Lemon ball too good to be true?

[william_9]

Sorry, I'm on vacation... The pattern matches up perfectly with modern recreations which favor manufacturing simplicity and durability over accuracy. While it's certainly possible for a homemade lemon peel from the middle of the 19c to have large stitches, most stitches on genuine examples tend to be on the smaller side. The pattern on your ball is very uniform as well, also a sign of a newer ball. There are a lot of outlets for these modern balls with this pattern. To my knowledge, all are made in China and most likely by the same factory. If yours is 20-30 years old, it probably has real leather, and may have even been made in America, but I can't say for certain. Real leather will tone and/or darken with time and use. Yours probably started life as a brown ball and developed its surface over the course of a game or two, maybe longer. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of additional aging if someone were inclined to deceive after the fact.


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[khkco4bls]

guys like me know it's a repro. Modern ball. You need to know stitching etc. Those were usually if not always hand sewn. Here are real examples.

[1880nonsports]

a few more from an older pic........

btw - no question your ball isn't an old and original lemon peel. Beside the uniformity of the holes and how the "thread" is sitting in the holes, obvious lack of age (what would be 120 - 150 year old leather and cloth stitching) and general "feel" - it can be linked to the style and production of a modern day ball.........

some things just come to be understood after some time and experience.

[Ghumbs]

Amazing examples guys. Thanks for the photos and additional information. I agree the ball is a lemon, but not a lemon ball