Classic Stuff

We played baseball a lot in the 50s. Catch in the "vacant lot" between houses, pickup games here and there. For the first few years I had to make do with castoff gloves, which usually were for right handers. I'm a lefty--which means throwing left-handed, catching with the right. So for awhile I had to catch the ball with the glove on my left hand, take the glove off, and throw the ball back.

Then at some point I got my own glove. It was probably a darker leather than this one--this actually looks like the one I have now, though I can't remember when I bought it. But it's a lefty glove. It's leather, as "real" gloves were then, and you used a ointment with a unique, pleasant smell to keep it lubricated. I kept the tube of that blue paste on a narrow shelf next to the stairs leading to the basement. It stayed there for decades. The house has a new owner now, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's still there.