by vintagebrett » February 18th, 2013, 11:46 am
Here are some bits and pieces of information of the history of the Stall & Dean Co., all culled from the pages of the Sporting Goods Dealer"
This excerpt is from the September 1900 issue of The Sporting Goods Dealer:
"This is an old established factory with a new name. In 1892 the factory was started by the well known house of Dame Stoddard & Co., formerly Dame Stoddard & Kendall, of Boston. It was their original intention to manufacture simply athletic clothing for their own consumption. Such was their success, however, that new articles were constantly added to the line and year by year the trade was increased until their factory accounts were in nearly every State in the Union. Mr. Stall had been connected with Dame Stoddard & Co. since 1886 (until the change in 1899), and being an athlete, was placed in charge of the athletic department when opened in 1890. Under his management the business was increased in all directions, particularly in the manufacturing line. On the 15th of March, 1899, the factory, stock and good will of the manufacturing business was purchased by W.T. Stall and C.H. Dean, who started a partnership under the present style. Mr. dean, who is a cousin to Mr. Stall, had been connected with the old firm since the factory was started, as foreman and manager and a great deal of the success must be attributed to his personal efforts. The concern is today, making a line of athletic clothing that is second to none in the country, and is also very strong on leather goods, such as striking bags, football shin guards, etc. The aim of the new concern is to make articles of practical use to athletes. Both Mr. Stall and Mr. Dean are athletically inclined and their knowledge of different sports has been of great assistance to them. They have several specialties in football goods that are new and should interest every dealer. Their new catalogue is now ready and can be had by addressing the factory at Brockton, Mass."
This excerpt is from 1902:
"The Stall & Dean Manufacturing Co. of Brockton, Mass. recently found that to conduct their business on a satisfactory basis it was necessary to increase their manufacturing capacity, preferably by locating a branch factory at some point convenient for supplying the Western trade. Chicago was the point selected, where a plant giving 12,000 square feet of floor room was leased and equipped for a commencing operations about December 1st. The location is at 61 and 63 Union Park Court. For the last 10 years the Stall & Dean Mfg Co. has labored at a disadvantage in taking care of their Western trade in base ball goods, etc. and filling orders from that territory as promptly as those from the East, but this difficulty will now be wholly obviated. This firm is putting on the market a base ball bat for which they have obtained a patent. It is called the Stall & Dean Biffer and it's novel feature is the handle, which is made of eight sections of rattan and a center core of hickory, and is securely fitted, glued and dovetailed into the ash. It is claimed that it possesses more driving power than any other bat with positively no jar or sting to the hand when the ball is struck."
Below are some ads from the company from the early part of the century. You'll notice one has some racist overtones and in no way am I condoning this practice, I'm just posting it to show the company in a historical perspective. There is also a picture of the owners.
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![stalldeanphoto1905.jpg (2.43 MiB) Viewed 43791 times stalldeanphoto1905.jpg](./download/file.php?id=6706&t=1&sid=6ceaeb0c68562990fcdd1fea911609c5)
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![stalldean1900.jpg (2.54 MiB) Viewed 43792 times stalldean1900.jpg](./download/file.php?id=6705&t=1&sid=6ceaeb0c68562990fcdd1fea911609c5)
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![stalldean1902.jpg (435.01 KiB) Viewed 43792 times stalldean1902.jpg](./download/file.php?id=6704&t=1&sid=6ceaeb0c68562990fcdd1fea911609c5)
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![stalldean1903.jpg (788 KiB) Viewed 43792 times stalldean1903.jpg](./download/file.php?id=6703&t=1&sid=6ceaeb0c68562990fcdd1fea911609c5)
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![stalldean1904.jpg (812.96 KiB) Viewed 43792 times stalldean1904.jpg](./download/file.php?id=6702&t=1&sid=6ceaeb0c68562990fcdd1fea911609c5)
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![stalldean1905.jpg (719.48 KiB) Viewed 43792 times stalldean1905.jpg](./download/file.php?id=6701&t=1&sid=6ceaeb0c68562990fcdd1fea911609c5)