Awesome sporting goods displays from 1927

[4scuda]

I have an issue of sporting goods dealer from 1927 with several pages of the store displays for National Baseball week. Wouldn't it be great to stumble across these in an old store?

[ruth-gehrig]

Fantastic! Thanks for posting. Here's one's I've come across and have dreamed about

[CarltonHendricks]

4scuda, Nice post but could you possibly take more closer in individual shots of the window display photos so we can get a better look?...more the merrier!...It would be very interesting to know the cities that the window displays were in for the contest.

Mike, So those are actual photos you posted? If you don't mind me asking are those yours? I see a photographers stamp in a couple of them....that might give a clue to where the stores were

Below a huge bronze plaque I have, made by Dieges and Clust, that was presented to Nat Wylie of the Steel Howe Company in 1929...not sure if Steel Howe was the sporting goods store or a window dressing company. Below a snippet of one of 4Scuda's pages that shows Nat Wylie's window in Witchita in 1927 two years before my 1929 plaque...So we know Nat Wylie decorated windows in Wichita for at least two years... probably much longer....who ever he was...Interesting guy this Nat Wylie....particularly since he won the contest for the whole country in 1929. I wonder how many stores competed?

By the way the artist of the plaque was by renown sports sculptor Jack Lincoln Lambert

[ruth-gehrig]

Nice piece Carlton! In some of 4scuda's posts I can see the cities of Kansas City, Wichita, Miami, Decatur IL. The pictures I posted are real pictures that I don't own. I've found them on the internet over the years. Makes me wonder what happened to all the stuff after the contest was over. Surely some of it found it's way into worker's or customer's homes. Some of it's probably still hiding out there somewhere

[ruth-gehrig]

Slightly off topic although somewhat related. Both show store displays with baseball products shown. Here are 2 pics of unopened baseball wax. First pic is taken inside a grocery store showing 1953 Topps unopened packs among a ton of other unopened packs. Pretty cool! I wonder why someone would have even cared back then to take this pic It would be like me going into Walmart today to take a picture of the various boxed cereal lining the shelves. I believe Leland's sold this pic back in 2004 or so. The next pic is absolutely stunning. I can't be the only one to think so! It is taken inside a Woolworth store showing box after box after box of 1952 Topps. Wow what a ton of money laying there! How many gem mint Mantles lay in all those packs? Someone from Sports Collectors Digest did an article about this picture several years ago. I can't remember how many packs were estimated to be in the pic. He also estimated the then current estimated dollar amount which I also cannot remember. Pretty neat and I wanted to share.

[jbsports33]

Greate Stuff! cool pictures

[FourStrikes]

these window display photos are mine and were originally posted back in April 2010 on this forum (see link below)

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...window+display

they were part of a group of store window display photos I purchased (a few dozen if I recall correctly?) from an antique dealer in California back in the mid/late 1980's or early 1990's...the others are similar to those I posted, minus the Baseball Week theme...I still own these and the others, although I have no idea where the non-baseball photos are at this time (probably buried in a box or file cabinet somewhere in the collection...)

neat ads, 4scuda, and cool photos!

.

DS

[ruth-gehrig]

DS - perhaps I saved pics to my computer from your original post back in 2010. I honestly couldn't remember. So are your pics original period or later copies. They're neat either way

Originally Posted by FourStrikes

these window display photos are mine and were originally posted back in April 2010 on this forum (see link below)

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...window+display

they were part of a group of store window display photos I purchased (a few dozen if I recall correctly?) from an antique dealer in California back in the mid/late 1980's or early 1990's...the others are similar to those I posted, minus the Baseball Week theme...I still own these and the others, although I have no idea where the non-baseball photos are at this time (probably buried in a box or file cabinet somewhere in the collection...)

neat ads, 4scuda, and cool photos!

.

DS

[FourStrikes]

ruth-gehrig, Yes, these (and the others) are original period photos - can't remember if I purchased ALL that the dealer had at the time or just the ones that I "liked" (although I'm positive I took all of the Baseball Week related ones)

wishing he had some of the display items in the photos as well, but I'm pretty happy with the images themselves and would love to see more.

.

DS

[Frozen in Time]

Originally Posted by ruth-gehrig

Slightly off topic although somewhat related. Both show store displays with baseball products shown. Here are 2 pics of unopened baseball wax. First pic is taken inside a grocery store showing 1953 Topps unopened packs among a ton of other unopened packs. Pretty cool! I wonder why someone would have even cared back then to take this pic It would be like me going into Walmart today to take a picture of the various boxed cereal lining the shelves. I believe Leland's sold this pic back in 2004 or so. The next pic is absolutely stunning. I can't be the only one to think so! It is taken inside a Woolworth store showing box after box after box of 1952 Topps. Wow what a ton of money laying there! How many gem mint Mantles lay in all those packs? Someone from Sports Collectors Digest did an article about this picture several years ago. I can't remember how many packs were estimated to be in the pic. He also estimated the then current estimated dollar amount which I also cannot remember. Pretty neat and I wanted to share.

Wow!!! All the photos are really neat. Are the '53 Topps sitting underneath some sort of vegetables? Hope no water dripped down.

Not a card guy, but if time travel were possible, how many of those '52 packs would you buy from that Woolworth display. Surely nobody would want them all.

[ksfarmboy]

Carlton, you're killing me with that Wichita trophy. I had forgotten about it and now you're taunting me with it all over again.


DS, those photos are awesome!

Here's a window display in Wichita. Not sure what happened to the full view. I'll need to scan this photo again.

[4scuda]

There are several pages of windows in my magazine, here are the stores:
1st place Harry Osmer A. G Spalding & Bros 5th Ave NY
2nd. Herpolsheimer Co. Grand rapids MI
3rd. A. G. Spalding & Bros. san francisco
Others, George Sporting Goods Kearney, NE, Emroes, Indianapolis, The Boyce Howel Co. Detroit, MI., The ERB Hrwe Co. Lewistown, Maine. The Vandevort Hrdwe co. Lansing, MI., Lathams, Moosejaw Sak, canada, Idaho HDWRE, Boise Idaho, Steel hrdwre Wichita, KS. Morehouse &Wells Decatur, IL, Volks Inc, Miami, FL.,

Sorry I am running out of steam there are probably 30 more stores displays shown and my photography skills are not great.

[D. Broughman]

Going to all the sporting goods stores made me hungry so I stop at the bakery Sorry for the poor picture scanner isn't working.

[CarltonHendricks]

Originally Posted by 4scuda

There are several pages of windows in my magazine, here are the stores:
1st place Harry Osmer A. G Spalding & Bros 5th Ave NY
2nd. Herpolsheimer Co. Grand rapids MI
3rd. A. G. Spalding & Bros. san francisco
Others, George Sporting Goods Kearney, NE, Emroes, Indianapolis, The Boyce Howel Co. Detroit, MI., The ERB Hrwe Co. Lewistown, Maine. The Vandevort Hrdwe co. Lansing, MI., Lathams, Moosejaw Sak, canada, Idaho HDWRE, Boise Idaho, Steel hrdwre Wichita, KS. Morehouse &Wells Decatur, IL, Volks Inc, Miami, FL.,

Sorry I am running out of steam there are probably 30 more stores displays shown and my photography skills are not great.

4scuda, Thanks for rundown...thirty plus stores...that's a lot of windows. What a great contest which has left us some good entertainment! In retrospect it was an ingenuous idea by the magazine to have such a contest...a win win situation that entertained passersby, was an excellent advertising vehicle for the stores, and no doubt was a source of pride and fun for the store owners and staff. I've had that plaque a number of years and learned more about it thru your post than I ever knew. I know you said you were running out of steam....but I have to tell you...I'd really like to read the story next to that plaque!

Clint, Sorry for dangling that again....nice to hear you appreciate it though, thanks...I'd like to see the large version of that photo...looks like somebody "...... Smith" Sporting Goods...let me know the year if you have it...may have been Nat Wylie's work.

[4scuda]

Here is the text next to the man with the plaque.

[4scuda]

Here is the rest of the text from the page with the plaque

[CarltonHendricks]

Scuda, Thanks for posting that...Very interesting...from that article we know the contest was held in 1925 and 26 as well as 1927...and from my plaque we know it was held in 1929 also...but it doesn't provide when the inaugural contest was held...nor does it address what year the plaque was first given....Were it given in 1927 for the first time, it seems likely the article would have announced it...

So...to sum it up...we know for certain the plaque was given in 1927 the year of the article...and likely that wasn't the first year....and we know it was given in 1929 because I have the plaque......

How many of the plaques were given out total and how many survive today are two unanswered questions...For the time being I only know of mine...I would speculate there are others for other years that haven't surfaced on the open market yet or that I just don't know of. Or...perhaps mine is the only survivor...we just don't know. I could imagine one ending up in someones garage in the 1950 or 60's...seen as nothing more than junk by somebody's mom and thrown out in the trash.....gone forever as land fill!

Vintage/antique trophies are made up of two kinds...presentation and stock...The difference is stock trophies...that is, cups, figural trophies, and plaques, could be ordered from a catalog and engraved to order...presentation trophies on the other hand were essentially "one of' a kind" works.



This window trimming contest plaque would be considered a presentation trophy in that the year has been cast into it as opposed to engraved, making it one of a kind. However, what the maker Dieges and Clust did was take a stock trophy and modify it by reworking the model and adding "THE SPORTING GOODS DEALER TROPHY 1929" in high relief around the border. Whether The Sporting Goods Dealer magazine bought exclusive rights to the design is unknown but I speculate not. I know our esteemed net54 member Mike Hoevet has a variation of it he showed me once. As I recall it's has the batter, catcher and ump cast in bronze but it's done in what called "open work"....that is just the players, no background....



The article indicates the contest was held in mid spring, April 4th-11th 1927. My 1929 plaque doesn't give the month but I would speculate the contest was held around the same April/spring period as it was in 1927. If so the beginning of the great depression started approximately seven months later at the end of 1929 when the stock market crashed October 29th...which lasted thru the 1930's...The sporting goods business in America would have certainly dropped during the depression, and in turn The Sporting Goods Dealer magazine would likely have suffered revenue loss from advertising sales as well. I would speculate some sporting goods stores may have closed over the ensuing years. Others may have cut back on what they spent on window trimming services, be it a designated in house employee in charge of visual displays, or a window trimming firm contractor. I suppose it's worth speculating the magazine may have discontinued the window trimming contest for depression related reasons at some point in the 1930's.

[BrandonG]

So awesome! Look at all of the boxes of Reach & Spalding baseballs! You can see the unique designs of the AL & NL boxes in some of the photos.

[4scuda]

1927 was definitely not the first year as the article tells that some of the winners had placed in the top five the previous year.

[CarltonHendricks]

Found a 1948 letter with a "National Baseball Week" logo indicating the contest was still being held thru the same first full week of April, as it was in 1927. Which likely means it was always held first full week of April.





Contest held April 4th-11th 1927