1939 Centennial of Baseball Glasses in a GRUNGY Box great story

[da-bullman]

Just when you think you know the history or how something was made and by who.
Bam your back to square one.
My story:
For more than forty years I have collected 1939 Centennial of Baseball ephemera www.1939baseball.com. In 1981 at the Willow Grove Show, when knowledge was free for the asking, and cards were on the cusp of insanity, I bought a set of 1939 Centennial glasses in a box from Tom Reed. The All American Board of Baseball (Babe Ruth) selected the annual baseball team and the 1938 team was used for the Baseball Centennial Glasses. I stored the grunge box and hung on to it for all these years for whatever reason. Yesterday I goggled 1939 baseball centennial just to see where my web site was listed (first as usual) and looked at images, there was a listing from MEARS Auction House for a set of Centennial Glasses and with what they believed was the original box sold in 2011. Wow I though where is my box up to the attic to find it and my grungy box is the same but with a label printed on the outside. Manufactured by the Superior Paper Co. Pittsburgh PA. --NON - TEST-- ..39..
I thought they were promotional item at the 1939 New York Worlds Fair as a souvenir of Christy Walsh's Academy of Sport Pavilion or at the Esso Gas Station as a premium for buying gas and I believed the glasses were made by the Libby glass Co.
So now I am re-thinking who made them and how were they distributed. Because, of the grungy box stored in the attic.

[slidekellyslide]

Those are awesome. Don't believe I've seen them before.

[steve B]

The printing on the box is most likely the box manufacturer. The other box probably has it on one of the sides that's not visible in the picture. Most boxes even today include a similar marking, now standardized in a circular format. Non-test probably refers to the cardboard itself, the new boxes all include a "test" rating which is related to how much weight the cardboard can take without failing. I've never seen one labeled non-test, I think it is either really cheap cardboard or a company that didn't do the testing.
Some info here
http://www.masterpak-usa.com/masterpak.htm

I don't know exactly how the tests are done, but the info is probably findable with google.

The ones on Ebay have a glassmakers mark on the bottom that I believe is Libbey. Last company at the bottom of the page.
http://glassloversglassdatabase.com/marks/ats00003.html

Libbey was the glassmaker for a lot of novelty and commemorative glassware, including a lot of sports glasses and while the website doesn't push it they still do some similar stuff. Everything from fancy wine glasses to the mason jar with a handle sort of stuff.

They might have some info on who they made the glasses for. Maybe not, but it's worth a try.
https://retail.libbey.com/

Steve B

[da-bullman]

Steve, Thanks for your reply; I have always believed the glasses were made by the Libby Glass Company as the marking on the bottom of the glass is theirs the box just threw me a curve. Thanks again Steve

[Leon]

Originally Posted by da-bullman

Steve, Thanks for your reply; I have always believed the glasses were made by the Libby Glass Company as the marking on the bottom of the glass is theirs the box just threw me a curve. Thanks again Steve

Cool story and neat glasses. Thanks for sharing. It reminds me of the guy that came to my table at the national a few years ago. He was focused too. He was collectecting Coke caps but only 1 of the 2 yrs they were produced. And that is all he collected from what I remember.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by da-bullman

Steve, Thanks for your reply; I have always believed the glasses were made by the Libby Glass Company as the marking on the bottom of the glass is theirs the box just threw me a curve. Thanks again Steve

Libby Glass Co. = Toledo, OH