Historical OK MFG Co. / Sonnett items of interest

[vintagebrett]

Just thought I would share this items with you guys. I've known they existed for a while and waited patiently until they became available. I'm thrilled to have them in hand and look forward to displaying them prominently with their glove brethren. The dies are most likely one of a kind items and they are now one of the coolest items in my collection. These all came from the estate of an employee of the company.

Tie tack given to employees


Pay stub


Dies used to stamp manufacturer on gloves and balls


Dies used to stamp players endorsement on the gloves

[Mr. Mitt]

Super sweet! You've been waiting a long time to get your grubby little hands on those, congratulations! Perhaps now we don't have to hear, "I'm waiting to hear from the Sonnett guy, I'm waiting to hear from the Sonnett guy" any longer!

[okdoak]

That is amazing Brett. Those dies! When does your OK/Sonnett museum open?

[vintagebrett]

Super sweet! You've been waiting a long time to get your grubby little hands on those, congratulations! Perhaps now we don't have to hear, "I'm waiting to hear from the Sonnett guy, I'm waiting to hear from the Sonnett guy" any longer!

Says the guy who asks daily "Have you talked to the lady who has the..."

[vintagebrett]

That is amazing Brett. Those dies! When does your OK/Sonnett museum open?

The one on my website is open 24/7 so visit it anytime. I'm going to put up individual shots of the dies as time permits. Th museum in my basements open anytime you're in CT.

[Mr. Mitt]

Says the guy who asks daily "Have you talked to the lady who has the..."

Ah... touché!

[deebro041]

Awesome collection Brett!! Thanks for sharing!
Dan

[ScottWNJ]

Brett, those are spectacular!!! Congratulations.

Scott

[murphusa]

What's the big friggin deal, they are only OK

[vintagebrett]

These letters came out of the Eddie Stanky estate and were recently sold in Hunts Auction. I love these letters for many reasons but for one, it's intriguing to look into the back and forth between player and company regarding endorsements. The fact that one of the letters was authored and signed by the founder of the company, William Sonnett, makes them even cooler. The other letter was signed by Andy Tighe - he was the secretary for the company.

[okdoak]

The glove correspondence is very cool. I have always been interested in the contracts between the glove makers and the players and I wish more of these would turn up. Years ago I wrote to Bob Dillinger asking him about his endorsement deal with Rawlings. He didn't mention any payment but said that they sent him two gloves every year.
I found this photo of Ned Garver. Think that is an OK glove?

[vintagebrett]

Greg, thanks so much for posting that picture. I've been searching for evidence of a ML player using a Sonnett/OK glove forever! I know they must have been used but I wanted visual proof - that picture is great! Each year at the National I go through the boxes of baseball photos with players that had their name endorsed on the gloves - I found a Whitlow Wyatt photo but the glove was obscured too much for me to confirm that it was an OK. Seeing the Garver, I did a quick google photo search and see a couple more pictures, including a card or two, that are most likely Sonnetts. Now my brother has something to look for me at the National during his breaks.

[okdoak]

My pleasure Brett. After reading your post about Eddie Stanky, I did a search for photos of him and it led me to the site with the Garver photo. Lots of great glove photos on it put together by someone who really must have put a lot of time into it. Here is the link:
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/o ... neups.html

[ScottWNJ]

Okdoak, thanks for finding that link. Great seeing all the players who were playing in the year I was born. Besides the gloves in the photos, I was also drawn to the shoulder patches on several uniforms. Those would make an interesting collection.

Scott