Flannel Jerseys

From the game's earliest days through the early 1970s, every player wore a jersey made of wool flannel. The manufacturers included Spalding, Rawlings, McAuliffe, Wilson and many others. Players recall how miserable it was wearing one on a hot muggy day in the Eastern United States in July or August, which explains why they were replaced with jerseys made of synthetic fibers a half century ago. Today, those old flannels that survived are highly sought after as collectibles, and make beautiful display items.

Here are some major and minor league flannel jerseys, including (see below) the 1948 St. Louis Cardinals (made by Rawlings), late 1940s Pittsburgh Pirates (made by Wilson and repurposed by the Waco Pirates in the early 1950s), 1954-58 Brooklyn Dodgers (made by Rawlings, likely a salesman's sample), 1959 Baltimore Orioles (made by Spalding, possibly worn by coach Harry Breechan), 1963 St. Louis Cardinals (made by Rawlings), 1964 Los Angeles Angels (made by McAuliffe and worn by shortstop Joe Koppe),1969 Cincinnati Reds (made by Wilson), 1969-71 Medford (Oregon) Dodgers (made by MacGregor), 1971 California Angels (one-year jersey made by McAuliffe and worn by outfielder Ken Berry) and 1972 Houston Astros (Rawlings). The latter, which Tommy Helms is wearing on his 1973 and 1974 Topps cards, was only worn in spring training because the team switched to double knit jerseys in early '72.

Here are a few flannel jerseys worn by college teams, including Ohio State University from the mid-1950s (Rawlings), Brown University from the same era (McAuliffe), Oregon University from the late 1950s (Wilson), Anderson College (Indiana) from the 1960s (made by Main Auto Sports Shop, Dodgers pitcher and Anderson native Carl Erskine was coach), the University of Northern Colorado(1961-62, Rawlings), Oklahoma University from around 1970 (Wilson), and Brigham Young University (Stevens Brown Sports), Merced (California) College (Wilson) and New Mexico University (Southland) from roughly the same era.

Here is an assortment of jerseys from amateur or semi-pro teams, including a pair made out of satin (the first two displayed below). In the 1940s, a number of teams experimented with satin uniforms based on the idea that they would be more visible during night games, which had become very popular during WWII. The first one here, which was made by Powers, was used by a Stockton, CA team that won the state amateur title in 1945. The team was sponsored by a fraternal group, the Native Sons of the American West. The second one (made by Goldsmith) was worn by Golden Guernsey, which was sponsored by the Ewold Brothers, who manufactured a popular brand of milk in Minneapolis that went by the same name. Also shown here is a jersey worn by an unknown team with the initials "C.B." or "B.C." (made by Goldsmith, likely in the early 1930s, and possibly worn by a Negro League team), along with flannels representing Sacramento (Spalding, c. 1940), Springfield, IL (Myers Brothers, 1940s), "Sturgis" (location unknown, Wilson, 1940s), East St. Louis (Coane, 1940s), Louis J. Smith Sporting Goods (Baltimore, 1940s), Southeastern Supply (Indianapolis, c. 1950, made by Coane, with a tag from Bush Callahan Sporting Goods), The Gibson Lumber and Coal Company. of Mancos, CO (Rawlings, c. 1950), Ft. Belvoir near Alexandria, Virginia (Rawlings, 1950s), the Woodside (Brooklyn, NY) Incas (Coane, 1950s), the Orford (Wisc.) Merchants (Rawlings, 1950s) and Stuart's Drive-In (Rawlings, c. 1960).