Camp Chaffee Flannel: Arkansas Tanker Training Base a WWII Haven of Army Baseball

Researching wartime baseball can be a succession of twists, turns, roadblocks and dead ends as one travels down each road. One clue can remove a barrier or expose an alternate avenue to explore and lead to a highly rewarding breakthrough. In some instances, the objective that sets one onto the path of exploration becomes secondary or tertiary to the buried treasures that are discovered.

Quite typically, we acquire military baseball artifacts that require research to determine various historical aspects. Analyzing attributes that can then be compared with known artifacts, including those within our collection, affords us the ability to arrive at educated approximations or precise determinations. Military baseball uniforms can pose considerable challenges in pinpointing basic aspects such as the year they were manufactured. A task that is exceedingly more difficult is attributing an unnamed piece lacking provenance to a specific player.

1944-45 Camp Chaffee baseball flannel (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

In early March, 2022, we took a gamble on acquiring a flannel jersey lettered with “CAMP CHAFFEE” and listed at auction. Based upon several aspects discernible in the photographs of the listing, it was clear that the jersey dated from 1943-44. In addition to the athletic felt lettering on the chest, a large pair of numerals, “13,” was stitched across the back of the jersey in corresponding material. With high confidence that the jersey was used by an Army team from the World War II training base, we completed the purchase, deciding to trust in our research capabilities to connect the jersey to a team and players.

Named to honor the man who is considered the U.S. Army’s “Father of The Armored Force,” Major General Adna Romanza Chaffee Jr.,[1] Camp Chaffee was constructed in 1941 in western Arkansas. By March, 1942, Camp Chaffee was fully operational as a training base for the 6th, 14th, and 16th Armored Divisions. As the war progressed, Camp Chaffee expanded in both size and training operations, bringing engineer, artillery, and infantry units to the installation. Perhaps the most notable baseball athlete, the Boston Braves pitching prospect and future inductee into the Hall of Fame, Warren Spahn, trained at Camp Chaffee and played baseball while stationed there in 1943 and 1944.[2]

As athletics played a significant role in the physical readiness and conditioning of troops, unit cohesion and morale also greatly benefited from competition among the commands by way of their sports teams. In the spring and summer, military installations could host their own graduated baseball leagues with classifications similar to what was seen in the minor leagues. Some units had the benefit of large pools of talent in assembling teams with experience that could rival clubs in the American Association and the International and Pacific Coast Leagues. Each of the various units stationed at Camp Chaffee fielded teams, including the 59^th Field Artillery, 16^th Armored Division, 47^th and 62^nd Armored Regiments and the 1850^th Service Unit that featured Zeb “Red” Eaton, Ed “Truck” Kearse and Warren Spahn. In addition to local league play, the service teams competed against regional semi-pro, minor league and even college squads.[3] In an August 5, 1943, game that pitted the 1859^th against a team representing the KFPW radio station, Warren Spahn pitched a 15-0 no-hitter, striking out 17 opposing batters. Two defensive errors in the game allowed KFPW baserunners, thus preventing the Braves hurler from perfection.[4]

Once the Camp Chaffee artifact arrived and was removed from its shipping container, it was immediately obvious that the jersey was heavily soiled and likely had been laundered by a commercial dry cleaner. Upon thorough inspection, the condition of the jersey was far better than was discernible in the auction listing photographs. All the garment’s seams showed no signs of separation, and the threads were tight. All the stitching securing the lettering, numerals and soutache was in the same condition with no signs of decay. Aside from a missing fifth button from the bottom of the placket, the musty odor and dirt-laden wool fibers were the only issues, and both were correctible.

Not even bright sunlight could bring out the true color of the gray wool flannel due to the heavily soiled fabric. Our cleaning process took a few days and lifted out more dirt than we have seen any of our previous flannel (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

With the jersey cleaned and prepared for display, research surrounding Camp Chaffee continued and we were able to identify a handful of players across multiple rosters from unit teams at the base. Former Sacramento Solon outfielder Averett Thompson and pitcher Elwood “Dinty” Moore of Salem (class “B” Western International League) played for the 47^th Armored Regiment team while Jim Sheehan, a catching prospect in the New York Giants organization, served as a player-manager for the 59^th Field Artillery. It was highly unlikely that any of these teams or players donned a Camp Chaffee-specific uniform in favor of a unit-corresponding flannel. Several newspaper articles and game summaries that we were able to uncover detailed games at or against Camp Chaffee unit teams for the 1943 season. No sources were found that referenced any Camp Chaffee base team.

In 1944, Warren Spahn was attached to the 276th Engineers and played for the unit baseball team before deploying to the European Theater of Operations (source: The Gruber Guidon, August 11, 1944).

The 1944 season at Chaffee saw competition from the 16^th Armored Division (featuring former Pirates outfielder, Maurice Van Robays),[5] 18^th Armored Infantry Battalion, 736^th Tank Battalion (Dinty Moore),[6] and the 276^th Engineers with Warren Spahn.[7] This season also so the emergence of the Camp Chaffee base nine, led by their team captain, former Johnstown Johnnies first baseman Judson F. “Jay” Kirke, Jr.[8]

1944 Camp Chaffee Baseball Team

Rank	Player	Position	Previous Experience
	Boland	C
	Brady	2B
	A. Brown	P
	C. Brown	SS
	Christy	P
	Davis	LF
	M. Edwards	3B
	Hester
Pfc.	Judson F. “Jay” Kirke	1B/Capt.	Johnstown (PASA)
	Landrum
	Mac’iez	CF
	Marks	P
	M’Mann	P
	Paris	CF
	Roberts
	Ware	P
	W. Westcott	Mgr.
	Wilson	C
	Wolf	C

Jay Kirke, a second-generation professional baseball player, was born on August 27, 1912, in Fleischmanns, New York as his father, Judson Fabian Kirke, was in his second major league season with the Boston Braves. A ten-year minor leaguer, Kirke entered the Army on January 4, 1944, at Fort McClellan, Alabama. By April, Kirke was tearing the hide off the ball with the Fort McPherson, Georgia ball team[9] before transferring to Camp Chaffee.

Pfc. Harry M. Land, formerly of the Los Angeles Angels, poses in his 174th Regiment Buffaloes uniform (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

As the 1944 season was getting underway, the Army activated and reconstituted the 174^th Infantry Regiment, a historically New York National Guard unit, and assigned them to Camp Chaffee for training in anticipation of overseas deployment. Former Los Angeles Angels catcher Private First Class Harry M. Land started the year with the 174^th at Camp White, located 16 miles north of Medford, Oregon and played for the regiment’s “Buffaloes.” By June, the 174^th was at Camp Chaffee and began to dominate the competition. Captain Harry Lindsey, special services officer for the 174^th dispatched a letter to the citizens of Buffalo, New York, the former home of the regiment when it was part of the state’s National Guard, requesting assistance in procuring new uniforms. Answering Lindsey’s request, John C. Stiglmeier, general manager of the Buffalo Bisons of the class “AA” International League, responded, “We can’t do too much for the soldiers and sailors these days and in particular for the Buffalo regiment.” Stiglmeier’s response, according to the Buffalo Evening News, “was immediate as well as enthusiastic,” as 15 uniforms were dispatched to the 174^th at Camp Chaffee.

Player	Position	Former
John J. Botek
Dabb
Decker	P
Frank Del Papa
Fagan	P
Gullick
Ed “Jake” Jacobs	P	House of David
Harry M. Land	C	Los Angeles (PCL)
Henry W. Mankowski
Moore	P	(SOUA)
Wilburn C. Timmons	SS/P	Pampa (WTNM)
Raymond H. Trendle
Maurice Van Robays	OF/P	Pirates

1944 174th Infantry Regiment Buffaloes, Camp Chaffee

The 174th Infantry Regiment Buffaloes in their new uniforms (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

As the Camp Chaffee nine struggled to keep up, the 174^th Buffaloes juggernaut motored on. By mid-summer, former Pirates outfielder Maurice Van Robays was added to the Buff’s roster and was, in addition to playing right field,[10] trying his hand on the mound. By the end of the year, Van Robays, who took on the role of team manager, amassed a pitching record of nine wins and four losses[11], helping the Buffaloes to a 61-39 record.[12]

In the months following the end of the 1944 baseball season, many of the units at Camp Chaffee were deployed to the European Theater and players including Kirke, Spahn, Kearse and Van Robays headed overseas.

In the final year of the war, baseball continued at Camp Chaffee and the base team fielded an entirely new roster of players. For the new season, the Chaffees competed as a service team in a semi-professional league as well as in their service league. In addition to military opponents, the team squared off against regional semi-pro industrial league teams and minor league clubs, including the Little Rock Travelers. The 1945 Chaffee team included multiple former professional players, including pitcher Witt “Lefty” Guise, who saw action in two September 1940 games for the Cincinnati Reds and was on the team’s roster for their World Series championship that season. Jim McLeod, an infielder with 15 years of pre-war professional experience, spent 1930 and 1932-33 in the major leagues with the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Phillies.

The Camp Chaffee nine dominated the competition throughout the 1945 season. After winning the Arkansas State semi-pro championship in Pine Bluff on July 30, Chaffee was invited to the national tournament in Wichita, Kansas.[13]

Rank	Player	Position	Former
	Beavers	CF
Sgt.	Kennon Black	P	Lake Charles (EVAN)
T/4	Charles Coleman	3B	Dover (ESHL)
T/Sgt.	James Coleman	OF
	Courtney	RF
	Dodd	LF
S/Sgt.	William Glenn	C
Sgt.	Witt “Lefty” Guise	P	Birmingham (SOUA)
	Guthrie	LF
	Martinez	1B
Sgt.	Soule James McLeod	SS	Baltimore (IL)
S/Sgt.	Russell Lowell Needham	P	Albany (EL)
Corp.	Bert Pittman	2B

1945 Camp Chaffee

Many eyes in the baseball world were present and focused upon the National Baseball Congress’ Semi-Professional Tournament in Wichita, Kansas starting on August 10, 1945. In addition to a select few civilian industrial teams from Kansas,[14] the 32-team field of competition consisted entirely of Army and Army Air Force teams from around the country. All the clubs participating were dominant in their regions and Camp Chaffee, after securing the Arkansas state semi-pro championship on July 29, received an automatic entry into the national tournament.[15]

For the three-day event, more than 25,000 tickets were sold.[16] Thirteen major league scouts were also in attendance, including Carl Hubbell (New York Giants); Jack Ryan (St. Louis Cardinals); Joe Cambria (Washington Senators); Carl Hagel and Joe Becker (New York Yankees); Tom Greenwade and Bert Wells (Brooklyn Dodgers); Bill Hinchman (Pittsburgh Pirates), and Bobby Mattick; to look over the talent-rich teams.

Team/Base	Team Name	City	State
Biggs Field		El Paso	TX
Boeing	B-29s	Wichita	KS
Camp Chaffee		Fort Smith	AR
Camp Kilmer		Piscataway Township	NJ
Camp Livingston		Pineville	LA
Camp Rucker		Daleville	AL
Cessna	Bobcats	Wichita	KS
Chanute Field		Rantoul	IL
Columbia Army Air Field	Comets	Columbia	SC
Enid Army Flying School	Enidairs	Enid	OK
Ft. Benning			GA
Gowen Field Army Air Field		Boise	ID
Great Falls Army Air Field		Great Falls	MT
Greensboro	Tech Hawks	Greensboro	NC
Herington Army Air Field		Herington	KS
Indian Springs			NV
Jefferson Barracks		Lemay	MO
Kearns Field	Eagles	Kearns	UT
Key Field		Meridian	MS
Lincoln Army Air Field	Wings	Lincoln	NB
Lockbourne Army Air Field		Lockbourne	OH
Middlesboro	Lions		KY
Orlando Army Air Field		Orlando	FL
Sherman Field		Ft. Leavenworth	KS
Sioux Falls Army Air Field	Marauders	Sioux Falls	SD
Suffolk County Army Air Field		Westhampton	NY
Waco Army Air Field	Flyers	Waco	TX
West/Pacific Coast ATC	Wings		CA
Williams Field		Chandler	AZ

1945 Entrants National Baseball Congress Semipro Tournament, Wichita, Kansas.

For their tournament opener, the men of Camp Chaffee faced the “Marauders” of Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota. Moundsman “Lefty” Guise started on the hill for Chaffee, pitching five innings of scoreless ball. The Marauders drew first blood in the bottom of the sixth, plating two runs. Their lead was short lived as the Chaffee men countered with a Courtney single and Martinez reaching on an error. Guise helped to ameliorate his sixth inning stumble by sacrificing the two baserunners into scoring position and setting his team up for a rally. Beavers sent a two-out double off the right field wall, plating Courtney and Martinez, but was gunned down attempting to stretch it to a triple.[17]

The wheels began to fall off the cart for Guise as Sioux Falls loaded the bases in the next inning. Guise worked out of the one-out jam, getting Marauders batters Morton and Monty Basgall out. In the eighth inning, Guise was in trouble again, giving up an infield hit and a pair of walks and leaving the bases loaded for reliever Russell Needham, who stranded the Marauders by striking out second baseman Basgall. Sioux Falls pitcher Herb Norquist went the distance, surrendering two runs on four hits but the real story of the game was his 16 strikeouts as Chaffee finished the top of the ninth without scoring. With the game tied, left fielder Edward Gittens reached on an error to get things started. After being sacrificed to second, shortstop Robert Henny stroked a convincing single off Needham, allowing Gittens to score the winning run. With one loss in the double-elimination tournament, Camp Chaffee needed to keep winning to continue.[18]

The timing for Mississippi’s Key Field’s arrival at Wichita could not have been any worse as the team’s roster was hampered by illnesses and injuries as they faced off against Camp Chaffee. Sergeant Kennon Black, starting on the mound for Chaffee, took advantage of the diminished Key Fielders as he handcuffed his opponents at the plate. allowing just two hits. Meanwhile, seven of nine Camp Chaffee batters got hits off the Key Field pitcher, Smith. Camp Chaffee tallied four runs on eight hits. Shortstop McLeod was the game’s sole multi-hit batter in the 4-0 shutout on August 13.[19]

Following in Black’s footsteps, Russell Needham pitched a 2-hitter of his own as Chaffee eliminated El Paso, Texas’ Biggs Field with a 4-0 blanking. Catcher William Glenn led the offense with two hits in three at-bats. Coleman, Pittman and McLeod each drove in runs as first baseman Martinez, who was one-for-three, tallied three of Chaffee’s four scores.[20]

The tables were turned as former Cincinnati Reds pitcher “Lefty” Guise was met by the unfriendly bats of Ohio’s Lockbourne Field on Sunday, August 19. Guise was ineffective as he surrendered six runs on nine hits in his five and two-thirds innings for Chaffee. “Lefty” was lifted in favor of Russell Needham, but the damage was done. Lockbourne’s Wanke went the distance against Chaffee, holding them to two runs on as many hits in the 7-2 shellacking.[21]

Eliminated from the tournament, Camp Chaffee’s season was effectively over except for a handful of exhibition games against local service and industrial league ballclubs. In a September 24 game against Fort Benning, Guise pitched a no-hitter for his 16^th win of the season, having lost only two games.[22]

Ahead of Japan’s unconditional surrender on September 2, the armed forces, already discharging servicemen from the war service following Germany’s capitulation in May, ramped up the process. Camp Chaffee’s Guise was set to be separated days after tossing his no-hitter.

With the rapid downsizing of the armed forces, much of the wartime equipment, weapons and uniforms were no longer needed and were divested as surplus materials from the War Department’s inventory. It is unknown if our Camp Chaffee jersey was acquired through this program or if it was taken home by one of the team members.

The decision to release this jersey from our collection was difficult though we are pleased to now feature the “Lefty” Powell uniform group. View more details about the Camp Chaffee jersey (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

With nearly a year elapsing since the Camp Chaffee jersey was acquired, we have been unsuccessful in locating a single photo of the team or any players wearing this jersey. Similarly, our research has failed to uncover scorecards or rosters to reveal the players’ number assignments, let alone who specifically wore number 13. Despite the detailed history surrounding Camp Chaffee’s wartime baseball teams, we were forced to weigh our findings against the opportunity to acquire a full wartime service team baseball uniform that included the jersey, trousers and stockings that were named to a ballplayer who was a combat veteran: Lawrence Milton “Lefty” Powell. After several days of careful consideration, we decided to take a previously unthinkable action and trade the Camp Chaffee flannel in exchange for the 18^th Field Artillery uniform. This exchange marked the first and hopefully the last time that we let go of such a highly valued artifact.

See Also:

• Chevrons and Diamonds Collection’s Archive of Military Baseball Uniforms
• Chevrons and Diamonds Collection’s Archive of Army Uniforms and Jerseys
  • 1943-1945 Camp Chaffee Flannel
  • 1943-1945 18th Field Artillery – 1st Sgt. Lawrence “Lefty” Powell

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[1] Patterson, Michael Robert, “Adna Romanza Chaffee, Jr. – Major General, United States Army, (https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/achafjr.htm)” Arlington National Cemetery, Accessed December 28, 2022.

[2] Bedingfield, Gary, “Warren Spahn (https://www.baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/spahn_warren.htm)” Baseball in Wartime, Accessed December 28, 2022.

[3] “Razorback Nine Plays Soldier Team at Fort Smith,” Northwest Arkansas Times, May 8, 1943: p6.

[4] “No-Hit Pitcher Whiffs 17 Batters,” The Shreveport Journal, August 6, 1943: p14.

[5] “Van Robays Set to Go Overseas,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 2, 1944: p8.

[6] “Tank Unit Has Crack Battery,” The Lawton Constitution (Lawton, Oklahoma), May 1, 1944: p3.

[7] “Swigart Bests Spahn 6-1 in Champ Battle,” The Gruber Guidon (Camp Gruber, Oklahoma), August 11, 1944: p3.

[8] “Atlas Electrics Play Soldiers at T.L. Park Today,” Tulsa Daily World, June 25, 1944: p25.

[9] “Three-Day Pass Goes to GI Member Who Can Smash C.O.’s Window,” The Birmingham News, April 19, 1944: p17.

[10] “Rainbow Downs Chaffee Nine,” The Gruber Guidon, August 11, 1944: p1.

[11] “Van Robays Now a Pitcher,” The Evening Sun (Hanover, Pennsylvania), December 2, 1944: p3.

[12] Doyle, Charles J., “Van Robays Set to go Overseas,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, December 1, 1944: p27.

[13] “Camp Chafee Wins,” Wichita Evening Eagle, July 30, 1945: p6.

[14] “Many Fast Army Clubs Are Ready for U.S. Tourney,” The Wichita Eagle, August 4, 1945: p10.

[15] “Camp Chaffee Wins,” Wichita Eagle, July 30, 1945: P6.

[16] “25,000 Will See Games in 3 Days,” Wichita Evening Eagle, August 8, 1945: p6.

[17] “Marauders of S. Dakota Win Thriller 3 to 2,” Wichita Evening Eagle, August 12, 1945: p14.

[18] Ibid.

[19] “Key Fielders Go Out Without Run in National Meet,” The Wichita Eagle, August 14, 1945: p7.

[20] “Camp Biggs is Out,” The Wichita Eagle, August 16, 1945: p10.

[21] “Camp Chaffee is Out of Tourney,” The Wichita Eagle, August 20, 1945: p2.

[22] “Guise, Former Baron, Hurls No-Hitter; Expects Discharge,” The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL) September 25, 1945: p17.

A Propeller, Wings and a Baseball: A Diamond from Bolling Field

Brick walls. Dead ends. Regardless of the term one employs to describe fruitless research, the end result will always be disappointment.

A while ago, I located a fantastic jersey for a very reasonable price and despite the cursory research and due diligence not yielding specific results, I moved ahead with making a bid to purchase the artifact. What initially drew my attention to this jersey was that it was a departure from my norm in terms of the armed forces branches that were already represented within my collection (which, at the time, consisted of one Navy, two Army and three Marines baseball uniforms or jerseys).  In nearly ten years of actively searching for military baseball items, I hadn’t yet seen anything from the Army Air Forces (or Air Corps).

World War II or earlier) Bolling Field, US Army Air Force jersey. This uniform jersey is made of gray road) wool flannel with athletic felt lettering. The soutache is black rayon.

The online listing showed a rather simple, road gray wool flannel jersey with thin black soutache on the placket, around the collar and located about one inch from the edge of each sleeve. What sets this jersey apart from others is the the application of the lettering. Spelling out “BOLLING FIELD” are athletic felt, two color (gold over navy blue), large block characters. Each letter consists of a gold piece of felt centered over a larger one of blue felt with color-matched stitching that give a illusion of three-dimensional appearance. The careful placement of the “E” (in FIELD) ensured that the button hole alignment wouldn’t interfere with a tasteful alignment of the team name.

Though it is difficult to discern in this image, the base material has become brittle and is separating at the top of the propeller, leaving a break in the gray flannel.

On the left sleeve, a two-piece athletic felt (similar to the lettering) winged-propeller emblem, complete with accenting embroidery (adding feathers to the wing and a baseball at the center of the prop) denoting the Air Forces mission of the base. The back of the jersey is plain and without numerals. The style of the jersey and the overall design is representative of those from the early 1940s which coincides with the what the seller described as being a World War II baseball jersey.

Attempting to determine the age of the jersey or when it was made isn’t necessarily an easy task however there isn’t really anything substantive that can be used to pinpoint the age. The team name provides an era (1918-1948) when the base existed as an airfield (rather than an Air Force Base following the establishment of the U.S. Air Force). Bolling Field was established after the Defense Department’s property was divided between the army and the navy for each branch’s aviation operations in the Washington D.C. area. Named for Ranar C. Bolling, a colonel who, having been recently appointed (by General Pershing) as the chief of air service for II Corps when he was killed (on  March 26, 1918), during Operation Michael while he was scouting in the early days of the offensive. A thirty-year window of age possibilities hardly provided me with specificity so I had to look at the jersey’s other elements.

A commonality among the majority of the military jerseys that I have seen and certainly within my collection is the absence of manufacturer’s tags. Most of the uniforms and jerseys worn by service-member ball players have just a lone size tag. the Bolling jersey has a tag that until I acquired this jersey, I had not seen before.

This jersey was most-likely made by Wilson but sold through their wholesaler and retailer, Lowe and Campbell, as indicated by the tag. Also present in the collar are hand-written digits that could be the a portion of the airman’s laundry number.

If the jersey was made by Spalding or Goldsmith, the tag would be very useful in determining the age (see: Early Baseball Uniforms Manufacturer Tags Database: 1890 – 1942). These two manufacturers employed a measure of consistency (even as the logo changed, it did so in specific periods) over the course of manufacturing an immeasurable volume of baseball uniforms for professional and amateur teams. However, the manufacturer of the Bolling jersey, Lowe & Campbell, has a more murky history in terms of label usage and available, pinpoint-dated examples to draw comparisons. I was able to find a handful of L & C label examples but when attempting to use them as a basis for dating, there is considerable challenge, especially considering the company’s history.

Lowe and Campbell (L&C) was founded in Kansas City, Missouri in 1912 by George C. Lowe and Keedy Campbell during a period of massive growth in the sporting goods industry that was already being dominated by companies (Spalding, Rawlings and Wilson) that, today remain the leading manufacturers and suppliers of sports equipment. L&C’s early years in the industry found their principle customers in schools, colleges and universities and within the the realm of athletic teams sponsored by private industry. Throughout their first decade, the company experience growth, opening up offices throughout the Midwest but by the early 1930s, had become a target of one of the larger sporting goods giants who were seeking to rapidly expand into markets via acquisitions, as was the common practice, rather than expending effort and resources to develop into these areas. Wilson Sporting Goods entered into a merger agreement with L & C in 1931, but rather than to absorb the smaller company, Wilson positioned themselves as the wholesale supplier and retained their acquisition, L&C became a division of the giant as retailers of their products.

Maintaining this corporate alignment well into the next few decades, Wilson expanded the L&C offices into new markets and continued to produce products that carried the company’s logos. The catalogs throughout this era reveal that Lowe and Campbell expanded their product lines to include a greater variety of sport. As with the practices of many sporting goods retailers, their product offerings were predominantly manufactured by different sporting good companies with L&C adding their own tags and company markings. Even prior to the merger, Lowe and Campbell sold re-branded products supplied by manufacturers such as Hillerich and Bradsby, the makers of Louisville Slugger bats.

“After the merger the Lowe & Campbell brand of baseball bats disappear from the catalogs. Wilson baseball bats are added to the catalog by 1940, but they continue to sell Louisville Slugger bats, which dominate the catalogs. Wilson continued to manufacture baseball gloves under the private Branded Lowe & Campbell name. Because of the lack of catalog information it is not clear when Louisville Slugger began to make the Lowe & Campbell brand of baseball bats They do appear in the 1922 Lowe & Campbell catalog along side Louisville Slugger.” – KeyMan Collectibles

Following World War II, Wilson’s growth had continued as they acquired additional small sporting goods companies. Lowe and Campbell’s retail operation was eliminated as they were transformed into a wholesale operation their parent, Wilson functioning as both the manufacturer and wholesaler. The shift away from retail diminished the L&C brand and by 1960, Wilson eliminated it all together, shuttering the division and even closing down the Kansas City facility where Lowe and Campbell began.

Today, the remnants of the sporting goods brand exist via collectors who preserve the artifacts that produced and sold by Lowe and Campbell. However, a re-birth of the L&C brand is in process and the owner, Thomas Martin, whom acquired the brand, shared with me (via the company’s Facebook page) that Lowe and Campbell‘s 2018 fall launch will be headlined with American manufactured sports apparel.

Attempting to chronologically trace the progression of the company’s label history seems to be a futile attempt, especially in determining the of date the Bolling Field jersey. I found various (dates known) L&C branded garments and checked the labels in an effort to piece together a timeline and was unsuccessful at narrowing down transitional patterns.

Dating from the 1920s, this tag with the adjacent size tag (including a dry clean only tag) is found in a pullover letterman’s football sweater (source: eBay image).

This Lowe & Campbell tag is stitched inside the collar of a 1929 Notre Dame football sideline jacket (image source: Huggins & Scott Auctions).

The Lowe and Campbell-made athletic sweater dating from the 1920s-1930s. The sweater has a large, single chenille-embroidered patch of the 76th Field Artillery Regiment that belonged to Lt. Col. James Howard Leusley, a career field artillery officer (image source: US Militaria Forum).

This label is sewn into 1930s basketball trunks and has the accompanying size (“30”). the stamped “13” probably corresponds to the original jersey number (image source: 100percentauthentic.com).

This tag with the size is found in a 1930s Greek Fraternal Order Basketball Jersey (source: eBay image).

This 1930s basketball uniform tag has a black background with the circular element and the wordmarks embroidered in gold. The lettering of the center logo is in red along with the garments size image source: 100percentauthentic).

This Lowe and Campbell tag differs from the one in the Bolling Field jersey. The circle is bordered around the outer edge in red and the center is red. Also present on the tag is the size of the garment.

A 1940s sweater bears this L&C tag with the size embroidered below the logo (source: eBay image).

A tattered L&C tag from a 1940s Lowe & Campbell college football jersey (source: eBay image).

Though this 1943 military-used ball is marked with the L&C logo, the other stamps indicate that it was made by Wilson.

L&C transitioned to this logo during the War for sportings garments and one aligns with what was seen on the company’s baseball bats, hockey sticks and other equipment (image source: SCP Auctions).

A printed label that is applied to the back of a varsity letter has the number of the company’s locations displayed (source: eBay image).

 

Desiring to tap into the expertise of the new owner of the Lowe and Campbell brand, I asked Thomas Martin about the logos and tags, sharing some of the samples (shown above) in an effort to gain some insight. “No one,” Martin stated, “kept historical dated records of the brand,” but, in his experience with the vintage garments themselves, is able to determine the age, having seen countless products that were made and sold by Lowe and Campbell during the company’s first incarnation. Mr. Martin’s assessment of the label in the Bolling jersey was that it dated from the 1930s, “L&C only used  two logos,” Martin wrote, “the one you have was used in the 30’s.” Martin discussed the logo change as a result of being acquired (in 1931 by Wilson). Garments made by the company in the 1940s began to receive a new logo (see the two bottom-right examples, above) on their tags.

My next research step will be to search through newspaper archives from WWII in the Washington D.C. area seeking any box scores or news articles regarding the Bolling Field team’s game-play. My hope is that the Army Air Force public relations personnel was as open in terms of publicizing the competitiveness of their base team. In my estimation, this team had to have competed against other service teams within the region including the Norfolk Naval Training Station and Norfolk Naval Air Station teams. The only baseball-specific lead (with a possible connection) that I have discovered regarding Bolling centers on Hank Greenberg.

In Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes, author John Rosengren states, “A friend of Hank’s, Sam Edelman, wrote on his behalf to have Hank promoted to the rank of captain and assigned as an athletic director in the Air Corps (sic) at Bolling Field. Two brigadier generals carried the request to the War Department, lobbying for the educational qualifications (for an officer’s commission) to be waived for Greenberg. The Adjutant General denied the request on the grounds that it was ‘contrary to the policies of the Secretary of War.'” No mention is made (within the book) regarding Sergeant Greenberg’s ball-playing at Bolling Field. However, according to Rosengren, Greenberg would eventually be assigned as a director of the physical training program at MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida and would subsequently be assigned to the Orlando Air Base baseball team for an exhibition game against the Washington Senators at Tinker Field. I would love to discover anything that would connect such a legend to the Bolling team.

A recurring statement often read on Chevrons and Diamonds is that further research and time are required to break through the mystery, pushing beyond the dead-ends and brick walls that I have reached with my efforts up to this point.

Resources:

• Lowe and Campbell Sporting Goods Building NRHP Registration Application
• Catalog – Lowe & Campbell Athletic Goods, 1935 – 1936
• L&C Vintage Clothing – Online Sales Listings
• Made In Chicago Museum – Wilson Sporting Goods

Lowe and Campbell vintage sports uniform examples:

• 1929 Notre Dame Football Sideline Jacket
• 1930’s Game-Worn/ Used Basketball Uniform – Jersey & Trunks 
• 1948 London Olympics Team USA Rowing Uniform Items – Gold Medalist Lloyd Butler
• 1950s Ararat Shrine All-Star Uniform – 1956 Olympic Gold Medalist, Dick Boushka

 

Theresa Dischler and her WAAC baseball team at Bolling Field in Washington, D.C. Dischler is in the back row, second from the left image source: Wisconsin Veterans Museum).

(Postscript: Sometimes, my research uncovers fascinating facts that while contextual with my interests, further energy would take me into a different direction. What I discovered appears to be the only piece of Bolling Field baseball history that is available online. This fantastic snippet regarding a Women’s Army Auxilliary Corps veteran, Sergeant Theresa M. Dischler, who also played for the WAAC baseball team at the air field during her time in the service of her country.

Moving Past Last Year’s Wins and Losses: Goals for 2018

With nearly a month already completed for this new year of 2018 and 84 days since the heartbreaking end to “my” Dodgers amazing season with their loss to Houston in a subpar performance in Game Seven of the World Series. The offseason has been decidedly quiet following the sweepstakes for several teams vying for Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins (there had been talks of bringing the slugger to the confines of Chavez Ravine). Alas, the Yankees and their wild-spending, wheeling and dealing as they continue their trend of pillaging the rosters of the “have-nots” (the teams with pittances of budgets, incapable of keeping their home-grown talent once those initial player contracts are fulfilled) and stocking their roster with the biggest names in the game, the winter months have been somewhat quiet. The player-transaction-silence for this Dodgers fan is somewhat golden as the Los Angeles talent pool is full, requiring minimal free-agent transactions in order to field a contending team for 2018.

In looking back on 2017 and not just the articles that I wrote, but also the pieces that I was able to add to my military baseball collection (not every new acquisition of 2017 made it into an article).  I have been very selective and cautious to ensure that I what I acquire is genuine. Regardless of whether I am able to validate the artifact against a specific service member (ball-player), I want to be certain that the piece is correct. This isn’t to say that sellers are intentionally misleading with their listings of their family heirlooms but rather they make assumptions that because the item was in that veteran’s home (and he was a war veteran), it’s very existence is the authentication that is used when they draw their conclusions.

This heavily soiled baseball uniform dates from the early 1950s and is lacking any supporting documentation or photos. The lone black felt “A” could legitimately be from an Army team (source: eBay image).

In reading a recent article in the San Jose Mercury regarding the current issues many people of my generation are dealing with: households (predominantly belonging to our aging parents) filled with a lifetime of treasures (and not-so-treasured items) and being in a position to liquidate the contents that we aren’t keeping for ourselves. Some people are shocked by the prices that people are wiling to pay (which is usually significantly lower than expectations):

What matters hardly at all in valuations are: how much you paid for the item; how much you love it; how much it is selling for on eBay. “There’s a lot of sentimental value out there,” says Neiheisel. “People get really upset when something they treasure isn’t worth much. … When everyone wants that one thing, that is where the … power is.”

Other people turn to listing items within online auctions, believing that the artifacts are priceless while they are also charged with raising money to care for their elderly family members (as was the case with this post-war baseball uniform group listed last fall). Sentimentality doesn’t translate into intrinsic value. As a collector and someone who strives to educate others, I sometimes try provide sellers with knowledge in attempt to reset their expectations…yes, I am that bad guy.

There were several listings over the course of the year of uniforms (or just simply, jerseys) that were listed as being from World War II or that they were connected to the U.S. armed forces when there was no evidence to support the sellers’ claims. One uniform in particular was clearly from the 1960s (my assessment based upon the materials, design and construction) and the team name seemed to indicate that it was from a high school (I can’t recall the specifics). I contacted the seller asking for markings, photographs or anything that could prove that it was used by a service member as part of a service team. The seller responded that he was merely a “picker” and didn’t recall where he got it and that he assumed it was WWII military. I provided the seller with some of my expertise and references to show what it was and he never responded. Of course the seller never changed his auction and some unsuspecting buyer overpaid for a school jersey believing it to be from WWII and a service team.

This wool flannel jersey shares design and construction with the grey and red uniform that launched my military baseball collecting. The blue cap with yellow “M” is seen the jersey.

The items that did come home and subsequently I did cover in articles were some of the most significant discoveries since I have been collecting baseball artifacts from the armed forces. From the only white home Marines baseball jersey that I have seen in a decade to the two Marines baseball caps that landed here within a month of each other and then the Midshipman Fenno naval academy baseball medal, some of my favorite pieces were all acquired in 2017.

As for this site and whether it is worth the effort for me to continue to write and share my discoveries the endorsement seems to come from the nearly 500% increase in visitors and page views over the previous year. Considering that I launched this site in December of 2015, the increase in viewership is relative. So few people visited in 2016 which suggests that the readership growth is nothing to get too excited about.

One accomplishment that I was proud of was in creating the uniform and jersey archive for this site. I still have more work to get it to where it needs to be (in order for me to call it a successful launch) but it is off to a great start and it seems, judging by the visitor-analytics, that the information is valued by readers. I promise that I will get the remainder of the uniforms that I have come across added to the archive.

In just the first few weeks of this year, a few pieces have landed (that will be covered in upcoming posts) that are wonderful additions to the photos and ephemera areas of my collecting. Sadly, one that I was working diligently to land before the holidays didn’t materialize as I had hoped leaving me wondering if the seller changed his mind or sold it offline to another collector. I am refraining from providing details about the artifact in hopes that another opportunity arises with this seller so that I can bring it home (where it truly belongs) and preserve it in my “museum.” I am always seeking materials that are connected to players who served or servicemen who played (while serving) and both of the additions fit into these categories. Stay tuned for these and other articles regarding some other pieces that I am, at present, working on adding to my collection.

Now that I am back in the swing of things with this new year, I am ready to pursue, albeit with caution, patience and purpose, my collecting will be hyper-focused keeping me away from distracting pieces and locked in on those that truly align with my interests. I am also going to be better at curating, organizing, documenting and properly storing my collection along with rotating what I have on display.

What are your goals and objectives for 2018? I’d love to hear from you (comment below).