Spalding World Tour, 1888-89

[jthorn]

I am interested in everything to do with this tour, from photographs to posters to banquet menus. I start the thread by offering this item, from The Sporting Life of April 17, 1889, page 3. Maybe it's not too late to place an order?

SOUVENIRS FOR ALL.
A Chance to Get Reminders of the Great
Delmonico Banquet.

NEW YORK, April 10. Editor SPORTING LIFE:
Dear Sir: Will you kindly insert in some
part of your paper a copy of the enclosed letter
and also make note of it so that we can get as
much of an advertisement as possible for these
menus, which we are selling on account of the
committee to help pay the deficit that appears
on the contingent fund for the expenses of the
banquet and reception:

"NEW YORK, April 8. J. W. SPALDING, ESQ., 241
Broadway, New York. Dear Sir: At the meeting of
the banquet comittee held this morning I was requested
to ask you to offer for sale copies of the illustrated
menus to aid in making good the deficiency in
the contingent expenses of the banquet. This deficiency
still amounts to several hundred dollars, for
which, of course, the committee is responsible, but
would like you to aid in reducing it by what amount
can be realized from tho sale of this beautiful and interesting
souveir of the banquet. The lot used at
the banquet cost about $1 each, but Dempsey & Carroll
will furnish additional copies by the hundred at a
price that will yield a fair margin of profit if retailed
at $1 each.

"We are not willing to avail of any aid from you
toward making up the deficiency, beyond the service
indicated, and, as you are, perhaps, in a better position
than anybody else to render such services, the committee
does not hesitate to ask it.
(Signed) Yours truly, A. G. MILLS,
Chairman Banquet Committee."

In reference to the above I have placed these on
sale at our New York store, 241 Broadway. If you
are willing to be bothered with the matter you can
say that they can be obtained by addressing your
paper and you can send the orders to us and we will
mail the menus to parties direct. J. W. SPALDING.

john thorn

[baseballart]

John

While you're perusing an order for the menus, may I show you the salesman's sample edition of Palmer's Athletic Sports? It offers all three binding of the trade edition.

Max

[slidekellyslide]

Anyone interested in Spalding's World Tour should read the book by Mark Lamster....makes you feel like you're on the tour with them.

http://www.amazon.com/Spaldings-Worl.../dp/1586483110

[prewarsports]

I at one time had a game program from a game in England. I remember getting it in a scrapbook and seeing the price of "sixpence" on the front cover. It is one of the few items over the years I wish I had kept. I dont even have a scan anymore, but it had an image of Al Spalding on the front and basic rules etc. inside for the European spectator.

Rhys Yeakley

[baseball tourist]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Anyone interested in Spalding's World Tour should read the book by Mark Lamster....makes you feel like you're on the tour with them.

http://www.amazon.com/Spaldings-Worl.../dp/1586483110

a write up on this excellent read......http://www.baseballtourist.com/2009/...erin-hank.html

[GGterps]

This framed print/page from the London Illustrated Times hangs on my office wall. Sorry for the poor quality of pics, best I could do with my phone camera. It's an article based on the teams stop in England.

On the back is the article explaining this new American game including the rules - really a cool read I'll try and get a clear picture of it but with my phone - can't get the clarity needed.

[jthorn]

Thanks, gents. Max, that salesman's sample is great. And Lamster's book is indeed a fine one. I wish that an image of the scorecard was available ... but then again so does its original owner.

john thorn

[Howard W. Rosenberg]

There's not even one reference to it in the aforementioned book, but the arguably most impressive World Tour artifact, for being one-of-a-kind in baseball history, is:

The Ed Williamson letters (sent to various newspapers, especially the Cincinnati Enquirer -- by far the greatest 19th-century daily newspaper, overall, for baseball coverage). They are the feature of the combined 34 pages of World Tour content of my 2006 book Cap Anson 4: Bigger Than Babe Ruth: Captain Anson of Chicago.

Originals of the Williamson letters likely do not survive, but they could provide an opening for anyone looking for a story-behind-the-story perspective on what makes 19th-century baseball so different from the 20th century. And that's because:

Williamson was an amazing writer -- no doubt a candidate for the wittiest writer of letters while an active baseball player. He was also the foil on the 1880s Chicago National League club to Anson, being excellent at "roasting" Anson's personality and his teammates as well.

Rather than trying to stress the baseball imperialism theme of the tour, my editorial focus was the personalities of Anson and his main teammates -- and, by that measure, the Williamson letters took the cake. And as the lead-in to Cap Anson 4's main presentation of the tour, there is a 12-page biography of Williamson that reinforces why he might be the most interesting 19th-century player no one knows much of -- except for having held, at one time, the all-time season home run record (albeit mainly due to a ridiculously small home ballpark). By the way, Ed, not Ned, was what Williamson was, by far, most widely called contemporaneously in newspapers.

[baseballart]

Here's this beauty, found in the MCG Cricket Museum in Melbourne , Australia, as one of the most impressive artifacts

The museum is unbelievable for its cricket history, and my jaw just about dropped when I saw the baseball items from the world tour. Melbourne is a fantastic city to visit, and even more so because of this museum.

[jthorn]

Absolutely fabulous piece, Max! Thanks so much.