Lelands 1870 Princeton Football Stocking Cap Analysis
 

Hey all,

I recently completed an analysis of the cap purported to be an 1870's Princeton Football Stocking Cap in Lelands' Winter 2015 auction. While it can't be completely ruled out as a nineteenth century football cap, there's no evidence in the description or photograph that can lead to the conclusion that it is 1870's, Princeton, or a football cap.

I emailed Lelands last week and asked them to provide any legitimate provenance on this item but haven't received a response. In the meantime, I think it's important for potential bidders to be aware of the inconsistencies in the description. If Lelands does respond, I'll update the article accordingly. Here's a link to my analysis if you are interested:

http://www.antiquefootball.com/aom_dec15.htm

Chris
www.antiquefootball.com

Great research Chris. Interesting piece. I had no idea that stocking caps were worn in 1800's football. Living in chilly Canada, had I come across a vintage cap such as this I would have thought it a toque! I hope that Lelands responds to your questions.

Nice website and analysis.

Thank you
 

I don't collect this stuff, but appreciate the relatively objective third parties out there - sharing accurate information and helping the cream rise to the top - in memorabilia AND people!

Chris are these hats handmade or machine made

Kevin,

Mechanical looms had been around for quite awhile by the 1870's so it's likely that football stocking caps were machine made. The early catalogs show these caps as being made out of worsted wool, and the other examples I show in the article are all consistent in appearance with 19th century worsted jerseys. The Lelands example appears to be made of a much finer and softer wool and the knitting is considerably tighter, to me, indicating a more modern manufacturing process than the other examples. I'm not a textile expert however, so I didn't make that claim in the story. However, it does appear to me to be more consistent with a modern winter hat in construction and material than an 1870's skull cap.

Chris
www.antiquefootball.com

Chris that is what I was leading up to it appears to me to be more of a later manufactured stitching on the Leylands cap. The 2 real examples look like they both have similar stitching

Thank you for the extensive research and information Chris.