Eino Kaakkolahti's Pesäpallo Glove

This left-handed glove was originally made for baseball by the U.S. manufacturer Spalding. The famous pesäpallo player Eino Kaakkolahti acquired it in the early 1950’s. Sports equipment of all kind were in short supply in Finland after the war, and American baseball gloves were in great demand among pesäpallo players. Pesäpallo is a Finnish variant of baseball, invented by Lauri ”Tahko” Pihkala in the early 1920’s. The first rules were codified in 1922. Pitcher Eino Kaakkolahti (1929–2014) was the most prominent player in the 1950’s.