting goods in Nebraska.
The company which was located at 413 South Sixteenth Street, carried a
complete line of Victor Sporting Goods,
who more than likely produced the
Imperial brand baseball bats. There are
three different
Walter G. Clark baseball bat center
brands.
E.C.I. - Eastern Correctional
Institution is a state prison for men
in Napanoch, Ulster County, New York.
Opening in 1900, it is one of the
oldest prison facilities in the state.
In 1921 Eastern became the first for defective
delinquents in the U.S., I.M.D.D. -
Institute for Male Defective Delinquent
at Napanoch was a facility that housed
people with intellectual disabilities
who had run into trouble with the law.
Legislation in 1923 authorized the establishment of prison industries at
Napanoch. They installed an aluminum
shop and a woodshop where inmates
turned out, handles for tools of all
descriptions, brooms or baseball bats.
The items produced in the shops were
stamped with an Indian head logo.
The I.M.D.D. bats date
to 1923-1957, the E.C.I. bats to
about 1958-1973.
The Darrah Brothers Co. was established
by Clarence W. and Arthur J. Darrah in
1912. The Sutton, Quebec company made
tool handles for American and Canadian
companies. By 1921, the Darrah Bros.
produced; axe, hammer, pick, cant hook
and peavey handles.
The
Darrah Bros. also offered baseball bats
"made from the finest clear
straight-grained white ash." The bats
feature a reverse brand which reads; "Darrah
Bros." across the top of an oval, with
"Sutton - Quebec" at the bottom.
Centered is the "DB" logo flanked by
Made In - Canada"
Dr. Morris Kennedy at the urging of one
of his patients by the last name of
Wells, who had experience in the
leather industry, entered the glove
making business as a hands on investor
in a new company they would call
Ken-Well Sporting Goods.
The
Ken-Well Bambino line of baseball bats
appear in catalogs by 1925. "Famous
Star" block letter last name endorsed
player style models, "similar to the
style of bats used by" players such as.
Tris Speaker, Ed Rouch, Babe Ruth,
George Sisler, Roger Hornsby, Ty Cobb,
Eddie Collins, and Harry Heilman.
By 1931, The Ken-Wel Brand "Pro Treated" No. 250 line of baseball bats hit
the catalogs with block letter last
name endorsed player Type models
"similar to the style of bats used by"
players such as Gehrig, Ruth, Roger
Hornsby, Fox, Wilson, and Simmons.
The Reading Shoe Market was established
in 1925, at 846-48 Penn Street, in
reading Pennsylvania. The Grand Opening
was on June 27, 1925. The company
purchased overstock shoes, or Bankrupt stock, and
provided large discounts on shoes, with
savings up to .30¢ to .40¢ on the
dollar. In 1928 the Reading Shoe Market
offered 25 free prizes, distributed each
week among it's customers. Winning sales receipt numbers
were posted in the Reading Times every
Monday. Such prizes included scooters,
express wagons, dolls, roller skates,
and
this baseball bat. |
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Formed in 1844 as the Treman
Brothers Hardware in Ithaca NY, the
company dealt in hardware,
house-furnishings, and sporting goods.
The company added a sporting
goods department to their new retail
store, at State & Cayuga streets in
1916.
Incorporated as the Treman, King
Athletic Goods Corporation in 1933,
their baseball bat featured the
company's trademark Cayuga Indian head
logo.
Treman-King then became a division of Lowe & Campbell Athletic goods.
Along with Horace Partridge Athletic
Goods Co., they merged with the larger,
Thomas E. Wilson Company through
acquisitions. Treman, King & Co.
finally closed in 1939, done in by the
Great Depression.
The Indiana Bat Co. baseball bats were
produced by the Indiana Handle Company.
Located at 1514 W Main St in Paoli,
Indiana, the company has been in the
business of manufacturing wood turnings
for furniture, hickory tool handles,
croquet sets, and baseball bats since
1932. Under contract by the U.S.
government, the Indiana Bat Co.
produced baseball bats for servicemen
during WWII.
There were two center brand styles used on the bats. One which features an
outline of the state of Indiana, and
the other an oval.
Indiana Bat Co. baseball bat models
include; Daisy, Buddy Boys, Sure Hit,
Scouts Pride, Hoosier Pride, Home Run,
American, and National League. Block
Letter last name "Player Style" bats
include Ruth, Waner, Williams, Mays,
and Mantle.
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Based on the creator Gene Byrnes real life experiences, Reg'lar Fellers
was a long-running newspaper comic
strip that went into Syndication from
1917 to January 18, 1949. It's
popularity led to a slew of marketing
items such as; board games (made by
Parker Bros.), paint sets, toys, school
supplies, tennis rackets, footballs,
football helmets, playground balls (12"
softball) baseballs, gloves, mitts, and
baseball bats.
There were
two baseball bat models produced;
R.F. 168 'Junior League,' and R.F. 164
'The Bear Cat.' Both have the Reg'lar
Fellars Trademark branding featuring
the characters Jimmy Dugan, Puddinhead
Duffy and Pinhead. The baseball bats
were sold in retails stores, and used
by newspapers as a premium to sell
subscriptions.
Banner was the trademark brand of
athletic equipment for the
Peerless Sporting goods Co., a
retail, distributor business, located
at 513 Broadway N.Y.C. There is little
known about the company, and catalog
information is not available.
The Peerless Sporting Goods Co. operated in the 1920's until about the
1940s when at some point they became
the Peerless brand name for the Olympic
Sporting Goods Co. Athletic equipment
distributed with the Banner and
Peerless brands were manufactured by
major companies.
Baseball gloves were made by goldsmith and Wilson. Baseball bats were made
by Louisville Slugger, and possibly
others. Banner Models include; American
League No. 100 (on the barrel), Sure
Hit, and Official Player, RR Model.
Olympic-Peerless models include Block
Letter endorsements of; Duke Snider,
Bobby Doerr, Ted Williams, Johnny Mize,
Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Nelson
Fox, Yogi Berra, and Henry Aaron |
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The George A Reach Co. Inc of Philadelphia PA. was founded in 1937, by A.
J. Reach's son George. He acquired the
Algen MFG Co., a sports equipment
factory in Greensboro, North Carolina
which was a branch plant of A.J. Reach
between 1911-1936. The Geo. A. Reach
Co. factory was in the sporting
equipment business until 1958 when it
was purchased by Hutch Sports U.S.A.
that moved the operation to Ohio and
Japan.
Hutch produced baseball gloves under the Geo. A Reach name to 1977. George
Reach declared his business was not
affiliated with A.J. Reach. Many gloves
were stamped with the disclaimer; "Not
Connected With Any Other Corporation"
Geo. A. Reach baseball bats
featured block letter player endorsed
baseball bats include Mickey Mantle,
and Al Kaline. Little League bat models
include: LL1, LL2, LL3, LL4, and LL5.
The
E.F. Woobrey, Norway, Maine,
baseball bats were produced by Edward
F. Woodbrey, a former University of
Maine All-Maine second baseman from
Standish, Maine.
As a School teacher Woodbrey needed to make extra money, and in 1950
started to make baseball bats in his
spare time, in his small woodworking
shop in Standish.
Woodbrey picked up retail model baseball bats of major League players and
copied them. He turned out bats that
bear the names of players that
included; Yogi Berra, Ted Williams,
Mickey Mantle, to name a few, and
copied them. Sabattus High School kids
were swinging E.F. Woodbrey baseball bats which bear the
name Pee Wee Reese, Larry Doby and the
like, but they were just copies of the
originals, with crude block letter last
name branding on the barrels.
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Hillcrest Sporting Goods Inc., with a warehouse located in Queens Village,
NY, was a sporting goods distributor,
which operated from about 1962 to 1981.
Around 1967, Hillcrest issued the Joe
DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle signature
line of baseball bats, with another
famous player on the barrel.
Block letter endorsements included; Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Al Kaline,
Harmon Killebrew, Yogi Berra, Ed
Mathews, Brooks Robinson, Roberto
Clemente, Rocky Colavito, and Roger
Maris. |
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The By
Seaway Professional Model No. 1250
baseball bats were imported from
Japan to be sold in discount stores
such as Gibson's. "By Seaway" products
included; general sporting, camping
gear, back packs, camouflage hunting
attire, gun racks, inflatable boats,
plastic oars, fishing gear, air
mattresses, pool floats, rain gear,
golf balls, exercise jogging suits,
dartboards, lawn darts badminton, and
footballs.
 Seaway produced Baseballs, and baseball gloves from about 1967 to 1983.
Baseball bats from about 1969-1973. The
company also produced name brand
baseball bats in 1973 for NESCO, with
the same branding.
"By Nesco
Professional Model NO. 29303132" They
also produced an array of other
products using the "By Nesco" name
brand. Gibson's Discount Center carried
both By Seaway and By Nesco products.
All the baseball bats produced "By
Seaway" were Professional model No.
1250. Some featured a "Slugger Bat"
baseball branding on the handle. |
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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 |
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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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