Patent Patter

[atabats]

Forgive me if this has been discussed before but I was wondering if a glove with this patent design exists? The Ken-Wel patent below shows lacing through all four fingers and the thumb.

This is the sans pinky lacing design Ken-Wel went with for their 560 Dazzy Vance model in 1925.

Original Ken-Wel 560 Dazzy Vance ad from 1925.

Did Ken-Wel scrap that 1924 design patent or does a glove like that exist?

Fun Fact: The Ken-Wel name had come from the Kennedy brothers’ last name and a partner named Wells. Wells pulled out of the venture before the company was started in 1919 but the Kennedy brothers liked the name so they decided to keep it.

[mikesglove]

Here's the glove. The pinky tab had become detached at some point.
Here's the story and more pics. http://www.vintagebaseballgloveforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4441&p=31624#p31624

[atabats]

Thanks Mike, awesome. I had a feeling this was already brought up but a search brought up nothing for me.

[mikesglove]

There were many patents for full round mitts from 1890 till 1910. The patents touted the advantages of creating a greater surface catching area and strengthening the perimeter of the mitt by integrating the thumb section with the body. The first patent I found was 1890 by Joseph Sauer. He designed a padded catching glove two years earlier. This new design was an actual mitt and involved some intricate rolls of padding that place the thumb section at a right angle to the body of the mitt to create a pocket. Pretty clever! below is a patent drawing. The one piece leather face was stretched over the padding and attached in the back to the finger/thumb stalls.
I've never seen an example or advertisement for this one. In 1895 Edward Wilson designed a bizzaro full round mitt found below. The "open air" finger stalls seem impractical at best. The front pad is roughly circular and has an interesting addition of lacing running through the mitt front to back(red arrow). This lacing is cinched up to create a "break" to help with closure of the mitt around the ball. Edwards understood the main disadvantage of a full round pad, namely the lack of a pocket and inability to control the ball once caught. he designed the break to help create a pocket.

The next patent was also 1895 by Harry Decker. He was a talented and prolific inventor. At the time, he was in trouble with the law and had his wife, Anna Burns Decker submit the patent shown below. He designed the full round mitt to have interchangeable parts: front, back and full round perimeter banding. The padding was molded in such a way that two breaks were formed internally(red arrows). Overall a cool design.

Below is an ad from a 1899 catalog of Frank Brogan of Iowa who was a partner in Iowa Glove Co. The Decker mitt is shown in all its glory. Since it was manufactured at one time, it is on my must have list. I haven't seen an example surface to date.

[mikesglove]

Around the turn of the century, ex-ballplayer Ted Kennedy retired to Peoria to experiment with a line of full round mitts for catchers and fielders. He contracted with Peoria Tent and Awning Co. to manufacture them. Below is one of Kennedy's advertisements for a catchers mitt.

Below is a brochure for a full round fielders glove/mitt.

Below is an example of a Kennedy fielders glove/mitt that recently sold at auction.

[mikesglove]

The patent drawing below from 1899 by William Tompkins depicts an interesting full round mitt design. According to the patent description, the sewn on glove pattern is meant to be ambidextrous. Instead of a break formed in the padding, this model incorporates a horseshoe heel pad to protect the wrist and direct a thrown ball to the center of the mitt. As with the other full round designs, the overriding concern of this inventor was to provide a greater surface catching area.

It's near almost impossible to find examples, but here are a couple in the ballpark. Amazingly enough, both mitts look to be from the same manufacturer.

[mikesglove]

Stall & Dean patented a mitt in 1901 that included a cleft between the thumb and body to form a deep pocket. The cleft was then sewn together and encircled with a full perimeter banding.

I found this ad from 1903 showing such a mitt below.

The example below seems to fit the bill for such a design. A dart was cut into the face, stitched together to form a pocket and then fully banded.


Various patents continued until 1910. Below are three. Harry Decker patented this thumbless design in 1906 while incarcerated at San Quentin. One of the prison guards did the legal paperwork and was credited as a co-inventor. The mitt was a complicated mash-up of a removable glove section, the use of an air bladder and regular padding.


The 1906 patent of Raoul Le Mat featured a mitt with a rigid paper mache frame to which the front and back of the mitt are attached.


This last mitt was patented in 1910 by Samuel Waring. It include a prominent heel pad and a riveted leather finger guard/stiffener at the top.


I found a few old player/team photos that seem to show some sort of full round mitt.
Circa 1910

1900's

1900's

[mikesglove]

A Rawlings "Billy Herman" model circa 1937-38.


The "inside" finger lacing was patented in 1931 by William Whitely for Rawlings. The lacing pattern differed from the KenWel patent of 1927 by the location of the lacing holes positioned at the front of the fingers. Whitley stated the front location would allow the finger stalls to slide along the lacing and self adjust around a caught ball.


Below is a Billy Herman model BH. Its a nice looking glove!



Below are a couple other examples. First is a "Martin Marion" model


Second is an early one. I can't make out the model number.

[mikesglove]

Edwin Loucks was partners with his brothers in a glove manufacturing business in Gloversville by the name Loucks Bros. Glove Co. Loucks invented this glove design for ball players in 1887.

It is a fairly primitive glove compared to the Sauers and Decker gloves of the late 1880's. It was meant to be affordable yet of durable construction. It is basically pieces of leather riveted together. Its simplicity was meant as an advantage for longevity of use. Loucks sold his patent to Ives, Blakeslee & Co. of New York. They were a large toy and novelty firm that sought out patented designs and manufacturers for their mail order catalog. Unfortunately, I don't have an I B & Co. catalog from that year but I found this page from an 1893 catalog. I like the button wrist strap Decker mitt, pretty cool!

[mikesglove]

A few unique and clever Benjamin Stobbe inventions for OK Mfg./Sonnett during the late 1940's to early 1950's.
The gloves are highly collectible.

[mikesglove]

I found this while perusing a Spalding 1906 catalog. I initially thought it was a Ted Kennedy full round mitt since there were business transactions between Kennedy and Spalding in the past. As luck would have it, there was some patent info above the catalog illustration. I'll give the gang a couple minutes to come up with a guess, Kennedy or what mysterious inventor? Scroll down for the answer. The mitt has lacing only at the bottom and sides because the top of the mitt tapers way down, hence the name "Scoop Model" kind of like a soft shovel, hah!

[vintagebrett]

Interesting model! Based on the Spalding illustration, it looks like it think towards the bottom (where laces are) and then tapers to the top.

[mikesglove]

Interesting model! Based on the Spalding illustration, it looks like it think towards the bottom (where laces are) and then tapers to the top.

Yes, that's right. The Spalding full round model S only lasted in the catalog for 2 years. Rawlings incorporated this scoop design for their "Gibson Mitt" in 1913.

[mikesglove]

D&M introduced a new top of the line glove in 1934, the Joe Cronin G98.

The 1934 Adjusto-Thumb patent on the G98 glove divided the thumb stall into two compartments. I had to examine the patent illustration below a while to visualize that. Best I can figure the 1934 patent concept was similar to the thumb loop in modern gloves.

The "Adjusto-Thumb" G98 glove below is interesting in the fully laced fingers. Also, the glove is made from rare Wapiti Kip leather. I couldn't find a specific catalog illustration for that style lacing and type of leather but there are gaps in the D&M catalog database.

[mikesglove]

Here is another glove with the Richey thumb patent. It's a Spalding model DT from 1936.