This is a quite historical basketball related badge but it needs some explanation. James Naismith was a physical education teacher at the Y.M.C.A. International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts when he created the game. The first public games were in Springfield on December 21, 1891. While this ribbon badge does not specifically reference Springfield it is from that town and the event was at the "Y.M.C.A." Upper text on 5.25" ribbon reads "Gilbert & Barker Night." This was a Springfield manufacturing company which made gasoline and other pumps, founded in 1865. The date on the ribbon "October, 1916" occurred 25 years after the first public basketball games and the ribbon denotes "Basket Ball Champions" perhaps in reference to a team sponsored by the company Gilbert & Barker. Ribbon has a Mint luster brass bar pin. There is a .25" hairline stress over the letter "B" of "Basket" but otherwise the ribbon badge is extremely clean and overall condition remains Exc. Back of the ribbon has remnants of a maker's paper sticker. Rare.