Victor Gloves & The Rogers Brothers

[mikesglove]

In 1909 Victor Sporting Goods sued Rawlings Sporting Goods for patent infringement. Victor presented their 1895 patent for a buckle web catchers mitt as being infringed upon by Rawlings.


The Victor patent was unique for the buckle web feature but became too broad in claiming any means to form a pocket besides a buckle was still within the patent claim. Rawlings countered that other known patents such as the Jason Draper grommet web patent of 1891 and the John Gamble patent of 1906 for a molded padding accomplished the same thing as the Victor patent and in 1911 the lawsuit was dismissed as being without merit. There is a dirth of pictorial information on Rawlings catchers mitts before 1910. Mark Walters has his "Gibson" mitt of 1913 and that is about it. No catalog images exist as far as I know. It would be nice to see what Rawlings produced between 1900 -1910.

[vintagebrett]

It would be nice to see what Rawlings produced between 1900 -1910.

From looking through the Sporting Goods Dealer magazines from 1899 to 1905, there were no Rawlings ads or articles about gloves. There were monthly ads by Rawlings advertising uniforms and athletic clothing however. It would be interesting to determine when they started making gloves in mass. It seems that the earliest Rawlings gloves are from the 1910s.

[mikesglove]

I searched through Google from 1890-1915 and found no ads for Rawlings gloves either. There was everything but gloves: uniforms, fishing and hunting gear etc. Here are a couple of ads.

1906


1917



One interesting tidbit is the early Rawlings trademark logo circa 1903



The shield logo we are familiar with was established in 1912

[mikesglove]

Fancy Goods Co. of Toronto contracted with a sporting goods manufacturer to expand their business from stationary supplies and dry goods. It may have even been Victor Sporting Goods, who opened a plant in Brantford, ONT. in 1899. It is possible that Fancy Goods used the Victor name and changed the logo for their own purposes. The ad below from the Fancy Goods Co. shows a Victor logo quite different from the familiar winged logo. Charles Whitney, an officer of Victor Sporting Goods Inc. sued the owner of Fancy Goods, Harris Fudger for trademark violation in 1904. Whitney sought to have the logo expunged from the Canadian trademark registry.



Harris Fudger became a leading force in the development of Simpson's Dept. Stores in Canada at the turn of the century and were Eaton's major competition. Fudger's involvement with Fancy Goods Co. became minimal by that time. The gloves and mitts with that particular Victor logo were only made for a short period and are very rare.

The Victor Sporting Goods plant in Brantford continued in business as a separate entity even after Wright & Ditson bought out Victor and the brand was discontinued in the US. Below is a Canadian catalog from Reach, Wright & Ditson and Victor Sporting Goods from 1956-57.



Every so often, one of these newer Canadian Victor gloves and mitts show up on ebay. The winged logo is back on a black and white tag marked "Made in Canada"

[vintagebrett]

With that logo, it looks like he was copying the Victor name and the Spalding logo design.

[glovejunkie]

Here's one possibly with the rare tag/logo you were talking about Mike.

[mikesglove]

From a circa 1904 advertisement. Pretty good resolution.





Both mitts have a buckle on the thumb side and a D-ring on the body for adjusting the strap. With all the ins and outs, the strap ends up being about 8"-10" long. Many examples of the this model on JD's site have the strap missing. Easily the most fragile part of the mitt.



Mitt on the left has a double buckle and keeper. That is really different. Mitt on the right has the garden variety buckle web.


A 1910 sporting goods catalog





A really nice cardboard store display circa 1910. Too bad it was cut down. It would have been a stunner.

[mikesglove]

Here is a photo of Victor Sporting Goods located on Lyman St. Springfield, MA. from the early 1900's.

Here is the same Victor building taken from Google maps as it is today. Pretty much unchanged except a modernized ground floor.

Below is the Birnie St. location of Victor right before they were taken over by Wright & Ditson, again taken from Google maps. The building now houses a discount marketplace. Besides that, there is a whole lot of nothing out there. Must have seen a lot of tear-downs over the years.

[vintagebrett]

I always mean to take a picture of the Lyman Et. location when I'm up that way - it's right next to the train station. I'm usually distracted by the homeless guy who carries his stuff in large, pro golf bag in that area.

Speaking of tear downs, this location and the Birnie Street one should be safe for the time being. Springfield was awarded the western Mass license to build a casino and the proposed location is on the south side of town, while these two buildings are in the cental and northern areas.

[mikesglove]

I read about the casino. I think it is going to be on an old factory site. Brett is right about the factories and mills along the river. 60 acre factory sites are common. Old photos of the Chicopee River show it lined with huge mills and factories. I was trying to locate the original Victor building in nearby Chicopee and took a Google street view tour along Main St. and came across the old Fisk Rubber factory at Main & Oak Sts. Man, is it massive. I think it is being torn down now, part of the Chicopee "River Mills Project". Apparently the city got matching federal funds for the clean-up. Speaking of the original Victor Sporting Goods factory in Chicopee, unfortunately it is long gone. It took me a hell of a long time to locate the site because most of the old literature didn't include an address. It was referred to as the "Victor Plant" or "Hill Plant". There were a few owners and name changes over the years which made it elusive but I finally found the site at the corner of Broadway & Walnut St. In 1893, Victor Sporting Goods was located in the Overman Wheel Co. factory. It was a huge plant and state of the art for its day. Below is an attractive ad showing the layout of the Overman factory.


Below is an old photo along Broadway showing the Overman plant. Pretty cool elevated walkway. The signage reads J. Stevens Arms & Tool. They bought the building in 1901 after A.C. Overman went bankrupt. Note the cemetery in the right foreground.


Here is the same view backed up a little. The Victorian building in the left foreground was originally a school house. It was at the corner of Walnut & Broadway. When Overman built the plant behind, the noise of factroy operations impacted the school house to the point it was vacated and Overman bought the building. After the bankruptcy, the building became the Page Chocolate Co.


Below is a Google street view along Broadway with Walnut St. to the left. The cemetery is on the right. As you can see, not a trace left. An apartment/condominium complex are now on both sides of Broadway and the old Page Chocolate building is now a small park in the left foreground.

[mikesglove]

Below is a brief history of Charles Whitney, the founder of Victor Sporting Goods.

Charles Brown Whitney was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, October 4, 1860. He was educated in the public schools, finishing with high school in 1878. He became identified with the Winslow Roller Skate, and becoming an expert skater, traveled, giving exhibitions of fancy skating. Later he was connected with A. G. Spalding & Brothers, of Chicago, and there was in charge of their skating rink and gymnasium, designed and operated to encourage athletic sports. He remained with the Spalding Company fourteen years, becoming manager of their retail department in Chicago. Sickness in his family demanded a climatic change, and for about three and a half years Denver, Colorado, was the family home, he there establishing the sporting goods firm of C. B. Whitney & Company. In 1893, during the World Fair, Mr. Whitney returned to Chicago and during that summer was again in the employ of A. G. Spalding & Brothers. After his return to Denver, he closed out his interest in C. B. Whitney & Company by merger with A. G. Spalding & Brothers. For several years thereafter he remained with that company, but finally formed a connection with the Overman Wheel
Company and for a time was in charge of their Denver athletic interests. Later he came to the company's plant at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, and was in charge of the manufacture of athletic goods, holding this position until 1898. Mr. Whitney then bought the athletic goods department and formed the Victor Sporting Goods Company, continuing business in that line and using the old Overman plant at Chicopee Falls as headquarters until 1900, when he removed the business to Springfield. He again organized a company, this time in Denver, for the sale of athletic goods, trading under the name of the Whitney Sporting Goods Company, of which he is vice-president
and director. He later returned to Springfield, and on January i, 1918, the Victor Sporting Goods Company consolidated with the Wright & Ditson Company, the business continuing as the Wright & Ditson Victor Company. During the life of the Victor Company, Mr. Whitney was its treasurer, and at the present time he is still treasurer of the company and manager of the Springfield factory.


Below is an 1890's Spalding Ad listing the Denver distribution outlet ran by C.B. Whitney.



Below is an invoice from Whitney Sporting Goods of Denver from 1910 which carried the Victor line of equipment.



Below is an ad of Wright Ditson and Victor from 1923 which still lists the Whitney Sporting Goods store in Denver as an outlet.

[mikesglove]

I found this illustration in a 1903 Victor catalog. It is a Victor fielders mitt with a double crescent. Seems like the design was new for 1903. I couldn't find a double crescent mitt in an earlier Victor catalog.


Here is an example. The lighting of the photo doesn't enhance the top crescent shape very well.

[mikesglove]

Here's a mitt recently on ebay. It was made by Fancy Goods of Canada and features a "Victor" cloth patch, crescent pad and remnants of a buckle web.