What is Your Thoughts on This? "Base Ball Inverted Mantle"

[smokelessjoe]

Hey Jon,

I am with you on this... I hope I can tell one way or another once I get it in hand. And like you, I hope it is legit as well.

[slidekellyslide]

I think it's legit....I took a look on ebay and there are no red flags...the seller is legit and doesn't sell repro type and they wouldn't have placed such a low BIN if they were trying to screw someone on it.

Nicely done I think you got a real steal.

[smokelessjoe]

Thanks Dan,

I felt good about the seller, but sometimes good sellers do not know what they have. My biggest concern was that I had simply never seen one before. Dan, have you ever seen anything like it? I have been trying to find anything promoting lighting for ball fields to no avail.

I have read now that these Inverted Mantles were good for directing light downward or even at an angle. It would make sense perhaps to promote the use of these for baseball fields. Does anyone know when gas lighting for ball fields first started?

[cincicards]

From the address I found for Frankel Light CO and League Park in Cleveland, Ohio, it looks like they were two mile from each other.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Clev...082&2v=ADDRESS


http://books.google.com/books?id=pf5...esult&resnum=1

[cincicards]

From Wikipedia; "Lights were never installed at League Park, and thus night games were not regularly played there. However, at least one night game was played on July 27th, 1931, between the Homestead Grays and the House of David -- who borrowed the portable lighting system used by the Kansas City Monarchs. For 1947, under the ownership of Bill Veeck, the Indians moved to Cleveland Stadium full-time. League Park became the last stadium used in Major League Baseball never to install permanent lights."

[smokelessjoe]

Wow Randall! I did not even think of that... Thanks

Here is a pic of what apparently came the the tubes... One hell of a Mantle!
These particular ones were patented on Oct. 9, 1900

Note: It is amazing where collecting vintage baseball can take you.

[smokelessjoe]

Randall,

I found this article in the 1909 Popular Electricity magazine, "Playing Base Ball at Night". The article is talking about lighting a ball field in Cincinnati. While this article is talking about electricity and not gas, I find it quite contradictory to everything thing else I have been reading. Everything I have read (so far) talks about "electric lighting" for ball fields at a much later date?

Anyway I thought you might be interested in the article and that you might be able to Identify the players and field???

[Hal Kaplan]

Smokelessjoe,

The field in your pics is Crosley/Palace of the Fans (home of the Reds). The middle pic shows the facade from the Palace of the Fans. Great piece!