by Number9 » July 4th, 2012, 4:23 pm
The only new material on the Gehrig is the horsehide piping (the original was completely shot), and the cotton cord for the adjustment to snug up the back (original was missing). Everything else, including the lining, is original or original to the period.
I took the lining out and completely rebuilt it. All of the finger stalls had come undone, but the lining itself was in good shape. Just needed to be cleaned and put back together. Once I got it out, the full tear down was the only way to go. The assembly needs to happen in order, so going back and resewing bits and pieces without taking it fully apart is actually more work. As for the eyelets, that was insane, but it needed to be done. They were bent and in pretty rough shape overall, so that was reason enough to fix them, but there was also the bigger issue of being able to remove the piping which the eyelets went through. Ultimately that allowed me to get the lining out. I could have worked around the eyelets, I suppose, but it would have compromised the results of the finished product. All of the original eyelets were cleaned, straightened, and put back in, all by hand. The stitching you can see next to the zipper was done by hand. It was too awkward to do on the machine and I didn't want to risk damage. Lining and eyelets aside, I didn't do a ton of cleaning to the outside. The mitt had a burnished surface and I would have sueded the surface if I worked it too much. I gave it three or four gentle cleanings to try to bring up some of the stamping. That was mildly successful but the mitt looks a lot brighter with just the surface dirt removed.
Huntington Base Ball Co.
www.HuntingtonBaseBallCo.com