Project Five



Chris Defibaugh
AMST 205



Virtual Greenbelt Exhibit


Sports have been around since the beginning of time. As the years passed by, sports evoloved into what we now know them. From football, to soccer to tennis to baseball, all sports have changed since the beginning. Click here to find out just what tennis was like back in 1937. Baseball has been around since 1845. Every child has hopefully had the opportunity to play a little baseball with their father, friends, or in a league. Some things through the years had changed with fads, times, and likes. But the one thing that has stood is baseball. Baseball among all other things has gone through two world wars, the sixties, the seventies, and George Bush. One of the great things about baseball, is the fact that it gives every child who may not be as athletic as others a chance to succeed in sports. If the child is a little heavy, they may be a nice power hitter. If the child is too small for other sports but fast, they can be a baserunner. There are so many role playing positions in baseball that almost anybody can play. This is not to say that baseball is made up of non athletic people, for they are very skilled at what they do. Baseball has also played an important role in Greenebelt's history.


The baseball mitt found in the Greenbelt Museum symbolizes just how much baseball was a part of everyday life. After coming home from work, the father may have gone outside with his son and had a catch while the mother was setting up dinner. This would be significant because it showed the family nature of Greenbelt at the time.
In order to take up a game of baseball however, there was a little more needed than a glove and a throwing partner. Sometimes a mode of transportation would be needed to get to the park, and a common way was by bike for those fortunate enough to have one. Look here for information about bicycles. The equipment needed could be altered to fit the budget if the children. This means they could have used any kind of ball for the baseball, hats, shirts, leaves, pratically anything as the bases, and wa-la. Instant baseball game. For one of the most important parts, the bat, sticks could have been used instead of these.




Stickball has been a common game for those unable to find or buy an actual baseball bat. Having spoken with my grandfather and father, both remember using sticks as bats in the ol' sandlots back in the day. This leads me to believe that also in place of an actual baseball glove, that anything up to an oven mitt may have been used to act as a barrier between a screaming line drive and bare skin. I know how much a baseball to the skin can hurt, so I tend to use only baseball gloves. But for the time period, gloves were not as abundant as they are today. In today's society, people own two to three of everything. Things are only used for certain activities, such as running shoes, basketball shoes, and casual shoes. Back then to have one such pair of shoes was considered fortunate.


Although as you can see from this 1931 ad from Montgomery Ward, that specialty shoes were beginning to become more and more popular. This paticular shoe became more popular with the increased popularity of baseball. This just shows that companies were exploiting profits from sports back then just as much as they are now.












Click on a glove to proceed to the next section

Glove Care
Use of Glove
Baseball in Greenbelt
Pictures
Sources

Back to welcome page