Price of a baseball in 1931?

Smish · Jan 14, 2014

Does anyone happen to know how much a new baseball in the United States would have cost in 1931? Admittedly, I'm not the best at research, but I'm not having any luck finding the answer. I'm finding lots of information on how much a ball from 1931 would cost now, and even more information regarding baseball cards, but that's not what I need to know.

Any suggestions for where to look is also greatly appreciated! Thanks!

cornflake · Jan 14, 2014

Smish said:
Does anyone happen to know how much a new baseball in the United States would have cost in 1931? Admittedly, I'm not the best at research, but I'm not having any luck finding the answer. I'm finding lots of information on how much a ball from 1931 would cost now, and even more information regarding baseball cards, but that's not what I need to know.

Any suggestions for where to look is also greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I have no idea myself - but someone at Cooperstown would probably know.

Or you could hit the library and look at archived periodicals - either sports mags or newspapers in a baseball town would likely have sporting-goods ads? Comic books might also work; I think they had ads for that sort of thing.

alleycat · Jan 14, 2014

I can't answer the question, but I would guess less than a quarter. Maybe 10-cents. A loaf of bread was only about 8-cents in the 1930s.

An interesting side note. In the old days even the Major League teams wanted any ball hit in to the stands back. They would sometimes send a player up to retrieve a ball. There was a big fight at one game over the ball. After that, they pretty much decided to let fans keep the balls.

cornflake · Jan 14, 2014

Nevermind, found your answer!

Well, sorta, as it's 1930 not '31 and the prices are likely wholesale but still.

Here you go -

Mouse over the image for the closeup. I think all those prices are per dozen box, and they differ per type of ball so you've got options?

Why yes, my Google-fu is the best.

alleycat · Jan 14, 2014

From the link cornflake provided the cheapest ball is $4.00 a dozen. That would be 33-cents a ball. The next cheapest were $8.00 a dozen. Others was $12.00 a dozen (and up)--maybe use that; $1.00 for one ball.

King Neptune · Jan 14, 2014

I think Alleycat is about right, but baseballs were relatively expensive, so they weren't much less that a quarter.

Correction:
In 1950 they were about $2.50 in Sears Roebuck catalogue. I can't find an easy way to find 1931, but in 1912 they range from $0.09 to $ 1.17. I would think that the range would have been similar in 1931, but the cheapy would have been a bit more.
https://archive.org/stream/catalogno12400sear#page/922/mode/2up/search/baseball

cornflake · Jan 14, 2014

Currently, official balls seem (from a very cursory look) to run around $15-20, so it'd make sense for a cheaper one to retail someplace around $1 in '31, if a loaf of bread retailed somewhere around $.10 then. I think you can get a cheap loaf of bread around $2 now (I tend toward whole wheat, fresh-baked, so don't know) so that'd be roughly similar structures.

Smish · Jan 14, 2014

Wow! You guys are awesome. And cornflake, you are freaking Google ninja! :e2fight:

Price of a baseball in 1931?

Smish

Reads more than she writes.

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

alleycat

Still around

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

alleycat

Still around

King Neptune

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

Smish

Reads more than she writes.