1860 Excelsior, Brooklyn (Excelsiors)

These renderings are based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the renderings.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated 1860. Year hand-dated on photo border (not shown). Date of photo can be supported by appearance of players Reynolds, Whiting and Pearsall in combination with Creighton, Brainard and Flanly. These men only played together for Excelsior in 1860. The traditional color of the Excelsior team during this period was white shirt and dark blue pants. The caps had a dark crown with white ribbings and the visor was also white. The white belts carried the team name. Note that the lettering on the belts was not all styled in the same manner, possibly indicating the belts were made at different years.

From left: T Reynolds (58-60), J Whiting (59, 60), J Creighton (60-62, died October 62), H Polhemus (58-62), A Pearsall (59, 60), E Russell (58-62), J Leggett (57-63, 66), A Brainard (60-67) and G Flanly (60-67). Player IDs from photo border and also from an engraving made from this image and printed in the New York Clipper, September 4, 1875, see photo B. Years players with team from Marshall D. Wright, The National Association Of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000), and wikipedia.com. Note: Wright does not include records for Excelsior in 1861 and most historians note that the team did not play that year due to the war. Traditional color info from Charles A. Peverelly, The Book Of American Pastimes (1866). Image scan from the New York Public Library, A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection.

Dated 1860. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed that the shirt bib had bowed sides and a flat bottom. The bib was trimmed in light blue, possibly the trim was satin, and the bib was held in place with light-colored buttons. A small, old-English letter “E” was positioned in the center of the bib, probably in blue. The shirt also had matching trim on the shirt collar, cuffs and along the opening of a small pocket below the left breast. Image scan from the New York Public Library, A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection.

Dated 1860. Two identical detail views of photo A, the image at right has enhancements made by the author to show a possible configuration of the shirt bib. This well-known image of pitcher Creighton has baffled historians as very little uniform detail can be seen in the highlight tones of the original print. Was Creighton not wearing a bib like the other players on the team? The view at right shows one possible explanation: that Creighton had his bib flapped open and in doing so he obscured most of the visible trim of the bib. The poor highlight detail in the image may have made the bib invisible. Image scan from the New York Public Library, A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection.

Dated 1860. Top, detail of photo A. Bottom, similar detail view of a retouched version of the same image. It is possible all of bibs worn by the players in this photo had the old-English letter B on the bib. The letter may have been sewn onto the bib in a light blue satin material that became washed-out in the process of making the original photographic image and subsequent print. On the image at bottom, the letters had been added onto the print by hand at a later date. Image scan at top from the New York Public Library, A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. Image scan at bottom from Albert Spading, America’s National Game (1911).

Photo B

Dated September 4, 1875. This engraving, based on a photo taken in 1860, see photo A, was published in the New York Clipper on this day. With the 1875 engraving, the Clipper included the caption of “The Old Excelsior Baseball Nine of 1859.” Based on the appearance of players Reynolds, Whiting and Pearsall in combination with Creighton, Brainard and Flanly, it is more likely the original photo was taken in 1860. The engraving showed details in the image that are not visible in photo A. Note that the two players standing at left, Reynolds and Whiting, wore their shirt bibs partially unbuttoned. Also note that players Creighton, third from left, and Brainard, second from right, were depicted wearing a shirt with no bib. It may be that the poor quality of the original image, as stated above, prevented the Clipper artist from adding the proper detail to this drawing. Also note that the old-English E was rendered on only three of the shirt bibs, the others were left blank. New York Clipper publish date also from Jean-Pierre Caillault, The Complete New York Clipper Baseball Biographies (2009).

Photo C

Dated 1860 to 1862. Three identical views of J Creighton (60-62, died October 1862). This photo may have been made at the same time as the team photo from 1860, see photo A. The original image is shown at left. Similar to the team photo, Creighton’s shirt was puffed out in certain areas and his belt was loose around the waist in both photos. Also there was little highlight detail in the area of the shirt in both photos. Image at center and right show enhancements made by the author. The center example shows how the Excelsior bib would have looked if fully buttoned. The image at right shows a possible configuration for the bib if it was partially unbuttoned at the time of the photo. Years with team from wikipedia.com.

Photo D

Undated, drawing or painting of 1860 team, based on photo A. Drawing showed more uniform detail, including the unbuttoned bib of Creighton, third from left. Image from brooklynheightsblog.com, retrieved July 25, 2023.

Photo E

Dated July 19, 1860, published August 4, 1860. Illustration (detail view) of Excelsior-Atlantic game on July 19, 1860, at the Excelsior grounds, South Brooklyn, full view not shown. Scene depicted Excelsior in the field and Atlantic at bat. Both teams wore white shirts and dark pants. Pose of the pitcher was similar to that shown in the photos of Excelsior pitcher J Creighton shown above, see photo C. Image and date of game from the New York Illustrated News, August 4, 1860. The caption (not shown) stated that the scene was “from a sketch by our own artist.” Date of publish from wikipedia.com.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
July 3, 1860, Excelsior, Brooklyn, v. Victory, Troy NY, at Troy, Wier’s Course: “The Excelsiors wore a pretty uniform — blue caps, white merino [wool] shirts, trimmed with blue, white belts, blue pants and white shoes.” From the Troy (NY) Daily Whig, July 4, 1860. Research from Ed Morton. Note that this report described the shoes as white in color while the studio photos above show the team wearing patent leather shoes.

July 1860: “The [Excelsior] Club returned yesterday [June 12, 1860, to Brooklyn] from their tour of the provinces. […] It should be stated that by the particular request of the Excelsior Club no wines or liquors were allowed on the grounds at any of the matches.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 13, 1860. On their tour of upstate and western New York, the Excelsior club played Champion of Albany on July 2, Victory of Troy on July 3, Niagara of Buffalo on July 5, Flour City of Rochester on July 7, Live Oak of Rochester on July 9, and Hudson River of Newburgh on July 11, winning all 6 contests.

Team genealogy: Excelsior, Brooklyn, 1854-1870s
Excelsior was formed in Brooklyn, NY, in late 1854. The club was one of 16 charter members of the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), baseball’s first organization, operating 1857-1870. Named after the New York State motto, Excelsior was noted for organizing one of the first baseball tours, traveling to upstate New York in 1860 and playing in Albany, Troy, Buffalo, Rochester and Newburgh. Excelsior retained amateur status with the advent of open professionalism in 1869 and ceased to play games competitively in the 1870s. The success and popularity of the club before the Civil War led to frequent use of the Excelsior name by other teams in all areas of the country. Info from William Ryczek, Peter Morris and others, Base Ball Founders (2013).