Laced Leather Basketball
Laced leather basketball | Ca. 1920s | Leather with rubber bladder interior and woven cotton lacing
Early basketballs had to be unlaced, inflated, re-laced, and then bounce tested again and again until the air pressure was just right. Laces were often made of woven cotton or rawhide.
(Black Fives Foundation Archives)
(Photo: Nancy Borowick)