Hey Mark, I would assume the transition occurred during the turn of the century roughly, with some companies switching earlier than others, along with some overlapping of course. I believe Spalding always used ink stamps whenever the familiar 19th century round logo was utilized, switching to burnt-in centre brands when the company went to the straight block letter "SPALDING" in the early-1900s. As for J.F. Hillerich & Son, if you reference the book "Players of Cooperstown", they picture a J.F. Hillerich & Son bat that was apparently used by Hugh Duffy in 1894, and its hard to tell exactly... but the center brand appears burnt-in as opposed to stencilled. Not sure if this will help you at all....
Last edited by Huysmans; 07-31-2017 at 06:36 AM.
|