1896 Whitehead and Hoag Buffalo Bisons Pinback

[RCMcKenzie]

Hi, Folks,

Just picked up this Buffalo Bisons' team pinback from Goodwin and was trying to ID some of the players.

From the dates on the back, it looks like this pin dates to mid 1896. Would that place this image as the 1896 Bisons? Comments and thoughts appreciated...

buffalobisonspin213.jpgbuffalobisonspinback215.jpg

[bcbgcbrcb]

I believe that all Whitehead & Hoag pin backs with the paper label show a patent date of 1896. That does not mean that the date of the featured image is from 1896. My guess is that your team image dates to either 1897 or 1898 as those are the years that most of the team composite images were produced.

[RCMcKenzie]

Phil, thanks for the help on this one.

I have been able to 95% ID Ed Gremminger as the player at about 10 O'Clock on the pin. He played for Buffalo 1896-1899.

It looks like 70% Bill Clymer to me at between 11-12 O'Clock. He played for Buffalo between 1894-1897.

Sam Wise maybe 40% sure at just under 9 O'Clock 1895-1898.

Jack Rowe was the manager throughout these years, but the photos on his wikipedia page do not match anyone on the pin that I can see.

I've made more progress than I thought I would, so far. I will update when I have more time to study this pin.

If anyone has any thoughts on ID, let me know.

Also, if anyone has any other Whitehead and Hoag pins, post them here. Thanks

[thecatspajamas]

Sounds like you're on the right track, but just to confirm the possible dates, Ted Hake has that Whitehead & Hoag back paper style dated as 1896 to 1898 in his book Collectible Pin-Back Buttons.

[thecatspajamas]

From Ted Hake and Roger Steckler's Non-Paper Sports Collectibles:
(in case it's too hard to read, the date just above the "B.B." is 1897)

[thecatspajamas]

Okay, after playing around with the image of your pin to produce a (maybe) clearer view of the players, and setting that side-by-side with an enlargement from Hake's book, I see that there is a slight difference between the two. While they clearly use the same composite image of the players and have the same "Buffalo B.B. Club" text at the bottom, it appears that yours has "Photos By F.A. Remington" above that whereas the one in the book has the 1897 date. I'm not quite sure what to make of the difference, but hopefully someone else will be able to elaborate.

[RCMcKenzie]

Thanks, Lance.

I should be able to ID most of the players, now that you have found the year as 1897. I appreciate it and it looks like that is a great reference book to own.

[thecatspajamas]

No problem. Both books come in handy now and then, especially CPBB when it comes to dating the back papers. Hake's button books are spotty in covering baseball pinbacks (which he says in the book is intentional, since most are covered in greater detail elsewhere), but came through in this case. Good luck with the ID's!