. Figure 1.--Here a group mof American boys are having a bite to eat before payin a little basevall out in the country. In the city it was difficult to find a place to play.

Sports began to come into their own, especially by the 1910s. And boys had a pashion to play them. And the sport that was most poopular was baseball. Baskeball anbd football were still mosdtly college spoorts. There were other sports, but it was baseball that had captured the energy of American boys. And it was in the 1910s that Babe Ruth began his storied career. The Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox were the dominating teams, respectively winning three and four World Series. The Babe would change that when his contract was purchased by New York Yankees. Facilities like ball fields were not readily availabe in cities. There was no Little League at the time for boys. Parks that existed did not have sports facilities and many discouraged active play. And thus stick ball energed as way of playing baseball in city streets. It was primarily played in the northeast, especially New York Cuty and Philadelphia. We are not sure when the sport became popular with kids, but believed it was being played by the 1910s. Children played 'pickup' baseball in streets or sandlots instead and with wahtever equipment was vailable. Cast-off bats and balls were taped and re-taped. Few kids had catcher’s equipment. The boy here has a catcher's mit-- a rarity (figure 1). Sports were almost entirely for boys, although tennis might be played by girls--mostly the country club set.

Created: 6:46 AM 9/30/2020
Last updated: 6:47 AM 9/30/2020