Harwood Baseball Mfg. of Natick, Mass.

[jpop43]

I recently acquired this 19th century print of an individual identified as H. Harwood of Mass. The 'signature' on the print is not part of (meaning not in the paper) the print but ink writing on the print itself.

My question to the forum is whether or not anybody could help me confirm whether or not this is the Harrison Harwood Sr. and founder of the the Harwood Base Ball Mfg. Company of Natick, Mass. back in 1858.

I've never seen another example of his signature so I am not sure if the name on the print is in fact his sig., or a notation by the print maker or someone else.

For comparison, I did find a recent card from the Obak baseball card set that included contributors to the game and the image sure looks just like the man in my print, maybe it was even made/taken from the print itself at some point. Same pose, same hair, same clothes, etc...

With no other image to compare it to, I turn to you for the assist.

Thanks much,
Jonathan
www.dugouttreasures.com

[CarltonHendricks]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/380930529401?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Jonathan, I don't know anything about the sig but that's a really great print!!!...I just saw a piece of stationary from the Harwood concern close on eBay on June 26th....went for serious money...link above

[jpop43]

Hi Carlton,

Yes, I saw that Harwood letterhead and placed what I thought was a really respectable bid for an item that I wanted...I was way off!

I've researched other Harwood Baseball pieces and have seen just a couple from the 1870's...the prices realized for them far exceed what the even letterhead recently went for.

So, I am just figuring that if my print is Harrison Harwood and the "signature" is, in fact, his signature, that I might have something here. His sporting goods firm pre-dates all the other more well known ones like Peck & Snyder, Spalding, and Reach and, maybe, that carries with it some rarity and value.

I'm still trying to research more about Harwood but have thus far only been able to discover this image and the modern Obak baseball card (featuring the image from the print) that highlights him as an early baseball manufacturer.

Thanks for you input,
JP

[steve B]

You might try the Natick historical society. It looks like they have a museum in the old factory.

http://www.milb.com/milb/info/museums.jsp?mc=_massachusetts

The price for that letterhead amazes me. It's not even the full sheet. I had three of them at one point, two partials like the one on Ebay and one complete. The full page is closer to legal size.

I sold two of them I think, and didn't get anywhere near that price. I know one went for 100. I'd almost say the one from Ebay was one of mine, but I don't recall the embossed bit being embossed that well.
I guess I shouldn't have mentioned that the one I sold was a half sheet instead of a full sheet. :(

The one I have a scan of.
http://www.net54baseball.com/picture.php?albumid=123&pictureid=7077


Steve B

[jpop43]

Thanks, Carlton and Steve,

I did get a message out to the Natick Historical Society and hope that they are able to confirm the "signature" as I am already quite sure that the image is indeed of Harrison Harwood.

What I did take note of on the print itself is that the engraver, A.H. Ritchie, was renowned in the field in the mid to late 19th century and did many engravings of famous people and events...Washington, Lincoln, Continental Congress, etc.

So, I wait for some info from Natick, Mass. and hope that I've got a genuinely signed, 19th century print of the man who founded the very first company to manufacture baseballs in the United States.

Jonathan
www.dugouttreasures.com

[perezfan]

This seems like a good place to post a recent related pickup of mine (with a big assist to Scott G. for finding it).

It's a circa 1906 Letter from Fred Ratsch to Tip O'Neill, congratulating the "Hitless Wonder" White Sox for their Championship Season, and offering the team a Pennant to commemorate the event. Ratsch has ornately signed the letter at the bottom.

This is similar to the great Harwood pieces above, in that Ratsch Peerless was a key Sporting Goods Company of the day, perhaps most famous for manufacturing the unique "Duckweb" Glove.

[collectbaseball]

I did get a message out to the Natick Historical Society and hope that they are able to confirm the "signature" as I am already quite sure that the image is indeed of Harrison Harwood.

One time I emailed the archivists at a Swiss university in an effort to find information about one of their departments from the 1920s (mainly looking for mundane things like schedules, lists of professors/lecturers/enrolled students, etc). They provided me with some basic info already on record, but also said they had the [thus far uncatalogued] papers of one of the professors and I was welcome to 'stop by' and go through them :eek:

Anyway, if you get a similar response but distance is an issue I would be happy to go there and investigate for you. I'm always up for a good treasure hunt and live right down the street.

[jpop43]

Much appreciated...I I do hear from them I might need to take you up on that!