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In 1912, George C. Lowe and D. Keedy
Campbell established the Lowe &
Campbell Athletic Goods Company. In
1931 along with the Horace Partridge
Athletic Goods Co., Lowe & Campbell
merged with the larger, Thomas E.
Wilson Company (Wilson Western Sporting
Goods) These mergers were common, as
large sporting goods companies such as
Wilson, Rawlings, and Spalding merged
with smaller, local or regional
companies to increase their presence in
markets throughout the country. The
company name was change to Wilson
Sporting Goods Co., and D. Keedy
Campbell would become the Vice
President. Lowe and Campbell retail
stores became a division of Wilson
Sporting Goods.
Prior to the merger, it seemed that Louisville Slugger manufactured the
Lowe & Campbell privately branded
baseball bats. After the merger the
Lowe & Campbell brand of baseball bats
disappear from the catalogs. Wilson
baseball bats are added to the catalog
by 1940, but they continue to sell
Louisville Slugger bats, which dominate
the catalogs. Wilson
continued to manufacture baseball
gloves under the private Branded Lowe &
Campbell name. Because of the lack of
catalog information it is not clear
when Louisville Slugger began to make
the Lowe & Campbell brand of baseball
bats They do appear in the 1922 Lowe &
Campbell catalog along side Louisville
Slugger.
The center brand on the bat reads "LOWE & CAMPBELL" with an extended "L"
with the words "ATHLETIC GOODS CO."
above the
line that forms the lower part of the
"L." The model number is place
on the barrel with the exception of a
couple of the "Diamond Ball" model
bats. The short list of model numbers
includes, Model No. 4 through 9, and as
stated in the catalogs, each made in
the same style, a duplicate, or "just
Like" a noted Major League baseball
player, but the bats do not feature a
player endorsment. The Diamond ball
bats feature model No. 415, No. 405,
and A-405. For the most part the center
brands cannot be used to narrow down
the dating. It seems that all the bats
were manufactured for a short time.
Interesting to note, after the merger with Wilson in 1931, the Wilson
baseball bats do not appear in the
"Lowe & Campbell - Horace
Partridge catalogs until 1940, and the
famous Joe DiMaggio, Louisville Slugger
ad was converted for the Wilson bats.
(see below)
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