Select digitized items from the ExhibitLab Take Me Out to the Lab. On view July 1 through October 31, 2026.
Baseball has been America’s pastime since the 1800s—but we’ve come a long way from wool breeches and baseballs made of old shoe leather!
This ExhibitLab traces how both professional regulations and scientific discoveries have shaped the game we know today. In addition to advertisements and illustrations, other featured objects include a sample of artificial turf from Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, a selection of popular bat woods throughout history, and an “Ode to Tommy John Surgery” statuette.
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6 items
American Agricultural Chemical Company fertilizer samples, set of four
- Circa 1914
Blue cardboard box labeled "The A.A.C. Co., M.E. Wheeler & Co., Branch, Rutland, VT." The box contains four jars containing fertilizer samples from The American Agricultural Chemical Company. Fertilizer samples include…
- Manufacturer American Agricultural Chemical Company
- Creator Of Work M. E. Wheeler & Co.
- Subject American Agricultural Chemical Company, Fertilizers, Agriculture, Agricultural chemicals, M.E. Wheeler & Co.
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2 items
Two Sports, One Field. The Answer: AstroTurf and Eight Hours.
- 1970s
Monsanto AstroTurf advertisement. The caption reads "Two sports, one field. The answer: AstroTurf and eight hours." This double-page spread features a baseball player and a football player facing off nose-to-nose and…
- Creator Of Work Monsanto Company
- Subject Synthetic sporting surfaces, Baseball, Football, Sports, Monsanto Company, Advertising
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6 items
AstroTurf® artificial grass sample
- 1977-Apr-09 – 1981-Dec-22 (Dates in use in stadium)
A square sample of AstroTurf® artificial grass from Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The stadium hosted the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1971 to 2003 and the Philadelphia…
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Advertisement for Dow Car Care products
Box 7- 1971
Print advertisement for car care products, including chrome & vinyl cleaner, brake fluid, and windshield de-icer manufactured and sold by the Dow Chemical Company. The advertisement depicts a baseball mitt holding a…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Dow Chemical Company, Corporations, Chemical industry, Advertising, Advertising, Industrial, Automobiles, Consumer goods
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Boy posed with Styrofoam ball and baseball bat
Box 4, Folder Products--Styrofoam--Misc. Uses- 1966
General view of a young boy posed with a ball and baseball bat made out of Styrofoam. Invented in 1941 by researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab, "Styrofoam" properly refers to the Dow Chemical Company’s trademarked…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Foamed materials, Dow Chemical Company, Foam, Children, Polystyrene
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2 items
Jogbra
- 1977 – 1979
Invented by Lisa Lindahl and Polly Smith in 1977, the Jogbra was the first sports bra. Lindahl and Smith's initial prototype was in the style of two jockstraps sewn together to create a crude brassiere with two pouches…
- Manufacturer Jogbra, Inc.
- Subject Jogbra, Inc., Athletics--Equipment and supplies, Brassieres, Women athletes, Exercise, Women inventors, Women--Health and hygiene
