1879 Chicago (Chicagos, White Stockings)
These renderings are based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the renderings.
Rendering accuracy:
Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on this uniform:
Photo A
Dated late October 1879. This photo is of the Chicago touring team that traveled west with the Cincinnati NL team after the 1879 NL regular season. The teams left Chicago October 2nd, and were scheduled to play at Omaha, Denver, Cheyenne, Laramie, Salt Lake, Virginia City, Eureka, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, and ending in San Jose in November. The Chicago touring team was a mix of team members from the regular season and players who did not play with Chicago in 1879. Top row, from left: T Carey (Cleveland NL 79, never played for Chicago), S Flint (79-89), N Williamson (NL 79-89, PL 90), A Dalrymple (79-86), G Gore (79-86) and J McCormick (Cleveland NL 79, Chi 85, 86). Front: C Anson (76-97), J Quest (79-82), (A Spalding), L Corcoran (Springfield NA 79, Chi 80-85), (W Kelly mgr) and J Remsen (78, 79). Player IDs from photo. Years played with team from baseball-reference.com. Photo scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-Century Pictorial Committee. Research regarding photo from Tom Shieber. Shieber has found a Chicago Tribune report from November 2, 1879 that states “the White Stockings have been photographed by an enterprising California artist.” Shieber also has found an account that “Spalding returned to Chicago on November 11, leaving the rest of the club in San Francisco.” This information suggests the late October photo date. Note, the photo shows players wearing short neckties. Some of these neckties are light in tone while others appear dark. Belts seem to match the tones of the ties. The photo also shows several solid colored caps on the ground and a white cap with color bands held by either Flint or Williamson at Spalding’s right shoulder. These uniform elements match with the newspaper descriptions from the regular season, see written documentation below. However, the photo shows players wearing solid white stockings. Newspaper accounts from 1879 and 1880 suggest Chicago wore color bands on their white stockings during the 1879 regular season.
Dated late October 1879. Detail view of team photo A. Photo shows players wearing both light- and dark-colored neckties with matching belts. Photo also shows one player wearing a fingerless glove, see C Anson, far left.
Written documentation on this uniform:
March 1879: “The management of the Chicago club has very wisely decided that the staring, skinny white uniform with tips of blue, in which it has dressed its men from time immemorial, is not the best of its kind; that good taste dictates higher colors for the field, something that will bring out, instead of dwarfing the muscular developments of its wearer. […] In 1876 the Chicago Club made an innovation by furnishing its players with individual colors in the way of caps, with a view to giving the audience some work by which the men could easily be distinguished from one another. It worked in a perfectly satisfactory manner, but, for some unknown reason, was discarded the next season [1877]. The present change is in the same line, except that it goes further and applies the principle to the entire uniform. The customary white flannel will be used for the body of the dress. In this respect they will all be alike; but each man will be furnished with an individual color to finish it with, including cap, neck-tie, belt and a band some three inches wide around the thickest part of the calf. The colors have been selected, and Spalding Bros. are now at work upon the uniforms. The distinguishing colors of the players are as follows: Flint, blue; Larkin, brown; Anson, gray; Quest, black and yellow; Peters, green; Hankinson, scarlet; Dalrymple, white; Williamson, maroon; Schafer, red and black; Gore, blue and white; Harbridge, red and white.” From the Chicago Times, March 17, 1879. Research from Thom Karmik, baseballhistorydaily.com. This report was also published in the Cincinnati Enquirer, March 20, 1879. Note that the photo of the Chicago touring team from October 1879 does not show players wearing banded stockings, see photo A.
March 1879: “It has been decided to make a new departure in the way of uniforms for the Chicago Base Ball Club this year. The idea is taken from the system long in vogue of jockies [sp] or drivers’ colors to designate the various horses in a field. […] The new suit will be trimmed with different colors. In 1876 the Chicago nine wore parti-colored caps, but this year not only the caps, but the belts and the knee-garters will be colored, and to each player will be assigned a different hue. In this way the spectators will be able to follow a man wherever he may go around the field. […] The colors will be placed opposite the player’s name on the score sheet furnished at the gate.” From the Buffalo Commercial, March 18 1879.
March 1879: “The building at the northwest corner of the White Stocking Park is being fitted up as a club-house for the men of the Chicago nine, one room being reserved for toilet purposes, and another as a reading room and general quarters.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, March 20, 1879, citing he Chicago Tribune.
March 1879. “The Chicagos will wear white stockings.” From the Chicago Daily Tribune, March 23, 1879. Research from Don Stokes. Note, this report may indicate the Chicago team did not wear color bands on their stockings during the regular season. However, the May 2nd newspaper account below suggests they did indeed wear color bands to start the season.
March 1879: “There will be five red stocking clubs in the [National] League this season: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Boston, Buffalo and Troy clubs. The Chicago club wears white stockings and the Syracuse club brown.” From the New York Daily Tribune, March 29, 1879.
March 1879: “The Cincinnati, Boston, Cleveland and Buffalo clubs will all glory in garish red hosiery this coming season. The fatted calves of the Chicagos will be cased in pure white […] and the shapely shins of the [Syracuse] Stars in puritanical brown. How the Providence will be stockinged remains a secret locked in the bosom of George Wright.” From the Syracuse Daily Courier, March 30, 1879.
March 1879: “The Syracuse Courier [dubbed] the White Stockings ‘the Chicago Rainbows.’” From Peter Morris, A Game of Inches (2006, 2010), citing the Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1879.
April 1879: “The uniform stockings of the Chicago nine are to be silk. It will be the best dressed team in the [National] league.” From the Buffalo Courier, April 3, 1879.
April 1879, practice uniforms: “The [Chicago] men were dressed in a practice uniform of brown denims, with red stockings, and looked like a lot of exaggerated sparrows hopping about.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 9, 1879. Research from Don Stokes.
April 1879: “The Chicagos want to be called the ‘Silk Stockings.’” From the Buffalo Morning Express, April 12, 1879.
April 1879: “The following will be the uniforms of the [National] League clubs this season: Chicagos, white suits with different colored caps, belts, neckties and stockings. Bostons, white suits, white caps, red stockings, belts and neckties. Buffalos, white suits, white caps, blue stockings, belts and neckties. Cincinnatis, white suits, white caps, red stockings, belts and neckties. Troys, light gray suits and caps, cardinal red belts and stockings, ‘T. C.’ on shirt front. Clevelands, black and white checkered suits, blue trimmings, white caps, blue belts and stockings, ‘Clevelands’ on shirt front. Syracuse, white suits, white caps with brown trimmings, brown stockings. Providence, light gray suits with blue trimmings, blue belts, stockings and caps.” From the Buffalo Courier, April 13, 1879.
April 1879: “Chicago furnishes uniforms to all the [National] league teams and likewise all the balls they play with. The Chicago League President also ‘bosses’ the concern. It is a Chicago institution.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 1879. Exact date not included on newspaper scan. Based on other articles included on the scan, this issue was most likely published April 13, 1879.
April 19, 1879, Chicago v. picked nine, at Chicago, White Stocking Park, first exhibition game of season: “The White Stockings appeared in their new uniforms, each man wearing individual colors, as follows: Dalrymple, red; Peters, green; Shaffer, red and black; Anson, blue and white; Quest, yellow and black; Gore, blue and yellow; Hankinson, green and white; Williamson, white; Flint, blue; Harbidge, red and white.” From the Chicago Daily Telegraph, April 20, 1879.
April 1879: “Cabinet size photographs of the White Stockings are being taken by [William A.] Robinson, 77 South Clark street, who has done the work in an artistic manner. Those of Dalrymple, Larkin, Harbidge, Peters and Williamson are already completed, and the balance will be ready in a few days.” From the Chicago Tribune, April 27, 1879. According to Broadway Photographs, at broadway.cas.sc.edu, the studio of Robinson & Roe “had two reception parlors outfitted in luxe style, several lady attendants, and six camera operators. A top floor posing room was reckoned the most spacious located outside of Manhattan.”
April 1879: “The Chicagos have been ‘took’ by a photographer. George [‘Orator’] Shaffer busted the instrument, however, and his portrait remains unfinished.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 30, 1879. Though unclear, this seemingly was an editorial jab at Shaffer. Also see April 27, 1879, report above regarding photographs of players.
May 1, 1879, Chicago v. Syracuse, at Chicago, opening day: “The other features of the game was the variegated hose displayed by the so-called White Stockings. The striped stockings, which appeared for the first time, were unanimously voted a success.” From the Chicago Tribune, May 2, 1879. Research by Don Stokes. Game date from retrosheet.org.
May 1879: “The uniforms of the eight [National] League teams are as follows: Boston, white trousers, shirts and caps, with red stockings, neckties and belts; Cleveland, black and white checked suits, white caps, blue stockings and trimmings; Providence, light gray trousers, jackets and caps, with blue stockings, belts and neckties; Chicago, white suits with different colored caps, belts and neckties, and white stockings; Buffalo, white suits, and white caps with blue trimmings, neckties and blue stockings; Cincinnati, white suits and caps, with red trimmings, belts, neckties, and red stockings; Troy, light gray suits and caps, cardinal red belts and stockings, and ‘T.C.’ on shirt front; Syracuse, white suits, white caps with brown trimmings, and brown stockings.” From the New York Tribune, May 14, 1879. Research from Richard Hershberger.
October 1879, western tour: “[Chicago has] adopted the novel idea of designating each player by a particular cap. For instance, Flint wears a blue cap, blue belt and blue necktie; Dalrymple red cap, red belt and red tie; Anson blue and white; Quest, black and yellow; Williamson, green and white; Carey, green; Remsen, red and white; Gore, red and black; Corcoran white. The remainder of the suit consists of white flannel shirt and pants and white stockings.” From the Alta California, October 16, 1879. Chicago played their first game in California on October 19 against the California team. Research from Angus Macfarlane. Note, some of these colors do not match the pre-season report from March 1879. It is likely the regular season colors of brown, gray, and black/yellow, were not worn on the October tour.
1879, referenced in March 1880: “The Chicagos will have the same peculiar style of uniform as that adopted a year ago [1879].” From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, March 14, 1880.
1879, referenced in March 1880: “The Chicagos will sport silk stockings again this season [1880]. The circus-colored uniforms will also be worn.” From the Washington (DC) National Republican, March 22, 1880.
1879, referenced in April 1880: “The Chicago appeared for the first time in their regular league uniform for this year [1880], with all-white stockings that are a marked improvement over the many colored rings of last year [1879].” From the Chicago Tribune, April 21, 1880. Research from Thom Karmik, baseballhistorydaily.com.
1879, referenced in April 1882: “The [Cincinnati] practice uniforms, which are like those the Chicagos have had for three years, a drab color, are expected Monday [April 3].” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 1, 1882.
Team genealogy:
Chicago 1874-
Chicago reformed after the Great Fire of October 1871 and rejoined the National Association (NA) in 1874 and 1875 after a two-year absence. The NA was baseball’s first league, operating 1871-1875. Chicago joined the National League (NL) at its formation in 1876 and the team has played in the NL every year since 1876. Information from Paul Batesel, Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871-1875, from baseball-reference.com, and from wikipedia.
1879 Chicago summary
Uniform: white, white stockings with color bands and matching colored caps signifying players’ positions
First worn: April 19, Chicago, stockings May 1, Chicago
Photographed: late October post-season touring team
Described: March-May, October
Material: flannel, stockings silk
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations: wore white stockings on post-season tour
Other items: gray practice uniform
Home opener report: yes, May 1, Syracuse
Rendering posted: February 16, 2015
Diggers on this uniform: Angus Macfarlane, Don Stokes, Mark Fimoff, Richard Hershberger, Thom Karmik, Tom Shieber,