"Falls City Slugger", predecessor to "Louisville Slugger"

[Joe_G.]

Per legend, Hillerich & Bradsby Co. made their first baseball bat for a professional player in 1884; providing a slumping Pete Browning luck in the form of 3 hits in his first game with his new bat. Bats would continue to be made under the "Falls City Slugger" name until 1894 when "Louisville Slugger" was patented and first used.

Question to forum members. Does anyone know of a drawing, photo, or better yet, a surviving example of H&Bs first bat, the "Falls City Slugger"? I already contacted the Louisville Slugger Museum and Baseball HOF with no luck.

Thank You.

[WWGjohn]

This are the earliest examples of a Hillerich bat that I have come across. I have two of these, one a salesman sample (green with rings) and a youth sized bat (also with rings), both Crackerjack models. Both have J Gillerich's in the label with Crackerjack No.2 underneath. Not sure why the name is Gillerich and not Hillerich.

John

[khkco4bls]

because that's not a hillerich model

[ksfarmboy]

That's just an H not a J and G.

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by ksfarmboy

That's just an H not a J and G.

+1

[WWGjohn]

Obviously didn't have enough coffee this morning :-)

John

[khkco4bls]

obviously is an H..

[MGHPro]

Here's a 1922 ad featuring hillerichs crackerjack .. Same style font .. No rings present .

Originally Posted by WWGjohn

This are the earliest examples of a Hillerich bat that I have come across. I have two of these, one a salesman sample (green with rings) and a youth sized bat (also with rings), both Crackerjack models. Both have J Gillerich's in the label with Crackerjack No.2 underneath. Not sure why the name is Gillerich and not Hillerich.

John

[murphusa]

the other two bats have H&B logos so they are after 1916/17 or that year

[Huysmans]

Hey Jim,

I'm no expert, but I have followed the company's history, and here's a few things...

1. As can be seen in this ad from Crack of The Bat, the JF Hillerich & Son centerbrand was being used on bats as early as 1895. As the ad also states that he took Bud in as a partner in 1888, it's plausible that they were branded as such starting at this date. It did become official, as mentioned, in 1897 with the official 1$ sale of half of their building to Bud.

2. Also according to The Louisville Slugger Story by Bob Hill, it's mentioned that no person in particular is responsible for the name "Louisville Slugger". It's thought that players who used the bat named it. It makes no mention of the term used as a nickname for Browning. It mentions his known sobriquet as "the old gladiator". This is according to the year 2000 of course, so you may be correct and have updated info from a source I'm not aware of.

3. With 1894 being the year the name "Louisville Slugger" was patented, and with the JFH & S centerbrand being used as early as 1895, it's more than likely correct that Duffy did use the bat shown and mentioned as 1894, with similar centerbrand to the dated 1895 bat in the photo posted.

I just wanted to share this info. It's interesting to think how many questions in the hobby we'd love answered, but sadly, the information is lost to time.

Regards,
Brent.

[murphusa]

There are a lot of different things to read on the company and some are not consistent with each other their own website history also follows different avenues.

I have collected and brought and sold bats for over 40 years.
I do not think that it is possible to find a falls city bat as the term was not used until after the period they were made.

No matter how many books are written or things posted here, we all can learn from all of this