Uniforms of the 1930s

Uniforms in the 1930s

Wondering what the uniforms of your favorite team looked like during the Great Depression? You can see any team's uniform for any year at the Baseball Hall of Fame:


http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/introduction.htm


The exhibit also has detailed information regarding parts of uniform, e.g., the evoulation of uniform numbers, patches, etc. At the "Uniform Timeline," we learn that the Cleveland Indians were the first team to put numbers on their uniforms (1929) and that the Yankees' interlocking "N" and "Y" came into being in 1936, just in time for their second dynasty under Joe McCarthy. Other 1930s uniform developments include the Dodgers' signature cursive team name logo (1938) and the use of a "100 year anniversary" patch in 1939 in celebration of the now discredited "invention" of baseball by Abner Doubleday in 1839.


According to baseball uniform historian Susie James (wife of historian Bill James), the 1930s in fact was the decade of the patch and it was in the use of patches that the uniforms changed. Although she traces the first use of a patch to the 1907 White Sox, apparently the 30s was the era when patches proliferated.


One driving factor in uniform evolution was that by the 1930s, teams were known by both city and team nicknames.


Other uniform "firsts" for the 1930s include the:

-use of cursive lettering (Detroit Tigers);

-end of glass buttons and polished metals (!), which were prohibited in 1931;

-extension of knickers to midcalf; and

-use of a zippered jersey (Cubs in 1937).