Boston Bloomers Women's Baseball Team PC

[aelefson]

Hi-
I recently acquired the Boston Bloomers postcard scanned below and I was wondering if anyone might be able to help with a few questions I have:
1. The postcard appears to have been sent to someone by one of the players on the team. The back reads in part, "Hello Deck! We are still playing ball ? today (10) ? innings? 4-3 ? pitching". I think it is signed by L.G.
Could this be the owner L J Galbreath? Does anyone have a list of players who played for this team in 1909?
2 Does anyone recognize any of the men on the postcard? I know I read that a few Major Leaguers played for women's teams back then. I doubt there are any recognizable players pictured but I figured I would ask.
3. Any additional information that could be provided regarding this item or the Boston Bloomers team would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

[MGHPro]

Alan
Nice postcard.. Can't help you out much but I do have this Broadside featuring the team
Matt

[aelefson]

Thanks Matt! That is a really cool broadside. Any idea on a specific year for it? I wonder how long Needham was the manager?

[jthorn]

I believe the male ballplayer seated in the front is Smoky Joe Wood, who signed with the Boston Bloomer Girls in 1905 or 1906 (at age 91 he said he was 15 when he signed with the Bloomer Girls, which would make the year 1905). He did not sign with the Red Sox until 1908.

john thorn

[jthorn]

More on this. I know the postcard was dated 1909 but the photograph may well have been taken earlier. Rogers Hornsby also played with a Bloomer Girls squad, though not necessarily the one from Boston. See attached for how well known was the mixed-gender status of the club.

john thorn

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by jthorn

I believe the male ballplayer seated in the front is Smoky Joe Wood, who signed with the Boston Bloomer Girls in 1905 or 1906 (at age 91 he said he was 15 when he signed with the Bloomer Girls, which would make the year 1905). He did not sign with the Red Sox until 1908.

john thorn

I had this conversation a few years ago with Joann Kline when this same postcard showed up on ebay. I believed it to be Wood also, Joann did not...the price the card sold for indicated that I was not alone in my belief as it sold well above what most Boston Bloomer cards sell for. I believe that Wood started his career with a Western Bloomer club located in Kansas City at age 15 and later played for the Boston Bloomers for a short while in 08 just before he got called up to Red Sox in late 1908. There is a famous photo with Wood and the Boston Bloomers in front of a trolley car that I believe is in the Ken Burns Baseball book. I can't say for 100% that it's him in this postcard, but I think it just might be.

[aelefson]

Hi-
Thanks Dan and John! I had heard Wood played for a few women's teams but I had no idea he might be on this postcard. In fact, I bought it and a Western Bloomers postcard showing Maude Nelson from an antique dealer and he made no mention of a potential major leaguer or of Maude. I am hoping Mark might be able to help with this. If needed, I can provide a higher resolution scan of the postcard.
Thanks again,
Alan

[Shat5]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Hi-
I recently acquired the Boston Bloomers postcard scanned below and I was wondering if anyone might be able to help with a few questions I have:
1. The postcard appears to have been sent to someone by one of the players on the team. The back reads in part, "Hello Deck! We are still playing ball ? today (10) ? innings? 4-3 ? pitching". I think it is signed by L.G.
Could this be the owner L J Galbreath? Does anyone have a list of players who played for this team in 1909?
2 Does anyone recognize any of the men on the postcard? I know I read that a few Major Leaguers played for women's teams back then. I doubt there are any recognizable players pictured but I figured I would ask.
3. Any additional information that could be provided regarding this item or the Boston Bloomers team would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

Hello Alan--

Part of the difficulty in answering any questions about the Boston Bloomer team is that there there were at least two, and possibly three, teams that called themselves the Boston Bloomer Girls between 1893 and 1909, each of which was owned and managed by a different person. I haven't been able to totally sort this out yet, but I am working on it for a chapter in my upcoming book on early women baseball players. Here is an overview of what I have pieced together so far:

W. P. Needham organized a Boston Bloomer Girl team in 1893. This is cited in articles in the Sheridan Post in 1897, the Utica Daily Press in July 1902, the Waterloo Daily Reporter on 10 Sep 1902, and the Kerkhoven [Minnesota] Banner on June 3, 1904.

An article in the Des Moines Register on April 7, 1996 says that there was also a “Boston Bloomer Girls” team created in Des Moines, IA in 1902 by J.L. “Wilkie” Wilkinson, the man who, in 1912 created the “All-Nations Team”. The Des Moines-based Boston Bloomer Girls team often wore uniforms identifying them as the “Hopkins Brothers Champion Lady Baseball Club.” Players included Celia Brown (1b), Lucy Hale (ss), and “Carrie Nation” (lf). There is a Celia Brown on the BBG featuring Maud Nelson in 1900 so I’m not sure if the Des Moines article is right or not. It’s possible there were two BBG teams and that Brown moved from one to the other. In April 1909, the Des Moines paper reported that Wilkinson had obtained the services of "J.E. Gaul, who has been connected with the Needham’s Boston Bloomer Girls for ten seasons." This confirms that Wilkinson's team was still playing in 1909 and it appears that Needham's team may also have still been playing.

L. J. Galbreath's name is also associated with a Boston Bloomer Girls team per the postcard and other sources. For example, “Amateur Baseball,” Los Angeles Herald (14 Oct 1909), p. 12. [CDNC]. “The Boston National Bloomer Girls’ baseball team, which recently defeated San Bernadino, wishes to arrange games with any club within 100 miles of Los Angeles having inclosed grounds. Answer through the Herald or communicate with L. J. [sic?] Galbreath, general delivery, Los Angeles.” It is possibly that Galbreath had bought the Hopkins Bros. team from Wilkinson because immediately following the article about Galbreath trying to find games for his team in California are other articles referencing the Hopkins Bros. club playing in California.

As I mentioned above, my research is a work in progress, so my final conclusions may change as more primary sources come to light on the teams calling themselves "Boston Bloomer Girls" in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Deb Shattuck

[dwinters]

Joann, the example that I have above has the address listed on the back. It also has all the members listed by name and position.

[Shat5]

I found one more reference to L.J. Galbreath in my notes. It is a lengthy article about Galbreath that was published in an unknown newspaper in 1951. It states that Galbreath owned and managed a Boston Bloomer Girls team from 1905-1925 from his headquarters in Kansas City, KS.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Shat5

I found one more reference to L.J. Galbreath in my notes. It is a lengthy article about Galbreath that was published in an unknown newspaper in 1951. It states that Galbreath owned and managed a Boston Bloomer Girls team from 1905-1925 from his headquarters in Kansas City, KS.

Interesting, that certainly makes it a possibility that Wood is pictured on that postcard.

[aelefson]

Wow! Thank you to everyone! Your posts provided me with much more information than I hoped for when starting this thread! I assumed that the Boston Blomers were a Boston based team and it is fantastic to learn otherwise through other posters' excellent research. I wanted to post my higher resolution (600dpi) scan of the pc but I think Net54 will automatically resize it. If someone needs it, just send me your email and I will send the higher resolution scan. Thanks again for the excellent information!
Yours in collecting,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

[Brian Campf]

Deleted

[HBroll]

my star bloomer example

[ksfarmboy]

I'm still sticking with no on both. That looks like Addie Joss in the top pc bottom left though. Here's three early Joe Wood photos to compare them with.