Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

[vintagesportscollector]

Picked up on ebay this 1880-90(?) uniforms brochure that contains athletic and firemens uniforms. Given the debate sometimes about whether a bib uniform is a firmens or a baseball, I found this to be a very interesting piece that showed the two side-by-side by the same seller. Also contains other athletic uniforms. Opens to about 6 x 21 inches. I was hoping it would go fairly unnoticed, as it was advertised as a Firemens collectible, but I battled a firemen collector and paid $75. Still think that’s decent price.

[Rob L]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

Unbelievable find!! I'm jealous.

My jersey very well could be a fireman's uniform, particularly since it is red, but then again, their were red baseball jerseys then. One of the things that I have noticed though is that the fireman uniform usually had either a number or lettering that denoted a firefighting item "ie. I have seen numerous tintypes of the uniform with "H&L" on it which I assume is hook and ladder.

Anyways, this find pretty much puts all of these jerseys in the same boat. Nice!!

Rob L

[mjkm90]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

Fantastic piece Joe. You did very well in my opinion. Does it appear that the bib portion is larger in the fireman jersey than the baseball jersey? I've noticed this difference in the past, but am not sure this isn't simply a manufacturer variable. The graphics are terrific.
Can you post a pic of the shoes please? I'm assuming those were considered athletic shoes.

[vintagesportscollector]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

Thanks Rob. Thought you may get a kick out of that . I have always admired your red bib jersey and felt it could go either way. This find shows that both the firemens and baseball jersey could come from the same uniform seller rack. What distinguishes the two ensembles is the rest of the outfit like the hat, pants/trousers, and shoes. Even the worsted web belts is pretty much identical between firemen and baseball.

[Rob L]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

Joe, how thick is the cardstock? The condition blows me away. Were you looking for fireman items also? I'm still shaking my head at this one.

Rob L

[vintagesportscollector]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

I just won it and it was shipped today so I haven't received it yet. I was searching for "uniforms" and came across this listed under Collectibles> Historical Memorabilia > Firefighting. The seller was selling other firefighting memorabilia too. The only picture he showed in the auctions was the first one that shows the cover. I noticed it said baseball uniforms and I asked him to send me a picture of the baseball pages. He sent me a picture of all the other pages. I was blown away by the graphics, color, condition and the mutliple baseball images with all the equipment. Not sure about card stock but seller said it was sturdy with minimal seam separtion between the folds other than what is shown in pictures. It folds out to 6 pages wide, double sided for 12 page images.


Mike- Not sure about bib but my guess would be a manufacturer variable. I accidentally deleted image of shoes page he sent but I do remember the first two shoes on the top corner of the third image are baseball shoes, and the next one down(that looks like a normal leather shoe) is for Lawn Tennis.

[slidekellyslide]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

WOW! Nice find Joe....Proves that you can still find hidden treasure on ebay....any guesses as to what you think the real value of this item is?

[Rob L]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

I would guess that with the condition that the brochure appears to be in, this could easily garner $300 to $600 in the right auction. It is an awesome piece of memorabilia.

Rob L

[Rob L]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

Hi Joe,

Did you receive the brochure yet? Any chance of some additional scans?

Rob L

[vintagesportscollector]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

Sure thing Rob. I posted all the pages on my site. You can click each thumbnail to enlarge, and then expand again for large 960x1280 images.

http://www.geocities.com/vintagesportscollector/Wilkinson.html

-Joe

[Rob L]

Re: Firemens v. Baseball 19th Century Uniforms

Joe, looks great. How sure are you on the 1880s date? I would almost put it back another decade or so (1870s), particularly with the belt style. Great piece.

Rob L