Stall and Dean Company Records
name: label: Creator
content: Jackson, Harry
label: Creator
content: Stall and Dean Co.
topic: label: Topic
content: advertising
label: Topic
content: Sports uniforms
label: Topic
content: Sporting goods industry
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated to the Archives Center in October 1998 by the current owner, Harry Jackson.
creator: label: Creator
content: Jackson, Harry
label: Creator
content: Stall and Dean Co.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Stall and Dean Company Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: Series 1, Stall and Dean's product catalogs, 1904-1973; Series 2, Stall and Dean's 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.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Started in 1898 in Brockton, Massachusetts by Walter Thomas Stall and Charles Dean, the Stall and Dean Company is one of the oldest sporting goods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, and 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 rackets; 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 pros.  With the "Safeslide" flannel baseball uniform being just one of their innovations, they adapted to the changing times and changes in style and materials in sports apparel, and these 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 named Kevin Gosciak referred to Stall and Dean as "a museum of American manufacturing."
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Cubic foot (3 boxes, 2 oversized folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1898-1998
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0669
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Price lists
label: Type
content: Order forms
label: Type
content: Manufacturers' catalogs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Divided into 6 series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Cathy Keen, September 30, 1999.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Price lists
label: Genre/Form
content: Order forms
label: Genre/Form
content: Manufacturers' catalogs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection is divided into six series: Series 1, Stall and Dean's product catalogs, 1904-1973; Series 2, Stall and Dean's 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.