{"product_id":"vintage-1950s-1960s-little-slugger-baseball-patch-nos-felt-youth-emblem-sew-on","title":"Vintage 1950s-1960s Little Slugger Baseball Patch ⚾ NOS Felt Youth Emblem, Sew-On","description":"\u003cp\u003eBefore every youth team had a sponsor's name across the chest, a kid got a patch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is one of them, and it never made it onto a cap.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e⚾ WHAT THIS IS\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA round felt patch, 1 3\/4\", reading LITTLE SLUGGER in red block capitals across the middle. A navy ring runs the whole way round and forms the edge itself — the felt is cut just outside it, with no merrowed border. Navy V-stitches arc down either side of the lettering, the way the seams run on a baseball, and a small red infield diamond sits underneath the word SLUGGER.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🧵 WHY FELT\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEmbroidery worked directly onto felt is the signature of American patch making in the 1950s and 1960s. Felt took a needle cleanly, held its shape without a backing, and cost almost nothing — which is exactly what you want for something handed to a nine-year-old. The open plain-weave scrim on the reverse is the other tell of the period: these were made to be \u003cstrong\u003esewn\u003c\/strong\u003e, before heat-seal backing arrived and made patches disposable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🧢 WHAT \"LITTLE SLUGGER\" MEANT\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was never a brand. \"Little Slugger\" was what an era called a small kid with a bat — it turns up on children's caps, on uniform sleeves, on store displays, and on emblems like this one handed out for turning up and playing. There is \u003cstrong\u003eno Little League trademark anywhere on this patch\u003c\/strong\u003e, and that matters: this is the generic, older, wider thing, from the years when youth baseball was organised by a town, a church, a hardware store or a dad with a station wagon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe size tells you where it lived. At 1 3\/4\" it is a cap emblem — front panel or side — or a sleeve badge on a small jersey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e✅ CONDITION\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew old stock. Unused, little to no wear, never sewn to anything. The red and the navy are both still strong with no fading, and the felt is clean and full. No adhesive backing of any kind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🎁 WHO THIS IS FOR\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMostly it is parents and grandparents buying for someone who plays now. A modern youth patch is a heat-pressed polyester rectangle from a catalogue. This is the same idea, made in the same country, sixty-odd years earlier, and it has survived unused for longer than the player has been alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSew it on a cap, a jacket or a bag. Frame it with a ball and a scorecard. Put it in the box with the first glove. It carries a weight the catalogue version cannot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e❓ QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs this Little League?\u003c\/strong\u003e No. It reads LITTLE SLUGGER and carries no Little League trademark. It is the generic youth-baseball emblem of the period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs it iron-on?\u003c\/strong\u003e No — sew-on. There is no adhesive on the back at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs it a reproduction?\u003c\/strong\u003e No. Unused original stock, which is why the felt is full and the colours have not faded.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow old is it?\u003c\/strong\u003e 1950s to 1960s, on construction and usage. There is no date on the patch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow big is it?\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 3\/4\" across.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49055503057128,"sku":"VAG-9636727619816","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/2718\/4037\/files\/v2_little_slugger_0_HERO.jpg?v=1789166490","url":"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/vintage-1950s-1960s-little-slugger-baseball-patch-nos-felt-youth-emblem-sew-on","provider":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}