Vintage Top Flite Golf Ball with Mesh Pattern

About the Item

Vintage Spalding 'Top-Flite' Golf Ball. A 1930's Spalding rubber core golf ball in very good condition. The ball has a square mesh or lattice pattern and is called 'Top-Flite'. The ball is marked 'Spalding' on one pole and 'Top-Flite' on the other with two blue squares under the lettering. The ball is approximately 1 9/16 inch in diameter (4 cm). A. G. Spalding & Bros. was founded in 1876 by Albert Spalding, a baseball player and manager. They were known for their baseballs before branching out into the golf business in 1890's in the United States, and Britain shortly thereafter. In Britain Spalding's main business seemed to be golf balls more than clubs. In 1898 they signed a contract with Harry Vardon. The British Open Champion was to endorse their gutta percha ball called the 'Vardon Flyer'. The rubber core ball (the ancestor of the modern ball) began its life in the late 1890's. The first mass produced rubber core ball was by Coburn Haskell of Cleveland, Ohio. The first core balls were hand wound with elastic thread with a Gutta-percha cover, moulded with the raised square mesh pattern of their predecessor. The slight irregularities in the early wound balls made them quite lively, it was not until the invention of the automatic winding machine by John Gammeter (an engineer at Goodrich) and the change of pattern from mesh to bramble that the balls became more consistent and predictable. In later years, the 1920's, the design went back to a mesh pattern with lattice design. Dimensions: Diameter 4 cm / 1 3/4" Period 1900-1949 Year Circa 1930's Medium Rubber Country United Kingdom Condition Good condition. Slight bulge on one side.

Dimensions:

Height: 1.62 in (4.1 cm)Diameter: 1.62 in (4.1 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Rubber

Place of Origin:

United Kingdom

Period:

1930-1939

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1930s

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. Good condition. Slight bulge on one side.