Spalding once supplied the official “jockey suspensory” for all of basketball.
Did you know that early basketballs had laces? They had to be unlaced, pumped up, tested, and re-laced repeatedly until the air pressure of the rubber bladder inside was just right. These balls evolved to include external air pump holes, but the laces remained until the 1930s, when laceless designs were first introduced. The version [...]
Ever wonder where the basketball term “flush” came from? What if it came from these early bottomless basketball baskets? Antique urinal. After each made field goal, a referee had to stop play in order to pull the draw string that tipped the basket just enough for the ball to fall out. The ball would go [...]
Here’s the a portion of the front cover of the 1904 publication “How To Play Basket Ball,” distributed by Spalding Sporting Goods.
Pure gum bottom. E’rrybody got ‘em. In 1904, that is. That’s when A. G. Spalding Bros. was the Nike of its time. Whatever happened to Spalding? Maybe it was competition from the Converse Rubber Company, now Converse, which was formed in 1908. Or maybe it was because of the last line of this advertisement for [...]
Speaking of Schoolhouse Rock, from the other day, remember this ad? The original version: The past and the present and the future …
Recent Comments