Sports & Leisure

The nation's passion for sports is obvious every day—at NASCAR races, kiddie soccer matches, and countless other contests. From a handball used by Abraham Lincoln to Chris Evert's tennis racket to a baseball signed by Jackie Robinson, the roughly 6.000 objects in the Museum's sports collections bear witness to the vital place of sports in the nation's history. Paper sports objects in the collections, such as souvenir programs and baseball cards, number in the hundreds of thousands.

Leisure collections encompass a different range of objects, including camping vehicles and gear, video games, playing cards, sportswear, exercise equipment, and Currier and Ives prints of fishing, hunting, and horseracing. Some 4,000 toys dating from the colonial period to the present are a special strength of the collections.

This waterline model represents the ms Zuiderdam, a cruise ship owned and operated by Holland America Line. The Zuiderdam was built in Marghera, Italy, by Fincantieri, a firm specializing in modern cruise ships, and began service in 2002.
Description
This waterline model represents the ms Zuiderdam, a cruise ship owned and operated by Holland America Line. The Zuiderdam was built in Marghera, Italy, by Fincantieri, a firm specializing in modern cruise ships, and began service in 2002. The ship is the first in Holland America’s Vista-class series, the company’s new line of vessels featuring diesel-electric power plants for energy savings and an Azipod propulsion system for greater maneuverability. All Vista-class vessels are 81,769 gross tons and carry 1,848 passengers with a crew of 800. The Zuiderdam’s home port is Rotterdam.
Holland America Line designs its ships and markets its cruises for what the industry considers the premium markets. The Zuiderdam features Venetian-themed artwork and offers a variety of suites, staterooms, restaurants, lounges, and cafes, as well as recreational facilities including a theater, a golf simulator room, a casino, and a spa. Like other large cruise ship companies, Holland America caters largely to American customers. It runs vessels in all of the major cruise markets, including the Caribbean, Alaska, Asia, the South Pacific, Europe, and the Mediterranean.
date made
2000
owned and operated
Holland America Line
firm who built the ship
Fincantieri
ID Number
2007.0172.01
catalog number
2007.0172.01
accession number
2007.0172
Color print of a large number of horse-drawn carriages on the road in front of a two-story brick road house (Turner"s Hotel).
Description (Brief)
Color print of a large number of horse-drawn carriages on the road in front of a two-story brick road house (Turner"s Hotel). Eighteen of the horses are numbered and indentified in a key below the image.
Description
A color print of a crowded road in front of a large roadhouse (Turner Hotel, Rape Ferry Rd.) filled with carriages and spirited horses. All of the carriages are occupied by fashionably dressed men. The buggies are without tops – they have flat floors and straight footboards. The roadhouse is in the colonial style. A two story structure stands with a large ring in the rear, three dormer windows above, and a veranda across the front. Here guests stand and watch. Stable boys wait outside the barn in the background. The grounds are well-kept with trees, shrubbery, and picket fences.
Point Breeze Park in Philadelphia was founded in 1855 and raced thoroughbreds for the first time in 1860. It was eventually converted into an automobile race course in the 1900s after trotting faded as a popular sport.
Pharazyn was a Philadelphia lithographer and colorist. He was born 1822 and died in 1902. He had offices at 103 South Street in 1856 and at 1725 Lombard Street in 1870. Made prints for different magazines, as well as fine prints for patrons. Created a large colored folio “Trotting Cracks of Philadelphia Returning from the Race at Point Breeze Park” in 1870. The horses are all named as usual in the subtitle, but the artists name isn’t given; this was normal as the horses were more important than the actual artists.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1870
maker
Pharazyn, H.
ID Number
DL.60.3557
catalog number
60.3557
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
ca 1880
ID Number
DL.301846.0001
catalog number
301846.0001
accession number
301846
Alarm Clock by Rube Goldberg, circa 1970.
Description
Alarm Clock by Rube Goldberg, circa 1970. This non-working, sculpted model signed by Rube Goldberg was crafted [during the 1960s] to replicate a cartoon from the series The Inventions of Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts that he drew for between 1914 and 1964.
Inscription: At 6 a.m. garbage man picks up ashcan, causing mule to kick over statue of Indian warrior. Arrow punctures bucket and ice cubes fall on false teeth, causing them to chatter and nip elephant's tail. Elephant raises his trunk in pain, pressing lever which starts toy maestro to lead quartet in sad song. Sentimental girl breaks down and cries into flower pot, causing flower to grow and tickle man's feet. He rocks with laughter, starting machine that rings gong and slides sleeper out of bed into slippers on wheels, which propel him into bathroom where cold shower really wakes him up.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
circa 1970
depicted
Butts, Lucifer Gorgonzola
original artist
Goldberg, Rube
ID Number
GA.23502
accession number
1972.289709
catalog number
GA*23502
accession number
289709
Ticket booth from the original Yankee Stadium.In 1923 the New York Yankees baseball team built a new $2.4 million dollar ballpark in the Bronx.
Description
Ticket booth from the original Yankee Stadium.
In 1923 the New York Yankees baseball team built a new $2.4 million dollar ballpark in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium, with its triple-decked seating and copper roof, was built to reflect the newfound status of the Yankees as being one of the most popular teams in the sport. The Stadium was one of many new massive sporting arenas built during the era to accommodate the growing throngs of spectators.
The reason for the Yankee's newfound popularity is directly attributable to the club's 1919 acquisition of outfielder George Herman "Babe" Ruth (1895-1948.) His popularity was such that he quickly became the biggest draw in baseball. The new Yankee Stadium was immediately dubbed The House that Ruth Built.
Ruth was essential in creating what became known as the the Yankee Dynasty, with the team currently in possession of 27 World Series trophies, the most of any team.
The stadium served as a home for other sporting events, such as negro league baseball, professional boxing, and collegiate and professional football. It also served as a place of public gathering, hosting concerts and religous services.
The Yankee's played their final game in the stadium in 2008, moving to their new home, also called Yankee Stadium. Final demolition of the old park was completed in 2010.
The booth retains graffiti markings made by Bronx residents in the early 1970s.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1923
played at
Ruth, Babe
user
New York Yankees
ID Number
CL.310894.01
accession number
310894
catalog number
310894.01

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