The Ball Women Attend a Basketball Game

When the calendar page turns to November, a true Hoosier’s thoughts turn to basketball. And in Muncie, during the first quarter of the 20th century, basketball definitely meant the Muncie High School Bearcats. It wasn’t even necessary to have been born in Indiana or to have attended Muncie High School to be a fan. Bearcat fever evidently infected Frances and Sarah Ball and their sister-in-law Frances Ball Mauck, at least for one night.

Muncie High School Basketball Team, ca. 1915

In an undated letter to her daughter Betty, Frances Ball, the wife of George, talks about all of the outings that the three women have been having. While George was away on business, they went to the theater, the movies, and to dinner at the YMCA. When George returned, Frances “remained at home like a dutiful wife.” That is, until George had a business meeting on a Saturday night. Frances “rebelled and got Aunt Sarah & Aunt Frances and we went to the basket-ball game at the Y.M.(C.A.).” She told Betty that “one reason why we went was that Aunt Sarah had said the night before that she had never seen a game & I thought it a pity for her to remain in ignorance so long.” The game proved to be a cakewalk for the Bearcats, because, as Frances noted, “the score was 87 to 13 in favor of Muncie so you can guess that Winchester was not much.”

Sarah Ball

Frances and Betty carried on a lively correspondence whenever they were apart. Both were accomplished people who led active lives and shared their experiences, often humorously. You’ll definitely see excerpts from their letters again.

Frances Ball