Looking for photos of 19th Century baseballs

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Posted By: Rob L

I have purchased a few early baseballs recently and have been trying to research the history of the baseball. It is pretty apparent that little is known so I am trying to collect as much information and pictures of 19th Century baseballs that I can. Hopefully, I can do something with this info at a later date. If anyone has a 19th Century ball and can submit a photo and any info (including assumed age and circumference), I would greatly appreciate it. Currently, I have photos of 15 or 16 different balls right now.

Thanks,

Rob L

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Posted By: hankron

Your project sounds like a great idea, and would make a great web page.

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Posted By: Harry Haller

I have an article from 1870: "How Base Balls are Made". It is about 700 words and goes into excruciatingly painful detail. If you would like, send me an email and I'll send you a scan. It's from "Oliver Optics Magazine".

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Posted By: Rob L

I would love to see the article. My email addresses are: loefflerrd@aol.com and rloeffler@advgeoenv.com. A website may be in the works and I have also been in contact with a few SABR members that have interest in this also.

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Posted By: Rob L

This is my latest acquisition. The ball is slightly larger than a golf ball. Based on size and lemon peel, this ball is likely a very early example.

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Posted By: Nickinvegas

What is a ball like that worth?

Nick

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Posted By: Rob_L

Hey Nick - how goes it?

I picked up that ball for $320. The ball that is pictured under my "login" name is a rarer ball (ie. stitching type is rarer)and was picked up for $ 499.00.

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Posted By: hankron

I am no scholar of baseballs and even less knowedgeable about golf balls, but I beleive that some early golf balls had a similar stiching pattern and style to baseballs. Before anyone's heart skips a beat, I note that have seen early golf balls sell for good money.

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Posted By: Rob L

The feather golf ball, which was a ball filled with goose feathers, covered with a stitched hide and then immersed in water. The ball feathers would expand while the hide would shrink, making a hard ball. The balls were then painted. These balls ranged in age from the early 1600's until the early 1800's. Golf balls were made using Gutta Percha beginning in the 1840's. The original baseballs (including those used in Townball) ranged in size from golf balls to softballs initially and standardized sizes became more prevalent in 1854 and changed again in 1860. The standardized sizes were likely used by manufacturers at the time, however, many balls were still handmade with materials at hand, thus, the great number of ball sizes through the 1840's to 1870's.

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Posted By: Rob_L

The ball pictured above arrived today and it is most definitely a early baseball. The interior of the ball, which can be seen through a couple of the stitches is a wound twine. It turned out be much better than it was initially described.