1876 Chicago (Chicagos, White Stockings, Whites)
Left: This rendering is 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 rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team:
Right: This rendering is based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team:
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated 1876. Portrait montage of team. Year of item confirmed by the appearance of players White and Addy, both of whom only played for Chicago in 1876. Full view of montage at left, detail view of game scene at right. Montage displayed the team nickname, White Stockings, which was based on the color of the leg wear.
Player portraits in full view, clockwise from top: A Spalding (76, 77), R Barnes (76, 77), O Bielaski (NA 75, NL 76), J Peters (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77, 79), P Hines (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77), C McVey (76, 77), D White (76), F Andrus (76,84), B Addy (76), C Anson (76-97) and J Glenn (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77). Player IDs from montage. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Original montage published by the Graphic Co., New York. An original version of this print has a label on the bag that reads: Eugene Smith Company, Makers of Fine Printing, Aurora, Illinois. A version of this montage is with the Chicago Historical Society. Image scan from John Thorn, Our Game, August 28, 2017.
Dated 1876. Three detail views of photo A. The players in these detail views are unidentified. Based on the style of the mustache, the player at right could be R Barnes, F Andrus or C McVey. Players at left and right were depicted wearing a pillbox cap without a visor. An ad from Spalding & Bro. in 1880 called this style a “tennis or cricket cap.” Player at center wore a cap with a visor. All three players wore a truncated or tucked-in necktie with angled striping, and white stockings.
Photo B
Dated 1876. Montage of portraits, including game scene and full-length illustration of player. These depictions were very similar but not exact to the montage shown above, see photo A.
Player portraits, clockwise from top left: C Anson (76-97), J Glenn (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77), A Spalding (76, 77), R Barnes (76, 77), O Bielaski (NA 75, NL 76), J Peters (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77, 79), P Hines (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77), C McVey (76, 77), D White (76), F Andrus (76,84) and B Addy (76). Player IDs from montage. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from The Daily Graphic. Image scan from SABR/The Rucker Archive.
Photo C
Hand-dated 1876. Full view of player R Barnes (76, 77) at left, detail view at right. Photo date possibly confirmed by use of similar pose of Barnes in collage above, see photo A. Detail view shows pill-box cap without a bill. An A. G. Spalding & Bros. equipment ad from 1880 called this style a “tennis or cricket cap.” The Chicago Tribune on April 21, 1876, described Barnes’ cap as conspicuous. Does this suggest he was the only player to wear a cap without a visor? Photo from SABR, The National Pastime (Number 3, Spring 1984), collection of Barry Halper. Years Barnes with team from baseball-reference.com.
Photo D
Dated 1876 to 1877, possibly 1876. Cabinet card photo of P Hines (NA 74,75, NL 76,77), full view at left, detail view at right. The studio background of this photo was very similar to that shown in photo B, suggesting the two photos were made at the same session. Player wore a white uniform with a dark belt and white stockings in this photo. The detail view showed that the player wore a white necktie with several angles stripes and that the tie was tucked into the opening of the shirt. The angled stripes match those shown in photo A. The belt was made of fabric and secured with leather strapping. The pillbox-style cap in the foreground was white, see detail view below. Player ID and image scan from Leland’s Auctions. Years Hines with team from baseball-reference.com. The back of the photo mount included the following imprint, “From the Art Studio of Armstrong & Co., 75 Madison, cor. State, Chicago, Ill.”
Dated 1876 to 1877, possibly 1876. Detail view of photo C. Detail view showed the player’s shoes and white pill-box style cap in the foreground. The Chicago team wore color-coded caps in 1876. At the team’s opening game in Louisville played on April 25, 1876, it was reported by a newspaper that Hines wore a white cap. Based on the detail view, the white cap may have had white horizontal bands. Unlike the “cricket cap” worn by Barnes in photo B, the cap that Hines wore had a visor.
Photo E
Dated June 3, 1876. This editorial cartoon was published on this day, depicting Chicago and Boston players. Image date and scan from John Thorn, Our Game, May 6, 2019, citing the Boston Globe, June 3, 1876. Thorn adds: “Note that Spalding [running to home], like all the Chicago players that year, wore a fez-like cap with a different color denoting each position in the field.”
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1876: “The [Chicago] uniform for the club for 1876 will differ very little, if any, from last year [1875]. The English cricket-flannel for the garments arrived yesterday [March 11]. There is talk of arranging some way in which the spectators can easily and certainly tell the players apart as they are in the field. Capt. Spalding’s idea is to furnish each player with a different colored cap, and then put the names of the colors against those of the players on the score cards. There will be however, some opposition to this idea, and it is not at all certain to win. A collection of heads under the proposed plan would look like a Dutch bed of tulips.” From the Chicago Tribune, March 12, 1876.
March 1876: “Capt. Spalding’s idea is to furnish each player with a different cap, and then put the names of the colors against those of the players on the score cards.” From the St Louis Globe-Democrat, March 19, 1876. Research from Peter Morris, A Game Of Inches (2006, 2010).
April 1876: “The uniforms of the Chicagos will be something of a novelty. White imported flannel, made same as last year, but will not have name ‘Chicago’ on the breast. The caps will be double visor, and of various colors– […] Spalding, blue; McVey, red; Peters, green; Barnes, red and white; white; blue and white, etc.” New York Sunday Mercury, April 2, 1876. Research from Richard Hershberger. Note, this newspaper account of the varying colored caps for Peters and Barnes differs in description from those recorded later in the month.
April 20, 1876, Chicago v. picked nine, at Chicago, Twenty-third street grounds, exhibition game: “The Chicago nine camee on the field in a body, and were heartily and cheerfully applauded by the crowd. […] Much comment was heard on the parti-colored caps, but it was generally favorable, and the utility of the idea was acknowledged. The colors chosen by the men are as follows: Spalding – blue, White – red, McVey – black and blue, Barnes – black and yellow, Peters – black and red, Anson – black and white, Hines – white, Bielaski – white and red, Addy – white and brown. The most conspicuous headdress is Barnes’ and the handsomest is Hines’. It is fair to suggest to Manager Spalding that he change either Anson’s colors or Addy’s, becasue they are impossible to be told apart a little distance off, although it is not thereby intimated that any man except a perfect stranger would confound the two men. The color green seems to have been omitted, why not put that in the list?” From the Chicago Tribune, April 21, 1876. Question: does the Tribune calling Barnes’ cap conspicuous suggest he was the only player to wear a cap without a visor?
April 20, 1876, Chicago v. picked nine, at Chicago, Twenty-third street grounds, exhibition game: “Shortly after 3 o’clock the Whites emerged from their dressing-room at the east side of the grounds, swinging their varied-colored caps in the air in response to hearty and prolonged cheers from the audience. They resembled more nearly a bevy of horse jockeys than a baseball nine. Spalding, the pitcher and captain of the nine, wore a cap of bright blue woolen stuff, while that of White, the catcher, was of the brightest red. Peters, the stubbly little short stop, had a covering of red flannel encircled with two black bands about half an inch wide and an inch apart. McVey, the trusty first baseman, was bedecked with a cap of blue, which was distinguished from that of the captain by black bands, two in number. Barnes at second had a yellow cap with black bands. That of Anson, third baseman, was white with black bands, and Addy, left fielder, wore white with brown circles, which but for the contrast in the size of the men would have rendered them indistinguishable. Hines in center field was arrayed in a cap of pure white flannel, and Bielaski, right fielder, red and white. The first impression of a song and dance artist or a jockey soon disappears as the ease in distinguishing the players by simply referring to the score sheet becomes apparent, and the idea is a capital one. […] The new suits made up all that was lacking to constitute them.” From the Chicago Inter Ocean, April 21, 1876.
April 1876: “White Stockings were arrayed in caps of varied hues: Spalding- red white and blue, McVey- black and blue, Barnes- black and yellow, Peters- black and red, Anson- black and white, Hines- white, Bielaski- white and red, and Addy- white and brown” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1845-1881 From Newspaper Accounts (1961). Specific documentation not given. Some of the cap colors recorded by Orem do not match newspaper reports from early in the season.
April 22, 1876, Chicago v. Franklin, Chicago, at Chicago, exhibition game: “The first appearance of the White Stocking nine against an organized club was in yesterday’s game with the Franklin Club of this city, perhaps the strongest amateur organization in this state. […] The professionals appeared to rather better advantage than on the previous day, and the addition of a dark-blue tie to each man’s uniform relieved the monotony of clear white. […] The confusion likely to arise from similarly-colored caps has been removed by the introduction of a green one, which has been mounted on Peters.” From the Chicago Tribune, April 23, 1876.
April 25, 1876, Chicago v. Louisville, at Louisville, home opener: “Those individual colors of the Chicagos are just the thing. They should have been adopted long ago.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, April 26, 1876.
May 5, 1876, Chicago v. St. Louis, at St. Louis, Grand Avenue Park, home opener: “Spalding, Captain of the famous White Stockings, can blame no one but himself for […] the error which did the mischief.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 6, 1876. The boxscore published this day labeled the teams as “Browns” and “Whites.”
May 10, 1876, Chicago v. Cincinnati, at Chicago, home opener: “To the great delight of the audience, the full White Stocking nine was out, and every man was where he belonged, from the impassive [Deacon] White around to the agile [Bob] Addy, and from the sure-handed Iowa infant [Cap Anson] down through the grades of height to Capt. Bob Shorty [Addy?], who teetered all over the infield as he thought there was occasion.” From the Chicago Tribune, May 11, 1876. Report includes use of the team nickname, based on the color of the stockings.
May 10, 1876, Chicago v. Cincinnati, at Chicago, home opener: “The Whites played a faultless game.” From the Cincinnati Daily Star, May 11, 1876. “Whites” was a reference to the color of the team’s stockings.
May 30, 1876, Chicago v. Boston, at Boston, scorecard with printed lineups: “Chicago — Barnes, 2d b., black & yellow; Hines, c.f., white; Anson 3d b., black & white; McVey, 1st b., blue & black; Spalding, p., blue; Addy, r.f., red & black; White, c., red; Peters, s.s., green; Glenn, l.f., blue & white.” From John Thorn, Our Game, August 28, 2017. As this listing of cap colors was from a printed scorecard, it may be the most accurate.
June 22, 1876, Chicago v. Mutual, New York, at Chicago: “Next came [to bat] that magnificent ball-player Hines. His cap was off and his sleeves were rolled back to the elbows.” From the Chicago Inter Ocean, June 23, 1876. Hines, sans cap, made the game-winning hit to complete a come-from-behind ninth inning rally and the Inter Ocean described the scene: “men fairly screamed and the ladies hearing that the home club had won the game flourished their handkerchiefs and clapped their hands vigorously. McVey felt so good about it that he turned a sommersault[sp] in the air.”
September 1876: “The Chicago nine now wear blue caps throughout, which makes their uniform one of the prettiest worn. The doing away with the different-colored-cap folly was a most sensible move.” From the Philadelphia Sunday Mercury, September 17, 1876. Research from Richard Hershberger.
1876, recounted in 1882: “[In 1882] the superstitious White Stockings appeared for the game […] wearing the old tri-colored caps of the year 1876. They had discarded these caps for 1877 and did not wear them again until 1880 when they won their second League championship. With the caps they repeated in 1881.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 44.
1876: “Baseball’s theatricality was evident in the different colored fez (sans tassel) worn by each member of the 1876 White Stockings to denote his position. This made the players look from the grandstand like ‘a Dutch bed of tulips,’ the Chicago Daily Tribune noted.” From John Thorn, Baseball In The Garden Of Eden (2011).
Team genealogy: Chicago 1874-
Chicago reformed after the Great Fire of October 1871 and rejoined the National Association (NA) in 1874 and 1875 after a two-year absence. The NA was baseball’s first league, operating 1871-1875. Chicago joined the National League (NL) at its formation in 1876 and the team has played in the NL every year since 1876. Information from Paul Batesel, Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871-1875, from baseball-reference.com, and from wikipedia.
1876 Chicago summary
Uniform: white, white stockings, parti-colored caps
First worn: April 21
Photographed: unspecified during year
Described: March-April
Material: flannel
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variation: caps of varying colors, entire team switched to blue caps in mid-September
Other items:
Home opener report: yes, May 10 v. Cincinnati
Rendering posted: September 24, 2015
Diggers on this uniform: John Thorn, Peter Morris, Richard Hershberger,