In 1875, Charles C. Waite was the first confirmed plyer to use a glove. Because using a glove was considered “weakness” in the early days of the game, Waite used a flesh-colored glove hoping to avoid the ire and embarrassment sure to be handed to him from players and spectators alike. Unfortunately, the coloring wasn’t enough to throw onlookers, and he was ridiculed. The need for baseball gloves started to rise when players experienced more hand injuries. By the 1890s, wearing gloves was a normal and common sight in baseball.Around 1918, William Sonnett went to work for P. Goldsmith Sons in Cincinnati, Ohio in the baseball glove department. While working for Goldsmith, he came up with some ideas that changed the future of sports equipment. He created the rubber valve that is still used in basketballs, footballs, soccer balls and volleyballs. He also designed the cantilever shoulder pads that football players use to this day and also a “Viking Style” football helmet. He also helped develop the first lace-less basketball. In 1933, at the age of 42, he started the Ohio-Kentucky MFG Co. in a barn on the outskirts of Covington, Kentucky before moving to a factory in Cincinnati a year later. During the formative years, the company only manufactured inflatable sporting goods, such as basketballs and footballs. Sonnett did everything – he cut the leather and assembled the items, all the while working as salesman, book keeper and stenographer for the company. As word of mouth spread about his high quality sporting goods, more employees were added and production increased. After the company was wiped out by a flood, in 1938, the company moved to Ada, Ohio and started to manufacture leather baseball gloves. He was a stickler for quality products and one of the choices he made was to use the “Velvo-Tan” branded leather. The end of the 1940’s saw the company shift names from O.K. MFG Co. to Sonnett.
