J f Hillerich and son 40EC bat
 

I recently picked up one of these and I'm looking for more information on it prior to putting it up for sale.
So far I have figured out the EC stands for Eddie Collins and it probably dates to 1917 or earlier. Is this a bat that would've been sold at sporting goods dealers or is it a bat that would've been owned by Eddie Collins first?

Some would have had a decal on it. It is a store bat

Any trace of a decal is long gone.