Autograph Letter Signed on New York Bloomer Girls Base Ball Association Letterhead

WHALEN, D.P.

Verlag: New York Bloomer Girls Base Ball Association, New York, 1915

Measuring 8½" x 11". Old folds from mailing, faint stain in lower left corner, near fine. A letter from Whalen, Manager and Owner of the New York Bloomer Girls Base Ball Association on club stationery with a team portrait in upper left corner of a female team in baseball uniforms surrounding a lone man in a business suit, presumably Whalen, and what appears to be a young man in uniform with a "C" on his jersey (many female teams employed a male to play catcher). The printed letter also provides a long list of other Bloomer Girl teams the New York team had played, all in either New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvaniaand also printing a few facts about high attendance at games. Whalen writes to Mr. Anthes about preparations for an upcoming game, mentioning some presumably generic promotional posters he has sent: "I sent your lithographs a few days ago. Please put them all out in your s and surrounding towns. You will have to date them, Etc. In closed find letter you wanted [not present]. I figure a big crowd at your Park. Lets hope so. Best Wishes, D.P. Whalen." Bloomer Girl teams were named for the baggy pantaloons they wore as part of their uniforms, and were a popular barnstorming novelty attraction from about 1910 until the mid 1930s. They played against female teams, male teams, other barnstormers such as the House of David, and against Negro League teams. The team usually consisted of seven or eight women (often with a man to catch and sometimes pitch), and on some occasions with men in drag playing some of the positions. The New York Bloomer Girls were perhaps the best-known of the teams featuring Stella Friss, a fearsome pitcher and slugger best known as "the female Babe Ruth." Like Ruth, Stella started as a pitcher and played in the field when she wasn t pitching. While the team image is small and a bit grainy, Stella is almost certainly among the women pictured on the letterhead. The young male player in the picture is almost certainly her brother Chester, who both caught and occasionally played shortstop. An attractive artifact from the earlier part of the Bloomer Girl era. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 460596

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Autograph Letter Signed on New York Bloomer ...
Verlag: New York Bloomer Girls Base Ball Association, New York
Erscheinungsdatum: 1915
Einband: Unbound
Zustand: Near Fine