1879 Hop Bitters, Rochester (Hops, Bitters)

These renderings are based on written documentation only for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the renderings.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:
None

Written documentation on these uniforms:
May 1879: “The new uniform of the Hop Bitters will be made of gray cloth trimmed with red, and red stockings. It is expected that it will be completed Saturday night [on May 17, 1879]. […] It was expected that the men would appear in the uniform of the Capital Citys [of Albany, NY, of the National Association], as Mr. [Asa] Soule paid $500 for all the equipment of the organization, but it seems that some of the Albany people attached [only] part of the clothing, so that the players will have to appear in scrub uniforms until their own are completed.” From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 14, 1879. Research from Paul Bielewicz.

1879: “Although [owner] Soule publicly said that the team was ‘purely to furnish innocent entertainment […] and not as an advertisement,’ he outfitted it in uniforms with Hop Bitters stitched across the front in large scarlet letters.” From Tim Wolter, SABR, The National Pastime #17 (1997). No supporting citations given.

1878 advertisement for the Hop Bitters product, a cure-all tonic manufactured in Rochester. The Hop Bitters Manufacturing Co. was owned by Asa Titus Soule (1824-1890), who had purchased the business in 1872 and relocated manufacturing to Rochester in 1873. When Soule died in 1890, his obituary stated he had made his “patent medicine famous by extensive advertising.” To promote his product, Soule purchased a National Association baseball team (Capital City of Albany, NY) in early 1879 and renamed the team after his product. After playing games in Rochester between May 1879 and July 1879, the Hop Bitters became a traveling team in the second half of the 1879 season. SABR historian Charlie Bevis wrote: “The Hop Bitters dropped out of the National Association in July to embark on a barnstorming tour across the country to advertise Soule’s drink. They eventually landed in San Francisco, California, in September.” Print ad shown above from the Rochester City Directory. Soule birth and death dates from findagrave.com. Hop Bitters company research from bottlepickers.com, retrieved January 30, 2019. Barnstorming info from Charlie Bevis, biography of Tim Murnane, SABR BioProject, retrieved January 30, 2019.

May 20, 1879, Hop Bitters, Rochester, v. New Bedford MA, at Rochester: “New uniforms on the H.B.s. — Yesterday the Hop Bitters’ nine again met their opponents of the day previous. The Bitters were put up in new bottles, so to speak—that is, new uniforms adorned them. The suits are of cadet-blue or gray, with bright red belts, stockings and initial letters across the chests. They came from Ocumpaugh’s, and he made them in imitation of the old Lousiville uniforms.” From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, May 21, 1879. Research from Paul Bielewicz. The Rochester newspaper also called the team “the boys in blue” in this report. The Rochester city directory of 1879 listed two persons with the name “Ocumpaugh.” One was Edmund Ocumpaugh (1839-1895) who worked at J. Morton & Co., a gentlemen’s goods store located on 17 East Main Street, Rochester. The other was Moses Ocumpaugh (1828-1921) who in 1879 was a shirt manufacturer working at 40 East Main Street, Rochester, and most likely the maker of the Hop Bitters uniform. The 1921 obituary for Moses Ocumpaugh stated that he came to Rochester in 1848 “where for years he was a member of the firm Ocumbaugh Brothers, dealers in men’s furnishings.” Birth dates, death dates and obituary info from findagrave.com, retrieved January 30, 2019.

June 1879: “It is to be inferred that the Troy Whig does not like the Hop Bitters uniform. It says: ‘The Hop Bitters can take the cup for having the worst-looking uniform seen this year—dirty brown and red.’” From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, June 5, 1879. Research from Paul Bielewicz.

July 1879: “The uniforms for the New Hop Bitters will be of light gray, trimmed with red.” From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 11, 1879. Research from Paul Bielewicz.

December 1879: “The Hops are uniformed in blue-ish gray, with red caps and belts, and ‘H. B.’ on the breast.” From the Boston Globe, December 14, 1879. Research from Brian McKenna. This report comes from when the team was on a barnstorming tour during the second-half of 1879. Note that this report mentioned a red cap, while other reports from earlier in the year implied the cap was the same color as the shirt and pants.

Circa 1879, referenced in 1882: “The Baltimores […] wore their new uniform, consisting of gray pants, shirt and cap, with red stockings, belt and trimmings, quite similar to the uniform of the old Hop Bitters nine.” From the New York Clipper, May 6, 1882.

Team Genealogy: Hop Bitters, Rochester 1879-1880
Hop Bitters was formed in Rochester in May 1879 with the purchase of the Capital City, Albany NY, team of the National Association (NA). The NA began as the International Association in 1877 and operated between 1877 and 1880, changing to the National Association in 1879. The Hop Bitters team was named after a cure-all tonic manufactured and sold by the team owner. The team played in the NA for a portion of the 1879 season and then dropped out in June/July to reorganize as a barnstorming team to promote the Hop Bitters drink. The team travelled west to California in the fall of 1879, and to Cuba and New Orleans between December 1879 and January 1880. The team rejoined the NA for the 1880 season and played as “Rochester” for the final months of the team’s existence, disbanding in August 1880. Info from Tim Wolter, SABR, The National Pastime #17 (1997).