I wanted to compile and talk about the uniforms, logos, graphics, hardware, anything uniform & logo related to each championship year, one year at a time. I’ll roll these posts out in subsequent days.
This is the 1886 American Association and World Champion St. Louis Browns.
We have plenty of photography, and know at least the first two uniforms were representative of the team. The first uniform on the left looks to be identical to the 1885 uniform, which leads us to believe that it, or something very similar, could have been used in the 1885 Series. Although we’re making that assumption, we have no certainty of that claim. In later years, the team would typically debut new uniforms for the World Series and then wear those uniforms in subsequent seasons. That might not apply to 1885 and 1886 based on what we see.
This image is from the front page of the October 30, 1886 edition of the Sporting News in which it shows all the familiar headshots of the Browns wearing their striped caps. Again, we are not sure if this is how the team looked in the World Series.
This cigar box is a nice an artifact, but you’ll notice the photograph and composition is identical to the 1885 team. This could mean the 1926 newspaper that printed this photo was unknowingly depicting the 1886 team instead of the 1885 team, but as mentioned in the previous post, they appear to have the same uniforms in both seasons. The only difference in this cigar box is the CHAMPIONS lettering that has been added above the players. Still a nice piece as it depicts the team as World Champions.
This is one of our favorite pieces. Click image to enlarge and enjoy the details. St. Louis Browns Champions of the World.
Next is the Wiman Trophy. The drawing looks like it’s from the newspaper, and we found it from John Thorne’s blog.
The money note / savings bond looking thing also shows a nice drawing of the Wiman Trophy, and declares the Browns as Champions of America.
The photograph of the Wiman Trophy comes from the Cardinals tweety page. And if you want to see it in person, go check out the Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum at Ballpark Village, the Wiman Trophy is on display. It is one of the oldest pieces the Cardinals have in their collection, tied only with some 1886 Old Judge tobacco cards. Check out how TINY those baseball cards are in the photograph, to the left of the trophy.
The Wiman trophy was given to the winner of the American Association. The trophy depicts a 19th century baseball player in really awesome detail, and gives us a good idea about what players looked like in the 19th Century. And beyond that, there is an oddly complicated history behind Erastus Wiman, the man who commissioned the trophy, which you can read all about on this website, and again John Thorne’s blog.
Here is one of my favorite images from this era. 1886 Champions, St. Louis Browns, The Monarchs of the Sphere. My goodness the old-timey audacity they had back then, it’s truly amazing. On top of being a great drawing and piece of art, we get a beautiful depiction of what 19th Century baseball players looked like, and possibly what we looked like in the World Series. This image is unique because of the two lines of text on the jersey, using the team name as well. We have lots of newspaper articles that say the team wore ST. LOUIS BROWNS on the uniform, but we have never recovered any physical samples or photographs to corroborate that claim.
After winning the American Association, the Browns got their chance to dispel the controversy from the previous season. They again faced their Chicago rivals in the World’s Championship. In a best of 7 series, the Browns took the Championship in 6 games. For full game synopses, there’s plenty of good information and sources on the 1886 World Series Wikipedia page.
Cardinals Uniforms & Logos 
