Baseball Jersey
PeriodCirca 1935 - 1950
Place MadePossibly New Jersey, U.S.A.
MediumWool, wool felt, shell buttons, cotton braid
Dimensions30 in. (76.2 cm)
ClassificationsSports Equipment
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, 2002
Object number2002.12
DescriptionA man's baseball team uniform jersey of speckled gray heavyweight wool. The jersey is constructed with a rounded neck, a five-button front placket closure, short sleeves, and a shirttail-style hem. Red and black cotton braid trim is applied around the neckline, button placket, and sleeve ends. The name "Gulistans" iin bright red wool felt is sewn at a diagonal across the front of the jersey, and the number "4" on the center back of the jersey. Small one-inch gussets are sewn to the bottoms of both side seams.Curatorial RemarksThe Karagheusian Rug Mill, located on Jackson Street in Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, was at one time the second largest privately-owned rug manufacturing company in the world. Brothers Arshag and Miran Karagheusian fled Turkish persecution in their native Armenia in 1898, first settling in England where they ran a successful rug import business. In 1907, they purchased the factory buildings of the defunct Rothschild Shirt Company on Jackson Street. The Karagheusians imported looms from Kidderminster in Great Britain, also hiring numerous experienced weavers from the same areas. The company produced both commercial and residential carpeting and area rugs. In 1927, the company introduced the Gulistan line of carpet, which used a special chemical treatment of the wool fibers resulting in a sheen closely resembling the gloss of silk hand-knotted Eastern carpets. The Gulistan carpet line helped propel the company through the difficult years of the Great Depression. In 1932, the company received the contract for carpeting the new Radio City Music Hall. In 1935, they were awarded the contract to provide carpeting for the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. At its peak, the rug mill employed 1700 men and women. Teams and organizations were an important part of Mill life. During the early years of the rug mill, the transplanted English and Scottish weavers played soccer. By the 1930s, however, mill workers had organized baseball, softball, basketball, and bowling teams. The Gulistans baseball team was part of the Jersey Shore League, playing other teams from up and down the Jersey coastal areas. The team's successes appeared in the pages of the company newsletter, the Karagheusian News, as well as in many of the local papers. The company closed its doors in 1961, relocating much of its production to a new factory in Aberdeen, Georgia.
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