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MANUFACTURER
- Louisville Bat
Co.
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There's not much information
available about the Louisville Bat
Company. Ring bats with the Louisville
Bat Co. horseshoe logo,
have surfaced in the hobby, that might
date to the 1890s. The 1906 Bigelow & Dowse Co. hardware catalog lists the
Louisville Bat Co. bats under J.F. Hillerich
& Son, suggesting that Louisville
Slugger owned the company at the time.
J.F Hillerich & Sons, would sometimes acquire the plants of small bat
manufacturers, to increase production
of their own brand of baseball bats. In
some cases, they continued to
manufacture the brand they purchased
for a number of years after. On May 21, 1912,
the J.F. Hillerich & Son
Company filed a disclaimer on the words
"Louisville Bat Co. No. Louisville,
KY." to claim that they are not associated
with the trademark owner.
There are only a few newspaper ads from 1912-1914, advertising the bats.
The 1917, Janney, Semple, Hill &
Company Hardware catalog lists
Louisville Bat Co. bats, along with
Louisville Slugger bats. The Louisville
Bat Co. Horseshoe label disappears from
printed ads after 1917. However, a Chas
Gehringer block letter endorsement;
Special League no. 20S shows that the
Louisville Bat Co. horseshoe label was
still being produced into the 1920s.
Chas Gehringer was under contract with
Louisville Slugger.
The No. 19 decal bat shown below features a decal on the barrel that
reads; "Used By All Professional
Leagues." This was the same decal
produced by the Palm Fechteler & Co.
for J. F. Hillerich & Son, for use on
its popular line of decal bats during
the period 1910 to 1915. The only
difference is the color scheme.
The Louisville Bat Co. name resurfaces in the 1950s with a Louisville
Slugger like center brand. The bats
feature Louisville Slugger block letter
player endorsements on the barrel with
the words "Louisville Mascot" above. It
has been noted in the past, that
Louisville Slugger bought out the
Hilton Collins Company, maker of
the "Louisville Mascot" bats, along with
the Louisville Bat Co., in the 1920s.
Not able to break the stronghold that
Louisville slugger had on the market,
Hilton Collins went up for sale in
August of 1927. In September all the
company's furnishings, forge shop,
woodworking machinery, and tennis
racket manufacturing equipment was
auctioned off.
Louisville slugger might have just
bought the "Louisville Mascot"
trademark name and decided to use it
in the 1950s. The model No. 100J,
Louisville Bat Co. branded baseball
bats include bock letter endorsement
by; Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Mize, Stan
Musial, and Ted Williams.
Louisville Bat Co. also produced the
No. 35-S Regulation Softball Bat.
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Louisville Bat Co.
Baseball Bats |
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Louisville Bat Co. No.
19 Professional Decal
Bat |
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1920s Chas Gehringer
Special League no. 20S
Horseshoe logo bat |
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Louisville Bat Co. No. 35-S
Regulation Softball Bat
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| Louisville Bat Co. 100J Louisville Mascot |
1955 Newspaper Ad |
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
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