Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Hi Romano,

Did you see my reply to your other post about this glove?

yes i did see your post and thank you very much...The Hickies glove i plan to continue to investigate right down to the house on the block that Burton Hickies lived in and to investigate the 'Midwest' company that probably made this glove...

Thanks for everything!
I am now certain that the last name on my glove is 'Hickies', Burton Hickies.
I emailed the owner of the other 'Hickles' glove and he said it might very well have been 'Hickies' but he no longer has the glove...
now the puzzle of why two gloves surface with the same name, stamp signed for a ballplayer who apparently never played Major League baseball.
And so i will continue to research this individual for a fuller look of who he was and where he played.
james

Hot off the press: A white Burton Hickies glove was auctioned recently by Hunt Auctions, Inc, circa 1930.
A source has told me he thinks Burton Hickies was a minor league player...can anyone explain why a minor leaguer would have a glove named for him?
Thanks,
james

There have been a number of minor league player endorsements over the years. Reasons could vary - perhaps the company was looking to establish a relationship before the player made it to the majors, thus hoping to capitalize if they made it big. I'm sure there are plenty of other good reasons - I know Nokona had a bunch of minor league players and I think that may have been because of their proximity to the league in Texas?

Besides what Vintagebrett said...

Back in those days the sporting goods business and player endorsements were not always on a national scale. There were many small companies that marketed their products on a regional basis and it wasn't uncommon for them to sign endorsement deals with popular minor league players from their area.

Baseball itself was not as national in those days, with all of the Major League teams being concentrated in the eastern half of the US. For much of the rest of the country, the minor leagues filled the void and were a thriving enterprise.

Also of note, as you research this glove: While the Hunt auction refers to this endorsement as "Hickies" (with an "i"), the one reference book entry I found, and the post to the other web site I linked above, spell the name "Hickles" (with an "L").

A google seach of this name under either spelling turns up exactly one listing for each!

That is great insight about the manufacturers having local players as endorsements and the small, local markets of that era.
The second 'i' in Hickies is not an 'l' but a dotted 'i'...i can see the dot for the 'i' above the second 'i' just as i can see the dot for the first 'i' in Hickies.
My research will go into the spelling as such: Hickies

A few years ago I had sold a Burton Hickies 1st base mitt, 1930's, very cheaply made. So thats makes 3. mike

A rare endorsed glove to find for sure. The example I had was the only one I have ever handled. I could find no information on Hickies during my research. If I come across anyting I will forward the info along to you. Good luck !

You could try this site and see what you come up with:

http://www.probaseballarchive.com/Home.aspx

I've had some luck with the New York Times Historical Archive as well. You need to subscribe - a lot of times your local library will have access to that, as well as other newspaper databases.

i can use a bit of my compulsive nature to dig deeper and locate information concerning Mr. Hickies...once a geographical location is found, then there will probably be a great deal about the man, especially from his family...