1870 Cincinnati (Red Stockings)
These renderings are based on visual documentation for uniform style and color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the renderings.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated June 25, 1870, based on a photo from 1869. These drawings were published in a newspaper on the June 1870 date. Left: drawings of R Ferguson of Atlantic, Brooklyn, and H Wright of Cincinnati. Right: detail view of H Wright (66-70) who was described in the photo caption as the “Captain and Center Field of Cincinnati Club.” The Cincinnati uniform was depicted as having a white shirt and pants, with a dark letter on the chest, a dark belt belt, dark stockings and white shoes. The dark color, of course, was red. The drawing of Wright was a composite made by an artist as the head and arms of Wright were taken from an 1869 team photo, see more below.
Left: detail view of photo A, published June 25, 1870. Right: detail view of a Cincinnati team photo from 1869. The similarities tell us that the illustration of H Wright standing with arms crossed was based on a Cincinnati team photo from 1869. Years H Wright with team from Marshall D. Wright, The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000). Illustrations an ID of Wright and Ferguson from the New York Clipper, June 25, 1870.
Photo B
Dated July 2, 1870, based on a photo from 1869. These drawings were published in a newspaper on the July 1870 date. Left: G Wright of Cincinnati (69, 70) and D McBride of Athletic, Philadelphia. Right: detail view of G Wright (69, 70). The Cincinnati uniform depicted here showed a slightly thicker and bigger “C” on the breast when compared to photos D and E, and was more in keeping with the Cincinnati uniform of 1869. Also similar to illustration A, the drawing of G Wright was a composite made by an artist as the head of Wright was taken from an 1869 team photo, see more below.
Left: detail view of photo B, published July 2, 1870. Right: detail view of a Cincinnati team photo from 1869. The similarities tell us that the illustration of G Wright standing with a bat and with one leg crossed was based on the team photo from 1869. Note also the medal on Wright’s shirt in both images. This medal was the New York Clipper Medal that Wright received in January 1869 for recognition as baseball’s best shortstop in 1868, see more info here. Years G Wright with team from Marshall D. Wright, The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000). Illustrations an ID of Wright and McBride from the New York Clipper, June 25, 1870.
Photo C
Dated July 8, 1870. Illustrated depiction (detail view) of Cincinnati v. Atlantic, Brooklyn, at Brooklyn, Capitoline Grounds, June 14, 1870. Drawing shows Cincinnati at bat and the Cincinnati bench in the foreground. The Cincinnati uniform was depicted as white in color, with dark stockings. Player standing at bench wore a hat, not a cap, that featured a full brim. Cincinnati pitcher Brainard wore a similar cap in a photo from this same year, see photo E below. Image from Harper’s Weekly, July 8, 1870. Original drawing from C. S. Reinhart.
Photo D
Dated 1869 or 1870. Team photo, full view at left, detail view at right. Some versions of this photo are hand-dated as 1869. An 1869 photo date has also been given by Harry Ellard, Base Ball in Cincinnati: A History (1907). Ellard stated this photo was “taken by [Mathew] Brady in Washington at the time when they [i.e., Cincinnati] played the Nationals.” The team wore the traditional white Cincinnati uniform in this photo, with red letter “C” on chest, red belt and red stockings. Detail view at right shows smaller and thinner “C” on chest when compared to photos of the Cincinnati uniform from 1869. Based on this, a photo year of 1870 could be suggested for this image. This may be further be suggested based on facial hair comparisons with other 1869 photos of players Allison, McVey, Sweasy, H Wright and Gould, see study below. All players in photo were members of both the 1869 and 1870 teams. Cincinnati played in Washington DC on June 25 thru July 5, 1869 and on June 27 and June 28, 1870. During the 1869 visit, the team visited President Ulysses S. Grant at the White House on June 26. As to the 1869 or 1870 question, Cincinnati researcher Darryl Brock suggests an 1869 date: “The Brady studio was not far from Willard’s Hotel [in Washington] where the Red Stockings lodged, and photographers were hungry for hot-selling topical items. The Red Stockings were far fresher and hotter in ’69, and [conversely] in ’70 their [winning] streak was broken in Brooklyn not long before they played in Washington. Also, they were in town a day longer in ’69. In ’70 their game with the Nats went only 7 innings, at which point the Red Stockings departed for a train bound for home, leaving little or no time for a studio visit. Author Christopher Devine, on page 54 of his book, Harry Wright: The Father of Professional Base Ball (2003), states that the players were taken to Brady’s studio following the Nationals game on June 25, 1869.”
Players in team photo, top row from left: C McVey (69-70), C Gould (68-70), H Wright (66-70), G Wright (69,70) and F Waterman (68-70). Front: A Leonard (69,70), D Allison (68-70), A Brainard (68-70) and C Sweasy (69,70). Player IDs from photo and from Harry Ellard, Base Ball in Cincinnati: A History (1907). Years with team from wikipedia. Washington game dates from Marshall Wright, The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000) and from Chris Eckes, Curator of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. White House visit info from Greg Rhodes and John Snyder, Redleg Journal, Year by Year and Day by Day With the Cincinnati Reds Since 1866 (2000), support documentation not given. Research assistance from Cam Miller.
Dated 1869 or 1870. Detail view of photo D. Detail view showed a cap with trim along the front edge, the letter on the shirt, the style of the belt and two symmetrical belt loops at the front of the pants. Note that all of the players standing in the back row of this photo wore the same style pants, except for player F Waterman at far right, see full view above. His pant loops were at the hips with no loops in front. Due to the quality of the photo, it cannot be determined from this detail view if the shirt had a shirt bib.
Dated 1869 or 1870. Another detail view of photo D. Note that player A Leonard, left, may have. been wearing a medal on his uniform.
Facial hair study.
Facial hair study of three Cincinnati players in 1869 and 1870. The purpose of the study is to better determine a date for photo B (detail views of which are shown here in column D). The following suppositions can be made: Player Leonard was clean shaven in early 1869 and wore a mustache later in 1869 and in 1870, player Sweasy was clean shaven in 1869 and wore a mustache in 1870, and player H Wright wore a goatee in 1869 and did not wear one in 1870 or 1871. Based on this, it could be said that the photos in column D of the study are most similar to the photos in column E of the study, suggesting that photo D was made in 1870.
Photo E
Dated 1870. Cincinnati, left, and Forest City, Cleveland, right. Photo date based on appearance of Forest City players Heubel, Sutton, Carelton and Kimball, all in their first year with the team, in combination with all Cincinnati players, the last year of the team’s existence. Cincinnati played Forest City on May 12, May 13, May 31, October 6 and November 5, 1870. Cincinnati wore the traditional team uniform in this photo, white in color with red stockings.
Cincinnati players in photo, top row from left: unidentified, C Gould (68-70), G Wright (69, 70), C McVey (69, 70), C Sweasy (69, 70), D Allison (68-70) and H Wright (66-70). Front row: (scorer, unidentified), F Waterman (68-70), A Brainard (68-70) and A Leonard (69, 70). Player IDs based on other team photos from this era. Unidentified player possibly Dean (70). Years members played with team from wikipedia. Years Dean played with team and Cincinnati-Forest City game dates from Marshall D. Wright, The National Association Of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000).
Dated 1870. Detail view of photo E. The Cincinnati uniform in this photo seems to match that shown in photo D, with a slightly smaller and thinner “C” on the shirt when compared to photos from 1869. Note the size of the “C” on the shirt of player Gould, standing at left in this detail view, and in photo D.
Dated 1870. Another detail view of photo E. Detail view showed pitcher Brainard, left, with a hat featuring a full brim and accented with dark trim.
Photo F
Dated circa 1870. Red Stocking cigar box with illustrated label, full view at left, detail view of label at right. Detail view shows a color depiction of the Cincinnati uniform: white shirt and pants, with red “C” on the shirt, red belt and red stockings.
Photo G
Photo dated January 1917. Historian John Thorn has posted this image online along with descriptions of the items included in the photo. Thorn writes that the descriptions were originally published in January 1917, when a magazine retold the story of these items which had recently come up for auction. The collection was from the estate of Harry B. Ellard, author of Base Ball in Cincinnati (1907) and son of George B. Ellard, one of the original members of the first Red Stocking team. The sale took place at the William Stacey Auction & Storage Co. in Cincinnati on October 15, 1916. The magazine paraphrased auctioneer Charles Bruns, who described the uniform in the photo as “faded in its lighter cloth, but with the great red ‘C’ still flaming proudly from the bosom” and touted it as “the uniform of Harry Wright.” The dark cap was described as being “of Asa Brainard, Cincinnati’s never-beaten pitcher. Red as the day when Asa put it on.” Research from John Thorn, Our Game, published online January 4, 2021, and citing William A. Phelon, Baseball Magazine (January 1917), retrieved January 22, 2012. The descriptions suggest the items were from the famed Cincinnati team of 1869/1870. However it is possible the uniform and cap were from a slightly later period. The uniform in the photo seems to show a small off-centered button placket next to the old-English C. This placket was not seen in images of Cincinnati players from 1869 or 1870. Likewise the red cap was not documented in any photos from this period. One alternate theory is that the uniform shirt and cap sold in 1916 were from the Cincinnati team organized in 1875 and which then subsequently joined the National League in 1876. In describing a parade celebrating the 1875 Industrial Exposition in Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Daily Star on September 8, 1875, wrote that “G. B. Ellard, of 144 ½ Walnut street, turned out a single horse team, covered, on each side appearing a large sheet of canvas bearing the inscription ‘Old Cincinnati Red Stockings.’ The top of the wagon was crowned by four fishing poles that tapered to the top, and which enclosed a pyramid of base-ball bats. The back of the wagon showed the painting of a pair of red stockings crossing each other on the top, bearing the date ‘1869,’ and below that of ‘1875.’ The driver of the wagon was dressed in the Red Stocking suit.” It is possible the uniform worn by George B. Ellard in the 1875 parade was the same that was sold at auction in 1916.
Image H
Dated 1869-1870. Sheet music cover, full view at left, detail view of player A Brainard (68-70) at right. Portraits of players were illustrations drawn from photographs produced in a separate collage (not shown) dated 1869. The drawings on the sheet music cover were transposed from the original photos. Detail view of sheet music depicts player in the traditional Cincinnati uniform, however the stockings do not appear red (dark) in tone. Illustration also shows a medal or ribbon on the player’s shirt. An advertisement for this sheet music was published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on June 14, 1870.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
June 1870, advertisement: “At Peters’ Music Store, Brooklyn, corner of Futon and Johnson Sts., [and] New York, 59 Broadway, near Houston St., Red Stockings’ March, illustrated with a correct likeness of the Red Stockings. Red Stockings’ Polka. Price, forty cents each or three for one dollar. Red Stockings’ Schottische. Published and for sale by J. L. Peters.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 14, 1870. A schottische is a round dance resembling a slow polka.
October 26, 1870, Cincinnati v. Atlantic, Brooklyn, at Philadelphia: “The Atlantic Base Ball Club of this city [Brooklyn] handsomely defeated the famous Red Stockings of Cincinnati, in the home and home game played yesterday in Philadelphia.” From the Brooklyn Daily Union, October 27, 1870.
November 1870: “The Cincinnati Commercial of the 29th of Oct. contains the following:— The Red Stockings are home again after a short campaign in the East. […] The club we understand will be thoroughly reorganized for next season. […] The Red Stockings next year will have a traveling uniform, one of a quiet and tasteful character.” From the New York Clipper, November 5, 1870.
Circa 1870, referenced in June 1875: “The Reds, appearing in their fresh and familiar looking dress, went to bat [in an exhibition game played in Ludlow, KY, against Ludlow on June 1, 1875]. Captain Harry Wright was dressed as the rest, except that he wore a shirt bearing on its breast the initial letter of the old Cincinnati Club.” From the Cincinnati Commercial, June 2, 1875. Research from Cam Miller, The Queen City Historical Review: The Cincinnati Baseball Historical Review No. 7, July 13, 2022, retrieved February 15, 2023.
Who was the originator of the red stocking uniform?
Both Harry Wright, Cincinnati player/manager from 1866 to 1870, and George Ellard, Cincinnati player in 1866 and 1867, have been connected to the origination story of the Cincinnati uniform, which famously featured short pants and exposed red stockings in 1867, and added a red “C” on the chest in 1868. See the 1867 Cincinnati page for written documentation of the earliest claims made for each.
Team genealogy: Cincinnati 1866-1870
The Cincinnati club was formed in 1866 and was one of the first to use a city name as a team name. Their Red Stocking nickname derived from when the team first wore red stockings and knickers during the 1867 season. Cincinnati ushered in the era of professionalism as one of the first openly salaried teams and an undefeated season in 1869. Despite the team’s success, Cincinnati dissolved due to financial reasons after the 1870 season. Information from David Ball, Peter Morris and others, Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012).
Rendering posted: February 12, 2022
Diggers on this uniform: Cam Miller, Chris Eckes, Darryl Brock, John Thorn,