Sears & Roebuck Ted Williams Model 1st Base Mitt

[elkshot]

Does anyone know anything about the Sears and Roebuck Ted Williams Models?

One of my asst coaches brought one to practice for one of the boys. He found it down in his fathers basement. The leather is real stiff and the lacing is shabby, but has hardly been used.

I told him we should check if it is worth anything before going to town on the reconditioning...any help would be greatly appreciated...

[jwoody]

I WOULD CLEAN IT UP AND USE THE GLOVE, WHO KNOWS YOU MIGHT MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY

[elkshot]

If it was mine, it would be a gamer. I did a little more checking on Google and Ebay...most of the Ted Williams Models from S&R are only going for around $16. I'm pretty sure he'll say fixer up! We got a kid on the team drueling for it!

[softball66]

I just sold a nice Ted Williams Sears model '70s I think on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0235285153
If you want to learn a little about Ted Williams gloves, etc. at Sears, I
did a little background on it in the auction description. I think sale price was
$22. So these don't sell for much as Sears had very many of these made with Ted's name.
Sears put Ted's name on baseball, football, basketball, fishing and hunting gear. The company had previously used J. C. Higgins name before signing Ted to a giant contract in 1960 or so. His gloves were made in the USA for awhile before being accessed offshore.

[ebbets55]

Most of you know I love to accumulate glove reference material and have amassed a lot of it over the years. Well, I was recently at the Sears/Kmart Corporate offices in Hoffman Estates outside of Chicago and I got this from their archives regarding Ted Williams:

"In one of the company's most successful promotions, the former Boston Red Sox Great had been signed in 1961 to head a new "Sports Advisory Committee." It was his job to advise on the development and testing of sporting goods bearing his name. By the following year additional committee members included two-time Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias, and Sir Edmund Hillary, conqueror of Mt. Everest."

I also got the story of J.C. Higgins entitled "Legend of J.C. Higgins" and it reads as follows:

"Many youngsters growing up with Sears' brand 'J.C. Higgins' sports equipment might have thought the name came from a famous early running back or home run-hitter. It didn't. The trade name which appeared from 1908 to the 1960's on items from tennis shoes and basketballs to fishing tackle and bicycles was actually taken from a quiet bookkeeper.

As the story goes, back in 1907 some Sears men were sitting around a desk discussing possible names for the growing line of sporting goods when John Higgins, the company controller, strolled by. His name was also thrown into the hat and after short deliberation, was the unanimous choice. Higgins gave his approval to the idea and even let them give him the middle initial "C" so the moniker sounded more heroic - like 'John L. Sullivan.' After awhile they shortened it to J.C. Higgins and the rest is merchandising history."

I'll make sure Joe gets copies of the early Sears catalogues I have.

JD

[softball66]

I once had a fellow in New Hampshire who told me he owned a Ted Williams canoe from Sears.
One wonders what went on in the Sears Board Room in bringing Ted aboard. Maybe John C. Higgins had retired. Both Wilson and Sears headquartered in Chicago. Wilson probably making a lot of the Sears gloves thru the years. I think I read where Williams contract with Sears was the biggest sporting good / baseball player contract in history until that time. Ted was an avid fisherman, so that fit too into his slotting in with Sears.
The two huges cataloguers of their day, Sears, chose J. C. Higgins while
Montgomery Ward went with "Marathon" for its glove lines.
J. D. thanks for the catalogs and new information. I do remember Doc Hughes, the Nocona sporting goods rep, writing at one time that he ran into
J. C. Higgins, the Sears buyer in Mexico during WWII. Doc may have thought he was a buyer or maybe Higgins was involved in that aspect of the company during that critical time.
Sounds like Higgins wandering into the Sears planning room was similar to the Draper Maynard old hunting dog coming into an advertising "creative thinking" meeting where he became a symbol for that company.

[ebbets55]

Hi Joe,

Does anyone remember the name of the Lucky Dog springer spaniel?

His name was Nicodimas. Just some useless glove trivia for you guys.

JD

[Rickybulldog]

Thanks for the tidbit of info Jim.

I was just recently trying to remember that dog's name. I knew it had one.....................RBD