All Prices listed are in Canadian Funds. Canadian residents to add 5% GST. Shipping charges will be added. U.S. clients will be billed in U.S. funds at the current rate of exchange.
(CANADIAN TRADE CATALOGUE/SPORTING GOODS). Reach Sporting Goods Spring & Summer, 1916.
(Brantford: A.J. Reach Co., copyright Canada, 1916.) Tall narrow 8vo., orig. pictorial wrappers with the rubberstamp of ‘D.H. Howden & Co., Ltd., Sporting Goods, London, Ont.' on the upper wrapper, (33)pp. including inner rear wrapper (with 24 of the 33 pages devoted to equipment related to baseball). With illustrations. Pen doodles on the upper wrapper, lower corner chipped, nick at the upper edge of the rear wrapper, but otherwise a very nice copy of this uncommon catalogue. Voila notes 1 loc only, LAC.
‘The A.J. Reach Company, also known as A.J. Reach & Co., was the largest manufacturer of sporting goods in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded by Al Reach, a former player and founder of the Philadelphia Phillies franchise, it was based in Philadelphia, PA. Reach first operated a sporting goods store in 1874, which moved in the 1890s to a prominent location at 1820 Chestnut Street. Reach then added a large factory on Tulip Street. The Reach Company manufactured baseballs, footballs and boxing gloves on a site that was previously a textile factory. The company also developed a prototype batting helmet in 1900, which was patented and subsequently advertised by 1905. The helmet never found widespread use. In 1934, Reach sold all of its properties to its chief rival, Spalding, and its name disappeared from use.' ‘In 1912, A.J. Reach catalogs and advertisements began listing a new production facility in Toronto, Canada. Information on this facility is scant, but it is probable that the plant produced sporting goods primarily for the Canadian market, likely in response to international tariffs which made importing American goods to Canada less profitable. A.G. Spalding and Wright & Ditson also listed manufacturing facilities in Canada around the same timeframe. By 1917, the Reach plant had been relocated to Brantford, Ontario where, in addition to baseball and football goods, produced hockey, skating, skiing and other winter sporting goods.'