Discoveries in Catalogs

Oh my, my, the Football Archaeologist has done it again, a fun deep dive into equipment. While searching to see when the Tenite plastic facemasks were removed from football helmets after they were introduced in the 1950's (check out the 1954 Wilson Football catalog to see them when they were introduced) the ever-so-knowledgeable Timothy Brown came through again. With his permission, here's the start of some fantastic history, and you can finish on his Substack page. Football

While Goldsmith’s ball complied with NCAA rules regarding ball size, they modified the ball’s ogive (its curve or slope) for teams looking to throw the ball.

In Spalding's 1900 catalog, they sold Wright & Ditson tennis balls next to Spalding balls. Spalding seemed to be into manufacturing just about every type of sports equipment used at the turn of the twentieth century, including fencing equipment, cricket equipment, and both Intercollegiate and Association footballs (which looked more like basketballs). What you may notice when you dig in deeper to their catalogs will be the equipment with competitors' names on them that they a

6 catalogs are added since last week. ... it's the start of American football season in 2025, so check out what players were wearing in different years, even different generations.