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   Vintage Baseball Glove Dating Guide

1920 - 1929  Baseball Gloves


One inch webs still remain at the start of this era. Manufacturers are developing the "Lacing Device" and using lace between the thumb & forefinger which leads to the vertical tunnel loop, and leather strips laced between  the thumb and forefinger. Substantial webbing is being developed towards the end of the 1920's which will lead to the modern day web. The "Bill Doak Era" of baseball Gloves begins.

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Vertical tunnel loop Web 

Vertical tunnel loop Web
1926 Wilson Baseball Mitt, Model No. 638,  Virgil Barnes Endorsement. Single tunnel web connects the forefinger and thumb with lace passed through sewn in loops.
Vertical tunnel loop web circa 1920s elongated loops were sewn in directly to the thumb and forefinger through which passed a simple rawhide lace.

Rawlings Bill Doak baseball glove..Model #5BD

Earlier Bill doak Model circa 1922 web missing

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The largest improvement ever in glove design happened in 1920, when Bill Doak, a journeyman pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, approached Rawlings with an idea for a web laced between the first finger and thumb. Before Doak's invention, gloves were primarily protective equipment that kept fielders' hands and fingers from being hurt by hard hit balls. Doak developed the idea of putting a substantial webbing between the glove's thumb and first finger to form a substantial pre-formed pocket in which to catch the ball. The Rawlings "Bill Doak" model that was first introduced in 1920 was so revolutionary that it remained available until 1953 with only minor modifications. Doak's invention was the ancestor of all modern gloves.

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1920s Loops sewn into forefinger, and thumb are connected by lace. the 1920s brought many experiment with web design. 
Late 1920s Hutch - William Wright Regan endorsed buckle back glove model # 736-V Dual Vertical Tunnel

 1920 - 1929 Baseball Glove & Mitt Catalog Samples

Sample photos below are  taken from wholesale catalogs issued between 1920 and 1929.
Reach OBL Baseball Glove 1921 catalog 1921 Reach 18C Youth Glove 1922 Reach 5R Baseman's Mitt  1922 Reach 75X Catchers Mitt
1921 Reach OBL
Fielder's Glove
1921 Reach 18C
Fielder's Glove
1922 Reach 5R
Baseman's Mitt
1922 Reach 75X
Catcher's Mitt
1922 Al Reach Fielders Glove 1922 Reach CB Fielder's Glove 1926 5R Reach First Base Mitt 1926 Reach 31 Catcher's Mitt
1922 Al Reach
Fielder's Glove
1922 Reach CB
Fielder's Glove
1926 Reach 5R
First Base Mitt
1926 Reach 31
Catcher's Mitt
1927 Rawlings Bill Doak Fielder's Glove 1930 Wilson Fielder's Gloves 1930 Wilson 638 Virgil Barnes Fielders Glove 1921 Bill Doak Patent April 18, 1921
1927 Rawlings
Doak Fielders Glove
1930 Wilson 648M
Fielders Gloves
1930 Wilson 638
Fielders Gloves
Bill Doak Patent
April 18, 1921
1920 - 1929 Baseball Glove Labels & Buttons
 
1922 Patented Bill Doak Rawlings Label
Patented 1922 Rawlings Bill Doak Label
1920s Reach Label 1920-1924 Wilson Glove Button 1920s Spalding Glove Button 1920s spalding Glove Label 1920s Rawlings Glove Label
1920s Reach
Label
1920-24 Wilson
Button
1920s Spalding Glove Button 1920s Spalding Glove Label 1920s Rawlings Glove Label
1910 -1919 Gloves & Mitts 1930 -1939 Gloves & Mitts


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