The Early Days of Memorabilia and Fraud
 

Doing some baseball research right now, I came across this article in the August 3,1891 Pittsburg Press, which I will sum up:

A young businessman in Pittsburg(no H back then) started a business he called "Base Ball Headquarters" that opened in the evening and was set up specifically to talk about baseball. He decorated the place with old game used equipment from the major leagues, including a glove used by Charlie Bennett. He offered to pay a good price for any authentic relic.

Notice that he said "authentic" and that is because he bought a bat thinking it was Pud Galvin's famous home run bat. I'm guessing the homer is the one Galvin hit at Union Park in Pittsburg in 1877, which was supposedly the first hit out of the park and also the game-winner in a 1-0 game he pitched. After putting the bat on display, the businessman(name is never mentioned) found out of the bat wasn't the real one and he got rid of it.

There is also a note from mid-July that Pete Browning himself claimed he owned 205 bats at the time.

Troy soos' book,

Troy Soos' book,

Thanks, neat article. You might like Troy Soos' book, THE CINCINNATI RED STALKINGS, it is a fun read and pertains to an exhibit of 1869 memorabilia, while taking place in 1921.