Museum Textile Services
  • About MTS
    • Our Team
    • Client List
    • Press Room
  • Conservation
    • Architectural Interiors
    • Asian Art
    • Ethnographic Textiles
    • Flags & Banners
    • Historic Clothing
    • Quilts and Coverlets
    • Samplers & Embroideries
    • Sports Memorabilia
    • Tapestries
  • Collections Care
    • Vac & Pack
    • Surveys
    • Disaster Response
  • Fumigation
    • Fumigation FAQs
  • Education
    • LL
    • Porto
    • C3
    • HPRH
    • Becoming a Textile Conservator
  • Resources
    • MTS Magazine
    • Textile Conservation Basics
    • Textile Stabilization
    • Textile Storage
    • Displaying Historic Costume
    • Displaying Flat Textiles
    • Museum Pests
    • Disaster Response
    • Advanced Topics
    • Class Readings
    • Staff Publications
    • Resources in Spanish
    • MTS Videos and Slide Shows
  • Andover Figures™
    • Our Mission
    • The Andover Figures System
    • Choosing a Form
    • Purchasing Andover Figures
    • AF Contact Form

The Mystery of the Moldy Jersey

1/6/2014

1 Comment

 
by Cara Jordan

This is a follow up to one of the items we discussed in our October 7, 2013 blog, Mold Before & After. 
Picture
The suitcase full of John E. holland, Jr.'s uniforms.
A plastic suitcase filled with uniforms belonging to WWII Marine Veteran John E. Holland, Jr. arrived at Museum Textile Services in spring, 2013. The owners were distraught that the suitcase had inadvertantly been stored in a damp basement, leading to the dramatic condition of the items inside.
Picture
Baseball jersey after conservation.
Holland's three-piece baseball uniform was vacuumed, fumigated in a chlorine dioxide chamber, and wetcleaned to clean it and kill the mold spores. The jersey and pants are made of grayish wool with red piping along the sleeves, neck, and front closure.  All that remains of the team name is a single “I” in the center of the closure, along with a coordinating red button. The owners believed that Holland had played minor league baseball for a New York affiliated team. A quick search on www.baseball-reference.com for New York affiliate teams with the letter “I” in the name was inconclusive. 
Picture
Close-up of the remaining letter "I" and some red thread.
I noticed that quite a few fragments of red fabric and thread remained on the front of the jersey where the lettering had once been. So I put the jersey on a light table to see if any of the machined stitch holes that once attached the letters remained, but we were thwarted. Next I printed some digital photographs and highlighted the red remnants on the image. When I "connected the dots,” I was able to make out an “E” and “R.”  The other letters were less forth-coming and the team name remained a mystery. I put the images aside for a few days later we took another go at it. Soon I was able to decipher a possible “A” and “N,” giving me "_ A? R I N? E _." Then it dawned on me: this wasn’t a minor league jersey at all!  It was a MARINES baseball jersey.  
Picture
Image courtesy of www.usmilitariaforum.com.
According to Wikipedia, US Armed Forces baseball dates back as far as the Civil War. More recently, military baseball was used as a recruiting tool to attract personnel and improve morale among the troups. Military baseball was at it’s apex during John Holland Jr.’s time, with big leaguers like Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio playing on service teams. I suspect that Holland played ball for the Marines team during his time with them in WWII and then reused the jersey after his discharge.The mystery of the moldy jersey had been solved!
Picture
Photo captioned, "Boots Poffenburger, US Marines." Image courtesy of www.usmilitariaforum.com.
Although mold isn't a conservator's favorite thing to deal with, this project has been rewarding on many levels. 
Subscribe to the MTS e-Magazine!
1 Comment
Mold Remediation Edison link
5/14/2021 04:31:25 am

It's good to share the experience of the moldy jersey, its better not to have it on the Jersey if you want to stay healthy.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    MTS Blog

    Want Answers?

    Categories

    All
    Abigail Brooks Adams
    Adams National Historical Park
    Admiral Perry
    AFL
    Africa
    American Institute For Conservation
    Amherst College
    Andover Figures
    Armor
    Arts And Crafts Movement
    Assuit
    Awvs
    Ballardvale
    Ballard Vale Mills
    Bamboo
    Banner
    Banshou In Temple
    Baseball
    Bed Hangings
    Bicorn
    Bleach
    Bombing
    Boning
    Books
    Boston
    Boston College
    Boston Marathon
    Boston Strong
    Brooks Brothers
    Bulldog
    Burnham
    Button
    Buttonwoods Museum
    Campbell Center
    Casablanca
    Chinese
    Christening Gown
    Christmas
    Civil War
    Cloak
    Cold Water Army
    Colonial Dames
    Concealed Objects
    Concord
    Copley Square
    Corset
    Costume
    Cotton
    Cotton Net
    Coverlet
    Crewel
    Crochet
    Digitally Printed Textiles
    Display
    Dog
    Dress Form
    Duchesse De Choiseul
    Echo Lake Aquarium
    Education
    Egypt
    E Magazine
    E-Magazine
    Embroidery
    English
    Ethafoam
    Exhibition
    Exhibits
    Fairbanks House
    Fancy Dress
    Farnsworth Museum Of Art
    Father Diman
    Featherbone
    Felting
    Filet Darning
    Fire
    Flag
    Flags
    Folly Cove
    Frame
    Framing
    France
    Ft. Knox
    Fur
    Furniture
    George Patton
    Gore Tex
    Gore-tex
    Handsome Dan
    Hat
    Henry Adams
    Hermansville
    Higgins Armory Museum
    Historic Replica
    Hitchcock
    Hockey
    Honest Marketing Revolution
    Hooked Rug
    Hopedale
    Huaca Malena Museum
    Infestation
    Insects
    Installation
    Intern Ryan
    Internship
    Ixl Museum
    Japan
    Jifu
    Journeymen Tailors Union
    Judaica
    King Louis
    Knitting
    Ky
    Lacquer
    Laundry Bluing
    League Of Their Own
    Leipzig
    Lily Yeats
    Ma
    Maine State Museum
    Mannequin
    Marines
    Mary Baker Eddy
    Mascot
    Massachusetts
    Mead Art Museum
    Middlesex School
    Military
    Mold
    Mon
    Monuments Men
    Moths
    Mourning Wmbroidery
    Moving Messages
    Natural Sciences
    Navy
    Nazi
    Needlecraft Magazine
    Negro League Baseball
    Nema
    New England Museum Association
    New Hampshire
    New Hampshire Historical Society
    News
    Oberlin College
    Olympets
    Olympics
    Painted Textile
    Painting
    Peabody Historical Society
    Peace Flag
    Peru
    Pests
    Phillips Academy
    Presidential Seal
    Quilts
    Rayon
    Religious Textiles
    Restoration
    Reverse Painted Glass
    Robe
    Rug
    Sack Suit
    Salescaster Inc
    Sampler
    Samurai
    Self Portrait
    Shaker
    Shakespeare's Tomb
    Shawl
    Sheer Overlays
    Shelburne Farms
    Sign
    Silk
    So Clan
    Sodium Borohydride
    Softball
    Soot
    Sports Uniforms
    Stays
    St. George's School
    Storage
    Study Collection
    Swatch Book
    Synthetics
    Tapestry
    Textile Conservation
    Textile Manufacture
    Textiles
    Thangka
    Trapunto
    Trustworth Studios
    Tru-Vue Optium
    Tsushima
    Uniform
    Uniforms
    Union Railroad Station
    Velour
    Versailles
    Vietnam War
    Waves
    Wedding Dress
    Western Task Force
    Wheaton College
    Will "Cannonball" Jackman
    Wisconsin Land Lumber Co.
    Women
    World War One
    World War Two
    Yale
    Yarn

Join Our Mailing List

Picture

Museum Textile Services, LLC

P.O. Box 5004
Andover, MA 01810
admin@museumtextiles.com
​
978.474.9200
  • About MTS
    • Our Team
    • Client List
    • Press Room
  • Conservation
    • Architectural Interiors
    • Asian Art
    • Ethnographic Textiles
    • Flags & Banners
    • Historic Clothing
    • Quilts and Coverlets
    • Samplers & Embroideries
    • Sports Memorabilia
    • Tapestries
  • Collections Care
    • Vac & Pack
    • Surveys
    • Disaster Response
  • Fumigation
    • Fumigation FAQs
  • Education
    • LL
    • Porto
    • C3
    • HPRH
    • Becoming a Textile Conservator
  • Resources
    • MTS Magazine
    • Textile Conservation Basics
    • Textile Stabilization
    • Textile Storage
    • Displaying Historic Costume
    • Displaying Flat Textiles
    • Museum Pests
    • Disaster Response
    • Advanced Topics
    • Class Readings
    • Staff Publications
    • Resources in Spanish
    • MTS Videos and Slide Shows
  • Andover Figures™
    • Our Mission
    • The Andover Figures System
    • Choosing a Form
    • Purchasing Andover Figures
    • AF Contact Form