Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

George Lannom bought a tannery in Tullahoma, TN. in 1912 to manufacture harness and leather goods for the horse and buggy trade. With the development of the automobile, his business suffered and in 1919 Lannom expanded into the sporting goods market with the manufacture of footballs, basketballs and baseballs. In 1921 He established the "Worth" trademark for the sporting goods division of Lannom Mfg. A company in the midwest, Morrison-Ricker Mfg. in Grinnell, IA. was a highly successful glove manufacturer of work and driving gloves. They were established in 1857 and slowly built up the production facility from the hand cutting of leather patterns to machine die-cut stamping of glove patterns. They had an interest in the sporting goods business and in 1923 Morrison-Ricker and Lannom Mfg. merged with George Lannom moving to Grinnell to oversee the new company. The manufacture of baseballs continued in Tullahoma and all other leather production was moved to Grinnell. The factory in Grinnell closed in 1974 and the buildings were remodeled and became part of the Grinnell College Campus. Worth Sporting Goods still thrives today

A 1919 ad from Morrison-Ricker Mfg. for the Grinnell Glove

A rare and great looking 1920's Worth glove in near mint condition.

A pristine "Worth" logo patch on the back
A 1920's Worth "Bill Wambsganss" model with the King Patent wrist lacing

A 1949 Worth catalog with both the Grinnell and Tullahoma factories listed.

The Lannom Mfg. building on the Grinnell College campus in the process of renovation for the use of the Grinnell College administration staff.

Thanks,

I really enjoy these info threads.

I think it is interesting that the ball on the softball rule book reads "Nite ball".

Ken

Ken , I missed that. Here is an ad for that ball that explains the high visibility cover.

Morrison-Ricker manufactured a line of baseball gloves in addition to work and driving gloves. They were stamped Grinnell inside a diamond like the logo in this ad for driving gloves.


The baseball gloves pictured below may predate the merger with Lannom Mfg. in 1921. The gloves are well made and may be very rare. This one has a faint Grinnell logo in the palm



This white leather model is really pristine with great markings.

This display is in the old Morrison-Ricker factory that was remodeled to administration offices of Grinnell College. The display shows dozens of different styles of Grinnell work, dress and driving gloves in a variety of materials. The Grinnell glove styles numbered in the hundreds in Morrison-Ricker's heyday in the teens. An article stated that athletic goods such as baseball gloves were not a standard production item but were only made in slack times at the factory.