by Mr. Mitt » February 10th, 2012, 2:04 am
There are three significant differences between the Ruth gloves shown above. The manufacturer, country of origin, and production date. The glove of the month example (whether an RFO, RF1 or RF2) was produced by Reach while the one with the white patch is a Spalding. We could debate the difference in manufacturers since they were both owned by Spalding. For our purpose, however, let's say they're different because the RF models were marketed under the Reach brand while the WW and MO models were marketed with Spalding. Second, Spaldings with white patches were Canadian made, not US. Third, the Canadian example was produced in the late 30's as opposed to USA made Spaldings with red patches which were made during Ruth's playing days. Besides, late 20's and early 30's models lacked the tunnel loop web, which the Canadian example has. Canadian Spalding MO's are much more plentiful than the earlier USA Spalding MO that was packaged with the ornate Ruth picture box (see my avatar). Back to the Reach. I'd rule out it being an RFO because of what Mike mentioned. RFO's had leather piping and super high quality leather. I'd guess it's an RF2 because even RF1's had thicker, rolled leather piping.