Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Evidently I'm not getting any younger because the 50's seem like a long, long time ago. I was only 5 years old when the decade ended, so I honestly don't remember much of it. Most of the star players of that era (Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Mathews,etc.) continued on thru the 60's, though, when I first became a fan of the game. Ah, the gloves. They were some significant chunks of leather, with many innovations over the 40's models. Laced fingers and palms, Snugger wrist straps, thumb and pinky loops... And the webs were V-anchored, Spidered, and Triple Locked. The heels were flatter and narrower and the thumb angled to create a deeper pocket. Best of all, they were big and cool looking.
I've only seen a couple of top of the line Sam Mele models over the years. They were only made in 1954-55. Of course if you were trying to talk your parents into shelling out $25 for one back then, you'd want to point out that a Rawlings Mickey Mantle MM was just a measly $1.50 more. That's the one you really wanted anyway.



An earlier Mort Cooper MC. No anchored web, Snugger, etc.



Spider-Webs! Ewell Blackwell G110.



Colavito Spalding 1141. Always thought it was interesting that it's the clone of the HSP and that Rocky and Herb Score were roommates and best friends. Same glove, different labels.



Harvey Haddix HH.



The HH clone, Spalding 1001 Professional Model.



Joe Adcock T95 with the Trapper patch.



Can't forget the neat 3-finger gloves from back then: Musial PMM, Spalding 1221 Triple Play, Macgregor GB8 Bobby Adams, and Rawlings PM1 with their cool Playmaker patch.



Spalding 1001 again with a Red Rolfe RR and Mr. Shortstop G600. I love the Rawlings cloud patch, too. Where did I find most of these remarkable treasures? My limited edition gray blanket holds the clue...



Anyone else like 1950's gloves? Please, please post them. Otherwise it will be just more of the same old crescent pads and King Patents. Kidding, of course.
Post some 50's!

Just to show I'm not a sewn web snob, I do have some post war gloves (not necessarily the 50's). The first glove/mitt that got me started in this hobby was a black Denkert Bill Skowron ST7 trapper model mitt. I thought it was so old and the best $8 I spent at the swap meet. I think some other collector (Crackofthebat) started with a Bill Skowron as well. Great look. Years later I found a mint one on Ebay. Love it! Always looking for others.

The other one is from my father-in-law who gave it to me because I liked gloves. He's a handy fellow and I could tell because when I got it, it had wire with rubber coating for lace. Love those gloves that get McGyvered! It's a Wilson A2086 Nelson Fox.

BTW Greg, I've always like the Blackwell model. Is that the only model where the strap goes the other direction?

Very cool, Ricky. MacGregor made a few other models with the reversed wrist strap. I've always liked that style, too. I'll bet if you were lucky enough to get one back then you'd be showing it off to all your buddies. I know that most of the forum is interested in much earlier gloves, and I'm focused more on the ones from the 20s and 30s these days. I still like the ones from the 50s that I've found over the years and think that it was a great era for gloves. Thanks for posting them!

A few 1950's that I have are.....(Just click on the thumbnail for full size)

1958 Rawlings Mickey Mantle w/ anniversary patch


D & M DG919 Johnny Sain



Rawlings Stan Musial PMM



Nokona Forrest "Spook" Jacobs Model 3F9



Stall & Dean Stanky Model(block letters) Model 8021

Love the Rawlings Trapper. I bought the Lupien model just for the "Trapper" patch. I think it is one of the best patch designs out there.

Speaking of patches, that's a very cool looking one on your Stall&Dean, AkBandit. Classic looking Rawlings Mantle, too. Thanks for posting them.