1894 Milwaukee (Milwaukees, Brewers, Blue Ribbons)

These renderings are based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the renderings.

Rendering accuracy:

Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:
None

Written documentation on these uniforms:
February 1894: “The Milwaukee team has been given the title of ‘The Blue Ribbons’ because of the great breweries located here, and Manager Cushman says the boys will be given enough of the blue ribbon tonic to deserve the name.” From the Milwaukee Sentinel, February 24, 1894. Research from Dennis Pajot. Several reports from 1894 also described that on the Milwaukee uniform “little blue ribbons will flutter from its shirt fronts.” See various documentation below.

February 1894: “Milwaukee, Feb. 21 — […] Mr. Cushman this morning sent an order to Spalding & Bros., of Chicago, for the Milwaukee Club’s uniform. He has selected chocolate gray with maroon trimmings for the traveling suits. The stockings will be of maroon and the cap chocolate gray with a double band of maroon. The home suits will be of white with black trimmings with maroon coats. The stockings will be of black as will the caps. The word ‘Milwaukee’ will be worked in big letters across the breast.” From The Sporting Life, February 24, 1894.

March 1894: “Milwaukee has asked to be relieved of the title of ‘The Brewers,’ and ‘The Blue-Ribbon Sluggers’ is their new rating.” From The Sporting Life, March 3, 1894.

March 1894: “The ‘Blue Ribbon’ boys will then go to Cleveland, where they will tackle Captain Tebeau and his ‘spiders’ on April 9, 10 and 11.” From The Sporting Life, March 31, 1894.

April 1894: “The [Milwaukee] uniforms arrived from Chicago yesterday and were sent to the Dennison hotel, Cincinnati, last night. The uniform to be worn away from home [consists of] shirts, knickerbockers and caps [that] are chocolate gray. Around the caps are two small maroon bands and across the shirt fronts, in maroon letters, are the words ‘Milwaukee.’ The stockings and belts are, of course, maroon in color. […] The home uniforms are white with black trimmings, and black caps, belts and stockings are worn with them. Maroon cardigan jackets will be worn with the out of town uniforms, and when it is cold enough black cardigans will be donned with the home suits. When the team is away from home little blue ribbons will flutter from its shirt fronts. These are not to show that the members of the team belong to a total abstinence society, but that they come from the city that makes the best beer in the world. The ribbons are the same size and appearance as that given to the Pabst Brewing company by the judges of beer at the [1893] Columbian exposition. When the uniforms left for Cincinnati a big canvas sack full of bats accompanied them. Manager Cushman says they are charged to their capacity with base hits.” From the Milwaukee Sentinel, April 1, 1894. Research from Dennis Pajot. Smithsonian Magazine writes that “Pabst’s Best Select won the top beer award at the 1893 Exposition [in Chicago]. Previously, the beer had won many other awards at many other fairs – so many, in fact, that Captain [Frederick] Pabst had already started tying silk ribbons around every bottle. It was a time when beer bottles were more likely to be embossed than labeled and the ribbons were likely added at great cost to Pabst. But Pabst’s display of pride was also a display of marketing savvy, as patrons started asking their bartenders for the blue ribbon beer. […] Soon after the fair, the shorthand was formalized and Pabst’s Best Select was officially changed to Pabst Blue Ribbon. As production increased, so too did the need for blue silk ribbon. By the turn of the century, Pabst was going through more than one million feet of ribbon per year, pausing only when World War I caused a silk shortage. The iconic blue ribbon wouldn’t become a permanent part of the [printed] label until the end of prohibition in the 1930s, when it appeared on Pabst’s new high-tech distribution method, the [beer] can.” Pabst info from Jimmy Stamp, Where Did Pabst Win that Blue Ribbon?, www.smithsonianmag.com, retrieved July 25, 2018.

Undated. Early promotional visual of a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer bottle. Full view at left, detail view at right. Visual showed that the bottle included an actual blue ribbon attached at the seal. A similar ribbon was reportedly tied to the shirt fronts of Milwaukee players in 1894.

April 1894: “The [Milwaukee] clubs uniforms will be gray with red trimmings, on the road, and white with black trimmings at home. This is the same as worn in ‘91.” From The Sporting Life, April 7, 1894. Research from Chuck McGill.

April 1894: “The Milwaukee Club deserves the title of ‘Brewers’ this year if it never did before. The team is backed by a brewery, and its players are advertising the same on their uniforms. There have been advertisements on jockey’s jackets at Latonia, but never before on a ball-player’s back.” From The Sporting Life, April 14, 1894. Research from Chuck McGill. Latonia Race Track was located in Covington, Kentucky, and was regarded as one of the nation’s top horse racing venues in the late 19th century. It operated between 1883 and 1939. Latonia info from wikipedia.

April 1894: “Milwaukee Hops. — No use talking, those blue ribbon ornaments on the boys are attractive. They please the ‘Captain,’ and that’s why there are there.” From The Sporting Life, April 21, 1894.

April 30, 1894, Kansas City v. Milwaukee at Kansas City, opening day: “Kansas City, April 30 — […] The wearers of the blue ribbon fielded well, and handled themselves like ball players.” From The Sporting Life, May 5, 1894.

Team genealogy: Milwaukee 1894-1901
Milwaukee joined the Western League (WL) in 1894 when the league reformed. The reorganized WL operated between 1894 and 1899 and reformed again as the American League (AL) in 1900. Milwaukee played in the WL between 1894 and 1899 and in the AL in 1900 and in 1901, the year the league declared major-league status. The team was replaced by St. Louis for the 1902 season. Information from wikipedia.com.