Photo of Danbury Baseball Team from the 1800s Makes Its Way to the Internet
This photo was posted to the CT page of Reddit about a month ago and contributors reacted to the Danbury baseball players known as the "Middle River Cowboys."
The Middle River Cowboys. A baseball team comprised mainly of hatters from the Mallory Hat Factory. Danbury, CT. - 1888 from r/Connecticut
Apparently, the photo was taken in 1888 and according to the News Times hung in the Danbury Museum and Historical Society in an exhibit presented in 2012. You will notice all the men in the photo are wearing the same kind of hat except for one. The dark hats are known as 'derbies" and the man in the white hat is the pitcher. His name was Rob Hall and he opted for a different kind of hat because his "derby" kept falling off after he'd throw his pitches.
I love photos like this, I look at it and try to imagine myself in that time and place. Like, I would have said to the guys around me, "we look stupid, so stupid, do we need to wear these hats and suspenders to play baseball?" I wonder what these fellas would have thought of the Designated hitter? I'd bet if you had a time machine, went back in time and proposed the D.H. to them, they'd beat you to death with their bats while wearing these hats.