Need Help With Pre-1930 Professional Uniform Identification

[btcarfagno]

I purchased this at auction in 2011 hoping that it was a Newark Federal League uni. I have found some photos of the Newark uniform and there are many similarities, but one or two things that I am just not sure about. Not being a uniform collector, I do not know if the possible "problems" that I see are disqualifiers or not.

Here is the uniform:



Here is one of the best images I could find of the uniform:



For the good, the pinstriping looks the same, the collar area leading down to the button front looks the same, the lettering looks the same as well.

The problems that I see are twofold:

1. The positioning of the lettering on my uniform is quite a bit higher than on the jerseys in the photo. On mine, the "A" in Newark is above the second button on the jersey. In the photo, the second button is more like around the middle or bottom 2/3 of the "A".

2. Around the collar and heading down the front is a dark line coming down both sides of the neck. I am not sure if this would be considered to be twill or what it is...if it is even on the jersey or just darkness from the way the photos were taken back in 1915. Whatever it is, my jersey does not have it. However, I assume that this could come off as there is a "twill" area on the pants (that I also have) and some of the twill is separated from the pant making it look in those areas like it was never there to begin with.

So, I have this great question that I don't have an answer to and I am reaching out to anyone who might be able to help me out on it.

Many thanks!

Tom C

[jerseygary]

(I posted this on the other post about this uniform as well)

I'm currently away on a business trip so don't have access to my library, but how about these 3 options:

1. Newark was supposed to play in the 1916 Federal League. Could this be an unused uniform for 1916? Chances are probably not. The FL was in bad financial straits so the teams probably did not order any uniforms. It is definitly not a 1915 uniform since it does not match what they wore at home.

2. Newark minor league team? Newark Indians played until 1916 then were named the Bears after that. If I had my books I could see if this matches any of their uniforms but off-hand I don't recall anything similar. If someone has old Spalding or Reach guides they might have team pictures in them. The rub is pro team usually didn't have their city names on home jerseys.

3. A semi-pro or school team? Since the jersey is a white pinstripe with the city name on it, this makes me think it is not FL or Minor League since very rarely did teams put the city name on their home jerseys. Semi-pro and school teams did more often than pro teams. So this might be your answer.

Also, you can throw the Newark Eagles or Newark Dodgers out of the running, both Negro League teams are well documented and none had jerseys close to this.

If you want to go deep, the Newark Star-Ledger is still in existance and should have a good archive to go through. The jersey style should help you narrow down the timeframe and if there is labels inside that would help even more. The Newark historical society would be a great place to look as well as some of those photo books about the old days in Newark. There is even one on Newark Baseball, which I have but like I said I am away from home. If it doesn't get sorted out I'll look in a few weeks for you.

Good, luck, it sure is a nice jersey, what ever it is from.