“Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical…”
Yogi Berra
I thought I pretty much knew all of the international fountain pen manufacturers. Turns out I didn’t. Recently in Rome I discovered a new pen maker with a fascinating heritage, that is not even remotely Italian. Albert Spalding was an early pitcher/manager for the Chicago White Stockings, later to become the White Sox. In 1876 he founded a sporting goods company, specifically to supply a standardised baseball to be used in the emerging professional leagues. AG Spalding & Bros didn’t stop there, developing the modern eight panel basketball for the NBA in 1894. Over subsequent decades there were very few pieces of sporting equipment not manufactured by Spalding, including in 2001, the endorsed football for the NFL. Even sporting goods were not enough, in the last couple of decades AG Spalding & Bros have moved into clothing, homewares and stationery. Who knew? Well they did in Rome. #baseballwasmyfirstsport. #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 