vintage or folk art?

[cbrandis]

ebay listing for old glove and bat. Both could be home made.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

any ideas?

[softball66]

Carmi, I'm thinking factory made on the bat, instead of "A Very" Club, you think maybe: " Avery Club?"
I don't think homemade could have done the burned in. I've seen another curved bat from that time period.
mitt looks like a factory pita pocket. I'd venture a guess both beyond made at home.

[cbrandis]

agree on the glove but the writing on the bat looks so uneven.
Did machine-made bats have uneven lettering? Not a bat person, so my knowledge is limited.
tried to find something on Avery bats, but nothing turned up. Any info?

[softball66]

Crude and uneven yes but a little beyond home done I believe. And if this was 1906, the branding was not as good as later. Would have had to make a stamping of some sort.
No info on Aver, here. Could have been just a small shop. But, in a way, this is a wonderful example of turn of the century manufacturing of bats. Hopefully one of our bat experts
will lend a hand.

[crackofthebat]

For what it is worth, I think the bat is home made or at least the stampings were home made. The stamping definitely looks like they were done by hand using a small iron - hence the uneveness of the depth of the stampings. I would say the person who did the stampings did very neat work considering what he must have used as a tool! The glove I don't think was home made - look how neatly spaced the stitch marks are.

[Mike**Mize]

PRETTY CLEVER OF THE SELLER TO ALMOST RANDOMLY PLUG IN BABE RUTH'S NAME IN THE ITEM'S TITLE. I BET HE'S GOTTEN A FEW EXTRA HITS THANKS TO "THE BAMBINO". HAVING SAID THAT, I LIKE THIS PAIR AND IT'S A LITTLE SHOCKING THAT THEY'RE SITTING THERE AT $26 AND CHANGE WITH 3 DAYS TO GO.

[cbrandis]

just to add to the discussion, check out this piece of baseball history, and do they connect.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fr ... 946597D6CF

[murphusa]

The bat is home made. It has a really bad grain to be factory made

[softball66]

Some nice and intriguing opinions and facts offered. I will hold out a little for somewhere between homemade and some small shop. Some questions:
1. The bat is curved, from warping over age or was it made that way?
2. Tape on the bat handle (put on when) and what are the black circles?
3. A lathed bat or hand carved and sanded? Though probably hand carved in and cruder than stamping, why go to that much trouble to circle brand and carve name and date? Fly on the wall when this was made. . . Murph is right, wood grain is not good, wonder if even ash?
4. I have a 1907 Hillerich and Son Bat and also a pure homemade bat to draw some reference from but not really that helpful.
5. Be interested in what "Crack of the Bat" has to say. Here's a closeup shot of the handcarved "very old" homemade bat of mine.

's civil bat knots.jpg (28.29 KiB) Viewed 10562 times

[murphusa]

The bat is curved for one of two reasons, first is that it was not completely dried when it was made. The moisture content was high and as it dried out it followed its natural course.

The second reason would be that it became extremely wet it its latter life and dried with pressure.

The rings are watermarks and also part of the grain. The wood does not appear to be a hardwood

The tape and nails are to protect and repair a break. As the gain is uneven and not correctly lined up with the label it had to crack when hit

The label was handmade as in it you can see where the marker was steady except when it made the circle. The lined follow the hand of the maker as in an autograph slant of a ball.

Lettering is easier than the curve section using a point type devise

This is something to look for when looking at older bats that are said to be of a player.

[Number9]

They're both definitely home made. The grain on the bat looks like it's oak. As for the mitt, it looks like it was made from leather salvaged from a bag of some kind. The ghosted stitch marks on the palm look like they were first put there to secure a handle or strap in their previous life. They serve no purpose on the mitt. The canvas backing could have been sourced anywhere. 100% home made in my opinion, both cases.

[crackofthebat]

Well, Joe, I'll put my two cents and try to answer your questions. Any type of wood can warp whether hand carved or lathe turned. It all depends on what conditions the wood is exposed to. A staight grained wood will not warp as bad as a bat made out of a softer wood or one with a poor grain in it. To me the tape doesn't look vintage - too white and too thick. I can't get a larger picture, but the black spots look like carpet tacks that have rusted and were probably used to fasten the tape to the handle. The bat is not lathe turned. You can see the draw knife marks on the surface. The knob also indicates hand made rather than lathe turned.

[softball66]

Can I use this bat in slow pitch softball instead of my Miken Ultra 2? What. . . no! .........
Well, we've come a long way technology wise, have we not?
Fred, whadya think of my civil war bat I pictured?
Softball 70

[crackofthebat]

It's a classic, Joe! Definitely hand made!!!!!

[softball66]

What fun! And I have learned a lot.
So COTB, do you mean, my pictured bat is NOT a Doug Allison gamer as I was told? Gloriosky! Well, I'll have to get it back from the Hall of Fame.
I did buy it at a show on a whim because I thought, " how neat,"-- a couple of country lads carved out something to use for their bat because they couldn't afford a Hardware store cudgel.
The seller did, incidentally, tell me that it was found in an attic with some civil war items, which I took in with a grain of the sodium chloride, but further justified my purchase.
Is there any way to determine age of the wood outside of carbon dating? I would be interested.
Thanks to all for input, esp. Fred. Can't believe we spent this much time on wood. Fred I've still got that 50 oz. bat too.