Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Just got back From a 1300 mile trek with my wife and 2 year old daughter across the eastern half of Iowa. My ears are still ringing. I went to a bunch of the antique festivals they have during the Fourth of July weekend. The first couple of days were slow but on the way home I found the black double buckle basemitt and the Frank Grube Denkert Patent at Phil's resale shop in Cedar Rapids and that made the whole trip for me. I'll list out my finds and I took a whole bunch of pictures. If anyone is interested in anything they see send me a PM or email me at richb34@comcast.net. The only gloves I really want to keep are the double buckle and the Denkert patent everything else is up for trade.
1.) Double buckle basemitt-unknown manufacturer the glove was pretty dry so I bathed it in lanolin hence the shine, can see some writing and hoping it comes out a little more
2.) Frank Grube Denkert patent catchers mitt-unknown manufacturer model #M 50 can see some stamping I should be able to decipher it in a while
3.) De Luxe Made in Mexico Glove- It looks like it says Schlmoss Baltimore Model #201 big big glove cool Hercules button
4.) Mint Wilson Basemitt- Model 555-GN all I can say is mint maybe a little checking to the piping from laying around but never used
5.) Wilson Catchers mitt- Model A2402 Professional Snap Action has a little ink I removed most but rest should come off easy real nice high quality mitt
6.) Globe Buckle back glove-model G53 or 63 has holes for the good ol' homemade conversion from a splitfinger to a laced finger figured the working buckle could come in handy some time down the road.
7.) J.C. Higgins glove- Model 1674 Walt Moryn really nice glove a little on the smaller size
8.) A red and blue stitched baseball looks like it says Official League. Went out on a limb I don't know too much about baseballs.
9.) Arkansas Traveler baseball bat 35" endorsed by Earl Brown? Can't find a thing about Earl. Bat is more like a club big big bat.
10.) Aridondack bat -Block Letter Musial Type 35" the labeling is readable but kind of faint
11.) Louisville Slugger bat-125 block letter Iowa 2- 34" I thought this might be a collegiate bat it had a bunch of tape on it a I did the vibration test on it and was sure it was uncracked. I unraveled the tape this morning to find 3 nails and a crack. Still a solid bat.
12.)Star Brand Shoes Are Better bat 35" Advertisement Bat really close to being mint it has a small dent in the barrel otherwise flawless.
13.)Two 1964 baseball yearbooks Pirates and Kansas City Atheletics

If anyone can help with any information about any of the items it would be much appreciated. If anyone needs better pictures of anything shoot me an email.
I have a dozen or so more bats I've collected and would like to trade for mitts, my two year old likes to get into them and I can't display them anymore so maybe some of you might like them.
Richie

more photos

more photos

and the last photos.. Sorry the pictures are kinda out of order

Hi Richie
I'd be interested in knowing what bats you have available. My email is Bub13@aol.com.
Those are some great pick ups though.
Matt

I would be interested in the lefty 1st basemans glove

Murph, if memory serves me correctly I think the Arkansas Traveler bats were made out of woodshop in Little Rock Ark that also made the "more famous" wooden Arkansas Traveler fishing boats.
Guess, if you're into wood making, bats make a nice adjunct. I had an Arkansas Traveler bat Joe Dimaggio block letter at one time. Also have a mini bat of "Lone Star Bat Co." Crockett Texas.
Neat to pick up some of these small bat company bats. it was easier getting into the bat business than the glove manufacturing.

softball66 wrote:Murph, if memory serves me correctly I think the Arkansas Traveler bats were made out of woodshop in Little Rock Ark that also made the "more famous" wooden Arkansas Traveler fishing boats.
Guess, if you're into wood making, bats make a nice adjunct. I had an Arkansas Traveler bat Joe Dimaggio block letter at one time. Also have a mini bat of "Lone Star Bat Co." Crockett Texas.
Neat to pick up some of these small bat company bats. it was easier getting into the bat business than the glove manufacturing.

Sorry Joe, but they were not the same company. The boat company only made fiberglass and alumiunm boats. They were one of the makers of the Sears Ted Williams model bass boats though. They had factories in Arhansas and also in Wisconsion and I think another in Ontario.

The bat company was an offshot of a lumber mill in Northern Arkansas. They didn't waste anything, bats, bird houses, porch chairs etc

Wilson lefty basemitt has been sold, Thank you

The Grube mitt is a product of the Denkert company. I believe that the model number is actually M30, based on the one that I have.

The covering over the back of the fingers is commonly called the Decker Patent, after Harry Decker who invented this feature (and had no relation to the Denkert company). It was patented at least 30 years prior to the Grube mitt being produced. By then, the original patent had expired and several companies introduced mitts with this feature.

I posted photos of my Grube mitt on this forum a few years ago and a search should turn them up. I also have a photo on my website. I've run across a few of these over the years and have seen several on eBay. One interesting thing is that most of them I see have vinyl piping. Mine is all leather and it appears that yours is too.

These are good quality heavy mitts. Denkert seemed to cater to the lower end of the market, especially in their later years. They also had a unique niche among glovemakers in that they produced gloves for a host of other retailers, who sold them under their own brand names. Offhand, I can think of perhaps a half dozen other companies that sold gloves made by Denkert, but were stamped with different brand names and logos.

Thank you for the information. The glove is big and does appear to have leather piping.