Below is the front cover of a c1889-90 Spalding catalog. On the crossed bats are the words "WAGON TONGUE"....can someone tell me the significance of that? Were they actually made out of wagon tongues? Would anyone have one of these wagon tongue bats that they could post photos of? Interestingly I don't see anything mentioned about Wagon Tongue bats in the catalog copy....though I didn't shoot the whole catalog
Thanks -Carlton





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Carlton

I forget where I saw it, but at one time I do remember seeing an advertisement in a Spalding publication where they were buying wagon tongues to make bats out of. It went something like

"BUYING, 10,000 Wagon Tongues to make our celebrated Spalding Wagon Tongue Bats" and then it gave some sort of price they were paying.

So I think that the answer is yes, they really were made from old wagon tongues and that kept their price down.

I have a few of these, one I just barely put up for sale on ebay. They are slightly later than the black tipped version, but still a 1890's bat I belive.

Rhys

Hey Thanks Rhys, That's great to see the real thing. Now it's coming to me, I do vaguely recall seeing or reading about those ads ads to buy wagon tongues. I wonder if it was a method to keep down price, like you say...or if there was suppose to be some magic/hitting benefit to them. Thanks again Rhys. -Carlton

Anyone have a photo of a black tip Wagon Tongue?

Special bats made only in the 19th century made out of solid wood from the wagon, I have only seen one or two for sale in the last five years. The bat is very rare from my understanding they inly made them for a few years. The above post makes it clear, always like seeing these catalogs

neat item, wish we had more ifo on these types of items

Take Care

Jimmy

Jimmy, You can see more of that catalog in next weeks (tomorrow) Sports Antique of the Week on SportsAntiques.com...Leon, hope ok to mention. -Carlton

Thank you for the info, and Leon would want more post like this

we need more of them on the board

Jimmy

i have a beautiful black tip. i will post photos tomorrow.

K Ogara, Sounds great, anxious to see it, thanks -Carlton

Spalding and other bat makers used not only wagon tongues but old wagon axles and wagon spokes from large freight type wagons. I have a Reach AX bat, made from axle wood. These woods were very dense, mostly from heart wood which made them very durable and less likely to crack or break (also very heavy). Back then heavy was seen as desirable and being very dense, these bats were especially heavy.

John

Here are a few more ads for the Wagon Tongue bat.

1897 Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalogue


1909 Spalding Guide








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Thank you everyone for your input,

John Harrel, I'm sure everyone would like to see that axel bat

Kevin Ogara was kind enough to send me photos of his black tip wagon tongue, see photos below.

I also got an email from Mark Mcrea about wagon tongues that was more than a little interesting...so much that I posted our exchange of email in an addenda to my Sports Antique of the Week on my site. I won't elaborate too much here...but may I pose a question to our community?...Has anyone...known anyone...who personally knew Al Spalding?...Well Mark Mcrea did. Think about that..pretty jurassic-esque! Anyway, you can read about it in the SAW addenda at www.SportsAntiques.com Leon, Again, hope OK...sorry just had to mention!

Very cool exchange and write up Carlton, and I have always loved that Catalog since I first saw it on your site back in 06.

RE 19th century Wagon Tongue bats they are a beauty, but although rare I dont think I would consider them to be very rare. Ive seen quite a few of them over the years and youll see a few pop up for sale each year. In fact there is one up for auction now (although I wont mention where yet, as I may have my eye on it ) You see Wagon Tonque bats in Spalding catalogs from the 1880s all they way until about 1910. The 20th cenury versions are relatively common - as least compared to their earlier 19th century black end versions.

Heres a few more pics, and one of them is from your good friend Carlton, John Gennantonio. (sorry for the pic size)

Gennatonio (5th from the top)



John Popovich(also 5th from the top)



Paul Montesano - he has two! (last on the bottom, and 4th from the bottom)



Rhys, Very nice bat but I am pretty certain its post 1900, probably around 1905 - 1910. I dont believe you will find that label type pre 1900.

-Joe

Thanks for sharing your information; I really enjoyed the reading on your website

from what I gathered in the reading, maybe the bats were made with the same wood

I collect catalogs, but do not have one from the 19th century

Jimmy

Carleton,

I'll try to get a picture posted this week. I've not seen another of these particular bats in all the years I've been collecting.

John

Jimmy, Joe K., thanks for your kind words, and Joe K., thanks for jarring my memory on John Gennantonio's bat rack photo...I posted it with my feature too. -Carlton

Joe...we thought you were hobby MIA buddy. Great to see you posting.

Thanks Mike. I kind of have been MIA. I think I have picked up only one thing in the past 8 months. Been a lot going and I just needed to step away for a while But my juices are starting to flow again and looking forward to spend some more time with my hobby. I may even try to make the Cleveland Nat this year, its in my plans if we dont schedule a family vacation around that time.

This forum has been doing great, thanks to so many wonderful contributors. I look forward to posting more and getting connected back with many.

-Joe