1891 Milwaukee (Milwaukees, Brewers)
Left: This rendering is based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Right: This rendering is based on unconfirmed visual documentation for uniform style and confirmed written documentation for color. Important details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Published April 1891, photo from 1889 to 1891. Portrait of G Davies (WA 89, 91 WA, 91 AA), full view at left, detail view at right. This drawing was published in the Buffalo Sunday Morning News on April 16, 1891 and was based on a photo taken between 1889 and April 1891. Drawing showed a pillbox-style cap with horizontal bands, and the city name arched across a button placket. The shirt had a pocket on the left breast. Years Davies with team from baseball-reference.com.
Photo B
Published December 1891, image from 1890 or 1891. Portrait of B Pettitt (90, 91), full view at left, detail view at right. This drawing was published in the St. Joseph (MO) Gazette-Herald on December 12, 1891 and was based on a photo taken in 1890 or 1891, Pettitt’s two years in Milwaukee. Drawing showed a pillbox-style cap with thin horizontal bands, and the city name arched across a button placket. The shirt had a pocket on the left breast. If this drawing was based on a photo made in 1891, then it may be a depiction of the 1891 Milwaukee road uniform which included a light gray cap. Years Pettit with team from baseball-reference.com. Gazette-Herald research and image scan from Peter Reitan.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
February 1891: “Augustus W. Friese, [Milwaukee] club treasurer and owner of a downtown sporting goods store […] furnished the Brewers uniforms. The home uniforms were of pure white, with a dark blue collar to the shirt, and black socks. The traveling uniform was again gray. Director [Harry E.] Gillette wanted the home uniforms to be orange and black, but his idea was dismissed ‘because it was feared that the player’s lives would be endangered if an Irish crowd should gather at the park,’ joked the Evening Wisconsin.” From Dennis Pajot, The Rise of Milwaukee Baseball (2009), in part citing the Evening Wisconsin, February 28, 1891. In Irish history, orange traditionally represents the Protestant faction.
March 1891: “The agony is over at last. Manager [Charlie] Cushman has decided upon the color of the Milwaukee Club’s uniform for 1891. The uniform decided upon will be a duplicate of that which will be worn by [Chicago] Capt. Anson’s men. The home uniform will be plain white with black trimmings and black socks. The traveling uniform will be a pretty blue-gray combination, with red socks. […] Manager Cushman says he never heard of such colors as orange and black. The players would not wear such a uniform he avers. Cushman probably doesn’t remember the old Lord Baltimore Club.” From The Sporting Life, March 7, 1891. Research from Chuck McGill. The “orange and black” editorial was transcribed from the “Personal News and Gossip” column of the newspaper. Note that a Milwaukee newspaper report from the following week stated that the white home uniform had navy blue trimmings, not black, and that the road stockings were black, not red.
March 1891: “[Milwaukee] road uniforms to be light bluish-gray shirts, pants and caps, with black socks, belt and letters. Home uniforms to be white shirts and pants with navy blue caps, socks, belts and letters.” From the Milwaukee Sentinel, March 16, 1891. Research from Clifford Blau.
Team genealogy: Coming soon
Rendering posted: November 2, 2019
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, Cliff Blau, Dennis Pajot, Peter Reitan,