Dutchman ....got one for ya

[Speedbag]

I received an email from an individual that works at Fields in BC Canada, she stated that after researching, she found there are no kept records of merchandise from the era of the 40s-50s -60s. She did say that it could have been sold there. She did send me the companies' advertising logo of that era. So I guess the bag can be tagged; "it could be a Fields speed bag, but do not know for sure"

The logo and design might also be registered as a trademark, and maybe that could be researched also to find ownership.? Its a gorgeous bag.

[Bag Man]

Not really, a lot of the old school sporting goods makers used horsehide in their products. Remember, most of these firms were in the business of making baseball gloves and mitts as their primary line. The boxing equipment was usually a sideline comparatively speaking. Horsehide leather was found to be an excellent material for gloves. It tanned up soft, and was very durable. Both excellent qualities in a striking bag.

Horsehide was also to go to leather for coats that needed to take a beating. You found it used in work coats, e.g., Sears house brand of work coat was horsehide, motorcycle jackets and police jackets. The slaughter of horses in the US for human consumption has a tortured history. My recollection is that it began to fall out of favor in the 1960s and even then horses were not raised for food. Once that happened you see very few articles made of horsehide in the US and they tend to be higher end and imported from overseas. Once they stopped eating horses the supply of hides dried up.

Steve

[Dutchman]

Not really, a lot of the old school sporting goods makers used horsehide in their products. Remember, most of these firms were in the business of making baseball gloves and mitts as their primary line. The boxing equipment was usually a sideline comparatively speaking. Horsehide leather was found to be an excellent material for gloves. It tanned up soft, and was very durable. Both excellent qualities in a striking bag.

[REB]

Nice looking bag, hope you can bring it home and tell us about it.

It could be a risky purchase. The horsehide makes it intriguing though.

[paranday]

Nice looking bag, hope you can bring it home and tell us about it.

[REB]

Fields update

Thank you Paranday, okay so that definitely puts the emphasis on the Canadian theory

I received an email from an individual that works at Fields in BC Canada, she stated that after researching, she found there are no kept records of merchandise from the era of the 40s-50s -60s. She did say that it could have been sold there. She did send me the companies' advertising logo of that era. So I guess the bag can be tagged; "it could be a Fields speed bag, but do not know for sure"

[Dutchman]

Thank you Paranday, okay so that definitely puts the emphasis on the Canadian theory

[paranday]

For what it's worth, this Marshall Field fishing reel says FIELD not FIELDS,

[REB]

Thank you Dutchman!!!..... Just for the hell of it, I Googled up Fields in Ca and sent an email to the main offices in BC. See if anything kicks back. Good stuff
Dutchman

[Dutchman]

Have to admit that this is the first example of one of these that I have seen. It's possible that this might have been the house brand of Marshall Fields, but information about any sporting goods line by them is near non existent. Nearly all the big retail stores back in the day had their own brand name, so it's possible that this is an example. There was also a Canadian store named Fields that dates back to the 1950's. This is also a possibility, as my research has revealed that the output of the Canadian sporting goods companies was about twenty five years behind in style compared to the US market. Therefore it would be entirely possible to find an old school style bag such as this for sale by a Canadian retailer. There still is a market of the large old school style bags in Canada, as witness to the line offered by Genesport.
Horsehide is used in baseball gloves, very tough , very durable. Very good for striking bags used in institutional applications with heavy usage.

[REB]

Hello Dutchman,
Do you know information about this bag? Also, do you know if horsehide makes for a good material in a speed bag. I am presuming it is quite an old-e-e and that it is quite large in size ( which I like)
Thanks Dutchman