Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

I desperately need help to identify 3 gloves in a foot locker in my basement.

1: Rawlings AFB1, Professional Model, A Clutch Model. No fingers, just 2 pads. It doesn't look like any normal glove I am familiar with.

2: HK Stable Graceful, Pro Model, BIG NINE, No. 3000, Natural Ball Pocket.

3: Yabane Brand, New Everest, NEWTECHNIQUE, Professional Model, Sure Ball Pocket.

They were either my Father's or my Grandfather's. probably from the late 1940's, or 1950's.

Does anyone know anything of these gloves?

THANKS!

Hi, could you send some pictures, Thanks

I cannot post on this forum, Will email to you

here is the picture posting link http://www.vintagebaseballgloveforum.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2

Thanks for the link I will try after work today to post photos!

The Rawlings sounds like a 1B mitt - I'm not the familiar with the model number so maybe it was a softball mitt.

The other two, based on their manufacturers, are import gloves.

My father lived in Japan for a bit of time as a child/teenager.
Is that what you mean by "import"?

Yes, most likely made in Japan.

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WOW very nice condition on those gloves. I'm more a modern guy, so I will let one of the vintage guys respond about the gloves ( I Think the Rawlings is an old first base model though)

Neat looking import gloves - they look very well made. The Rawlings is definitely a 1B mitt. I don't have my source book near me but I'm still guessing it was made for softball.

I eagerly await any information anyone has on these gloves.
I have an interest in selling

I would hate to dump them in an yard sale coming up on 9/13/08 without proper knowledge about them....

Is there an interest in import gloves of this age? (1940's -1950's)
They have been in a military foot locker for well over 30 years now.

I am most curious about the Rawlings glove!

The Rawlings is without doubt a first base mitt. Looking through their old retail catalog data, the first year I see a "Clutch" model advertised is 1948. The final year they seem to have offered one was 1960.

The old catalogs give the model numbers of gloves sold through sporting goods stores and often that can help you pinpoint an exact year. However, this model number isn't listed. That isn't unusual. Many gloves were made for sale through various retail outlets which would carry different model numbers.

One possibility, since there seems to be a "military theme" here: Rawlings made many gloves under government contract for recreational use by the armed forces. Perhaps the "A" in the model number designates "Army" (I'm sure that the "FB" translates as "First Base"). Such gloves almost always have identifying stampings, such as "US ARMY" or "SPECIAL SERVICES".

Does this mitt have a cloth tag on the back, like the other two gloves do? If so, a close date can be determined by the style of the tag.

The other two gloves are import models and, based on their style, I would guess they are from around the mid-1950's to 1960. That would place all three gloves in the same time frame, which would make sense.

In the 1950's imported gloves produced offshore first began making a headway into the United States. Many such foreign companies came and went. The historical data for these many companies is fairly sparse.

The vintage glove collecting hobby focuses on made-in-the-USA gloves and, for the most part, gloves that bear the endorsement of star players. There is virtually no collectibe market for unendorsed imported gloves, beyond any appeal they might have to a casual baseball fan or hobbyist as a decorative piece.

Personally, I like the look of these gloves and have a few in my collection. But, they are not particularly rare or collectible. There is an ample supply to be found to satisfy what little collector interest there might be.

If I had to put a price on these, the Rawlings would probably be the most valuable, as a recognized American brand and likely made in the US. I would say maybe $35- if you found the right interested buyer.

On the two fielder's gloves, maybe around $25 tops. I commonly see similar gloves at antique shows or flea markets for $10-$15, but would add a little bit due to the nice condition of your gloves.

Again, those would be top retail prices and you would be doing very well to sell these gloves at those prices. It would really take just the right combination of an interested buyer looking for gloves like these to realize those prices.

Hope that helps!