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| J.F. Hillerich & Son
Copyrighted Baseball
Bat |
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J. Frederick Hillerich started a
woodworking shop in Louisville Kentucky
in 1856. By 1864 "J.F. Hillerich, Job
Turning" was in business. In 1880,
his eldest
son, John Andrew "Bud" Hillerich,
became an apprentice in his father's
shop. As
an amateur baseball player, Bud
made his own baseball bats along with
bats for several of his teammates. In
1884 Bud created a bat for professional
baseball player Pete Browning who went
by the nickname "The Louisville
Slugger." The name "Louisville Slugger"
became the company's registered
trademark in 1894, and Bud joined his
father as a partner in 1897.
With the "COPY RIGHTED" stamping below
the center brand oval, this J.F.
Hillerich & Son bat might predate the
bats that have 'TRADEMARK" below the
oval, which are currently dated to
1897-1911. Another feature that
separates this bat from bats made until
1921 is the "Dash-Dot-Dash" branding.
The Copyrighted bat has a single line
separated by a diamond shape. We'll
call it Dash-Diamond-Dash.
This Dash-Diamond-Dash branding is unique to just two other known examples
that sit in the Louisville Slugger
museum. One being a Hugh Duffy
game-used bat loosely attributed to
around 1888 or after. This
bat was branded with the same style
font as the "COPYRIGHTED" bat, but has
"TRADEMARK" below the oval. This style
font also separates it from the bats
dated to the 1897-1911 bat
manufacturing period.
The name "Louisville Slugger" became the company's registered trademark in
1894. It is my belief that
"COPYRIGHTED" was used for bats before
the registration was complete, and
"TRADEMARK" was used there after. Kind of
like the use of "Patent Pending" before
the patent is approved.
At this point in time, using chronological facts, I am loosely dating this "COPYRIGHTED" branded
J.F. Hillerich
& Son baseball
bat to 1887-1896, making it the
earliest known Louisville Slugger to
surface. Further research is currently
being done to confirm the dating of
this bat.
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J.F. Hillerich &
Son Copyrighted Baseball Bat |
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1888-1896 Dash-Diamond-Dash
Baseball Bat Font |
1897-1911 Dash-Dot-Dash
Baseball Bat Font |
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