Tom,
I believe that you are correct in your assumptions re: this Goldsmith ball.
As you probably are aware, Goldsmith 97 balls first started being produced and used in 1897, hence "97".
I'm quite certain that these balls had multi-colored laces until around the 1940-1941 time period that you mentioned when they switched to red.
The "cc" after the 97 was probably not on their balls prior to 1941 or 1942.
If you look at these two Johnny Vander Meer endorsed Goldsmith balls that I picked up in the last year you can see the multi-colored laces on what I believe is a 1939 ball. The second Goldsmith Vandy ball is from 1940 or later and has red laces.
A 1939 Goldsmith equipment catalogue that I own pictures the 97 ball, but no "cc" or the patent info are present on the stamping, FWIW.
Last edited by Scott Garner; 06-25-2015 at 08:25 AM.
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