Lemon Peel Ball
 

Looking at a lemon peel ball on eBay, I wondered how hard were those in their day? I can't imagine they were anything close to a modern baseball. I suspect with a few hits, they would lose their shape. What were they stuffed with?

John if you go to baseballglovecollector.com you can see several lemon peel balls and some are split so you can see the inside. D.

The core content depends largely on who made it. If it were homemade, anything goes. If it were made for league play, they were pretty similar to a modern ball. The major difference is that a modern ball uses a cork and rubber core while a vintage ball would have had a core made only of rubber. Aside from winding tension, there isn't much difference between the wool used in a modern ball versus a vintage ball.

The homemade balls that you see from time to time could have been wound with anything. I've seen anywhere from yarn to cloth strips. Some are simply stuffed as opposed to wound.

It probably dates to the later part of the 19th century, anywhere from the 1870's up the 90's if it's homemade.