STALL AND DEAN COMPANY RECORDS, 1898-1998
 #669

(1 cubic foot:  3 DB, 2 Oversize folders)

by: Cathy Keen, 1999

History

Started in 1898 in Brockton, Massachusetts by Walter Thomas Stall and Charles Dean, the Stall and Dean Company is one of the oldest sporting goods manufacturers in America. Their first catalog offered baseball and basketball uniforms, footballs, and football helmets. The business rapidly expanded, and within a few years, they were producing athletic shoes for numerous sports, caps, bats, balls, mitts and fielding gloves for baseball, boxing gloves, tennis racquets, nets for tennis and volleyball, and supporters and protective equipment. Eventually, Mr. Stall bought out Mr. Dean's share of the business, but the company name has remained Stall and Dean.

Stall and Dean was the first American company to manufacture hockey jerseys and equipment, outfitting the original six member teams of the National Hockey League. Many Hall of Fame athletes from many sports wore Stall and Dean uniforms, including Bobby Orr and Ted Williams, and their catalogs contained endorsements from many famous players, including Ty Cobb. They manufactured uniforms and equipment for high schools and colleges as well as for the professional athletes.  The company adapted to changing times and changes in style and materials in sports apparel.  The "safeslide flannel" baseball uniform was just one of their innovations.  These apparel changes are well documented in the company's catalogs.  In a 1975 article in the Brockton Enterprise, Richard Stall, Jr., the third generation owner of the company, extolled the virtues of polyester double knit fabrics, saying "...they look marvelous and they have replaced flannels." While the company adapted to stylistic changes, it has remained in its original factory and still produces uniforms on some of the same turn-of-the-century sewing machines it purchased new. In a 1998 article in Yankee magazine, an employee, Kevin Gosciak, referred to Stall and Dean as "a museum of American manufacturing."

Scope and Content

This collection is divided into six series: Series 1, Stall and Dean product catalogs, 1904-1973; Series 2, Stall and Dean price lists, 1919-1966, and order blanks, 1998; Series 3, Promotional brochures, 1913 and 1926; Series 4, Catalogs of Stall and Dean's competitors, 1898-1966; Series 5, Non-sports catalogs, manuals and other printed materials, 1934-1962; and Series 6, Illustrations and graphic materials, undated. Of these, the picturesquely illustrated catalogs of Stall and Dean and its competitors are by far the richest resource for research. Many are annotated and/or contain fabric swatches attached to the pages. They contain a wealth of information about the development of sporting goods and uniforms throughout the twentieth century.

Provenance

The collection was donated to the Archives Center in October 1998.

Container List

Series 1: Stall & Dean Co. Sports Equipment Catalogs, 1904-1973

Series 2: Stall & Dean Price Lists and Order Blanks, 1919-1966, 1998 

Series 3: Stall & Dean Promotional Brochures, 1913 and 1926

Series 4: Catalogs of Stall & Dean's competitors, 1898-1966

Series 5: Non-sports catalogs, manuals, and other printed material, 1934-1962

Series 6: Illustrations and graphic materials, undated

TOP