Back in May of 2016, grandson Ben was featured in my post Appalachian Sayings: The “hind catcher”.  (The term hind catcher refers to the position of catcher on a baseball team.)

This past weekend our little hind catcher was given a catcher’s mitt that is over 90 years old. It was given to him by his grandfather (my husband) and was once owned by his great grandfather who played baseball on an industrial league team.

The trademark on the mitt (which I had to research) was used by the Goldsmith Company on baseball gloves they manufactured between 1923 and 1925.

We don’t know if the mitt was purchased new or not, and we’re not sure on which team Ben’s great grandfather was playing when he used it.  It would have been either the baseball team from the Singer Sewing Machine Company or the team from South Bend Lathe Works.  It’s possible that he played for both, as he worked first for Singer and then for South Bend Lathe during the 1920s and 1930s.  Both companies were located in South Bend, Indiana.

Here are the front and back of the mitt…

And closeups of the stitching and of the buckle on the back…

Ben was very happy to show off his vintage catcher’s mitt and was very grateful to his G-Pa for entrusting it to him.

“I love older things that people have used and cherished. They have personality, character, and soul.”  (Anna Hillegass)