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MANUFACTURER
- Wright & Ditson
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Founded in 1871 by Baseball Hall of
Famer George Wright and Boston
businessman Henry Ditson, the Wright &
Ditson company
specialized in tennis rackets, and golf
clubs. Sometime around the turn of the
19th century, they added baseball
equipment. By the early 1900's, A.G.
Spalding & Brothers controlled 99.7% of
the company's shares. In 1910, Wright & Ditson announced the formation of a
partnership with
Victor Sporting Goods
of Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Victor's baseball factory would produce their specialties, namely
baseballs, bats, mitts, and gloves, for
Wright & Ditson, and the goods would
thereafter bear the Wright & Ditson
logo. In 1918, the Victor Sporting
Goods Company consolidated with the
Wright & Ditson Company. All sporting
goods produced from their facilities
thereafter were stamped with a new
Victor, Wright & Ditson logo. In 1928,
Spalding consolidated Reach and the
Wright & Ditson-Victor Co. into A.J.
Reach, Wright & Ditson, Inc.
"Ring Bats" - Decorated with painted or stained rings or bands around the
center or and barrel, are common to the
late 19th century. As advertised in the
1884 – Wright & Ditson Baseball Guide
below, these Ash or Basswood bats were
"stamped as shown..." The ring bat
pictured here is believed to have been
used in a semi-pro league in Boston.
The ad mentions the hand-turned bats
are "modeled after patterns now in use
by our leading professional and amateur
players." An 1887 Imperial
studio
portrait, picturing "King Kelly" of the
Boston Beaneaters, is standing in
uniform with a Wright & Ditson ring bat
with the same branding.
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19th Century Wright &
Ditson Ring Baseball Bat |
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Photos courtesy of
Nathan Reed |
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19th Century Wright &
Ditson Baseball Bat
Knob |
1884 – Wright & Ditson
Catalog |
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
RELATED RESOURCES |
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