First produced in 1895, this brass sand tee mold is marked "J.E.
Ransome, Golf Tee Stamp, Ipswich, Rd 241164" on the flat base inside
both the the tall and short cone. The British registered design No.
241164 dates to 1895.
Ransome's tee was designed to create sand tees of two different
heights, which is why one side is taller than the other. This tee
gained popularity, and the December 1898 issue of Golfer's Magazine (US) included a mention that gives golfers today a delightful glimpse of the game as it was played 125 years ago:
A very cheap and useful little article is Ransome's Golf Tee
Stamp. A golfer requires to have the knack of modelling to get a tee to
satisfaction with the thumb and fingers alone, and there is nothing
more aggrevating than to work away with a pinch of sand, seeking to have
a tee just the exact thing. Some men get o better than others at this
work, and it will be observed that the professionals prefer to make
their own tees: they do not care to run the risk of duffing a stroke
through the fault of the caddie. I remember in the Muirfield Open
Championship noticing Mr. J.E. Laidlay get quite irritable over a
badly-designed tee his caddie had made. This little patent of Mr.
Ransome's ensures that the tee is always the same size. It is a
double-sided stamp, and makes a high or low tee.
Ransome's Golf Tee Stamp is one of the earliest golf tees/molds in the history of the game. And this one is a gem!