First Hank Greenberg endorsed fielders glove?

[mikesglove]

Below is a 1940's Rawlings "Hank Greenberg" model G700X. It was made for Tool Shop & Sporting Goods of Detroit. Greenberg switched from first base to outfield for the Tigers in 1940. I'm not sure if the "X" designation meant it was uncatalogued but it is a really large well made glove.







U. Lippman formed Tool Shop Hardware Co. in 1906 as a supplier of parts and accessories to the burgeoning automobile industry. His son Lee Lippman took over the business and expanded it to include sporting goods. The business was renamed Tool Shop Sporting Goods Co. and later to Lippman's Sporting Goods. The business closed in 1959. They became well known for their fishing gear and carried a full range of outdoor gear. Lee Lippman had a good business sense by marketing to the local Detroit sports teams. Below is a hockey goalie glove.


He developed hockey elbow pads in the 1950's that were first used by the Detroit Red Wings. He also supplied the Red Wings with Jerseys. The Gordie Howe game jersey below carrying the Lippman tag sold for over $20,000 at auction.



Lippman was known for his discounted prices. Fair trade lawsuits were brought against him to no avail. The 1938 Tool Shop catalog page below shows some of the brand name baseball gloves they carried. The gloves were advertised with both a retail price and the discounted Tool Shop price.


The glove below was manufactured by Stall & Dean with the Tool Shop tag on the wrist strap.

[softball66]

Whoa Nellie! on that Hank Greenberg fielders glove. I've not seen another. The "X" designation used by Rawlings in that era was either designated experimental or pro stock. I'm guessing that is an RR model, maybe developed later as the MC designation in 1942. Maybe Rawlings made a glove for Hank with his signature and a few extras for Tool Shop in Detroit where Hank was playing. What's the back ground on the glove? eBay?

[mikesglove]

Whoa Nellie!

That's what I said to myself Joe. It's from ebay. Not great photos, but I could make out "Greenberg" on the pinky and knew the 700 with the "X" designation was something different. Seller was from Michigan so the glove was probably directly from the Detroit Tool Shop. I like the triple tunnel feature. Some of the other uncatalogued models come to mind like the "Bill Brubaker" and "Stu Martin" gloves that also had the triple tunnel web. I'm wondering if the triple tunnel was the "experimental" feature. I posted that photo of Greenberg holding a Rawlings glove in addition to his base mitt in "Good Glove Photos are Hard to Find". May be that Rawlings worked out some sort of short term endorsement with him. Your thoughts?

[softball66]

Perhaps Mr. Lippman who owned Tool Shop and Greenberg were good friends and after Hank moved to fielders position, Rawlings "created" this glove for him and Mr. Lippman asked Rawlings to have some Greenberg gloves made to sell in his store. Best guess.
X could have designated experimental as Mike suggests or maybe this is when Rawlings started using "X" for pro stock. I'm not sure
when it started this practice. At any rate this would be a very desirable glove for the Greenberg collectors. Mostly we find the block letter mitt. Since we've all been tracking glove for 20 years this is a rarity and maybe only a few were made.
Along with the Brubaker and Martin gloves, now Dave Cunningham has come up with an obscure player glove : "Lefty" Johns.
Isn't this what makes our hobby so inviting???

[okdoak]

That is a terrific glove Mike. Nice find! I think it's only the second Rawlings I've seen with a triple tunnel web; the other one being a Marty Marion. Love the Tool Shop stamping. It must have been quite the store. Here is their window display from 1945.

[vintagebrett]

Like the rolled lace glove in the display

[stockbuddy]

That rolled laced web caught my attention too. Neat picture.

Dave

[mikesglove]

A Kaline Model glove.

[ebbets55]

Cool Lippman's glove. I have a Lippman's box. It was a Detroit company.

JD