help with old baseball - Slightly OT

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Posted By: Alan Elefson

Hi-
Below are scans of an old baseball I picked up several months ago. The condition is horrific, but I was hoping someone might know more about the manufacturer and date of issue for this ball. The ball reads, Anchor Brand, Debeers and Sons. It also says Big Leaguer and there is a patent number that is hard to read on the third picture. Here are my questions:
1. How old is this baseball?
2. It appears to be made out of cork, and not the way I would expect a ball to look from the modern era (1920ish-forward). Was this ball used for batting practice or children's type leagues? (I realize it is not an MLB official ball).
3. I tried researching the company but did not get anywhere. I bought this ball in an antique shop in Belleville Illinois (not far from the Missouri border). Was it produced in Illinois or St. Louis, or someplace else?
4. Basically, any thoughts about this ball would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@meditech.com

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Posted By: Mike

if you can read the patent number, you can look it up online, and get an approximation as to it's age. Not perfect but usually close.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

It's a kids playground/sandlot type ball made in most likely the WW2 years when most children's baseballs were made of something other than leather. Not really rare, but yours looks to be in great shape.

Here's a box for that ball from my collection...

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Posted By: Dan Lundrigan

Maybe from around W.W.II Might have been a shortage on raw materials at the time and they used what was readily available?


Looks like I was half right with regard to it`s age.