Sueded Speed Bag Gloves are the S**T

[Dutchman]

It's like anything else, business' have gotten into their heads that they have to make a huge profit on everything they make as fast as they can. Also, if you have to keep buying replacements, they keep making money. The days of offering quality products at reasonable prices are long gone

[rdshackleford]

The days of quality products at high prices are fading fast too.

[Zaza]

I found these on Craigslist in Boston...no idea on age either. Spalding & Roberts. Really nice leather, yes they smell old, but not too bad.

The Roberts have a metal bar in them! Any ideas on age??

[StevieMac]

I'd like to change the title of this thread to "Old school speed bag gloves are the S**T", but I don't see a way to do that.
-Rusty

Click the Edit button in the original thread post and from that screen select Go Advanced. I think you'll be able to edit your thread title there.

[Dutchman]

I found these on Craigslist in Boston...no idea on age either. Spalding & Roberts. Really nice leather, yes they smell old, but not too bad.

The Roberts have a metal bar in them! Any ideas on age??

The Roberts mitts are probably from the late 1940's, early 1950's. Rocky Marciano had an endorsement deal with them in the '50's.The metal bar in the palm was a common feature used by a number of the suppliers. It served a couple of purposes. One was it forced the wearer to form his fist around it, and two the added weight (although slight) added to the workout. Considering how a typical striking bag workout of the time was done, with the bag high, I can see some benefit of the bar. The Spalding mitts I would estimate date from the late 1940's, perhaps even a bit earlier.

[rdshackleford]

Thanks, Stevie. I tried to do the edit, but it just put a title on post #1, the forum listing still has the old title.

Zaza, nice old bag gloves. I always preferred the mitts to the new MMA style gloves. I remember right around 1980 I used my allowance money to buy a really nice pair of Everlast mitts. Have not been able to find them. Black leather, very smooth and soft like the deerskin gloves. Thin padding and a metal bar. I always found the metal bar comfortable.

[Zaza]

The Roberts mitts are probably from the late 1940's, early 1950's. Rocky Marciano had an endorsement deal with them in the '50's.The metal bar in the palm was a common feature used by a number of the suppliers. It served a couple of purposes. One was it forced the wearer to form his fist around it, and two the added weight (although slight) added to the workout. Considering how a typical striking bag workout of the time was done, with the bag high, I can see some benefit of the bar. The Spalding mitts I would estimate date from the late 1940's, perhaps even a bit earlier.

Thank you!

[rdshackleford]

I found these on Craigslist in Boston...no idea on age either. Spalding & Roberts. Really nice leather, yes they smell old, but not too bad...

Zaza, I had very good results using Zero Odor on my nice but musty smelling Wilson deerskins. At first, I just inverted and sprayed the inside felt lining, as it smelled the worst. But after drying, it became obvious the leather also produced the musty smell. After first application on the outside leather, the smell is gone. I expect I will have to reapply the Zero Odor a few times, but so far so good.

Now if I could only get my old leather gloves to smell like sandalwood and cedar...

-Rusty