Sports & Leisure

Tennis Racket

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.

Name: Topps Company, Inc.

Tom Boerwinkle Basketball Card

This Tom Boerwinkle basketball card is number 68 in a series of 175 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1970-1971 National Basketball Association season. The card is longer than standard cards, measuring 2½ inches by 4 ¾ inches.
Description
This Tom Boerwinkle basketball card is number 68 in a series of 175 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1970-1971 National Basketball Association season. The card is longer than standard cards, measuring 2½ inches by 4 ¾ inches. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Chicago Bulls center on a yellow background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “At 7’-0” Tom is still growing,” as well as a short biography and career statistics.
It is apparent Boerwinkle is wearing his warm-ups on this card, which looks strange compared to modern cards but was common in basketball cards until the early 1970s. It is believed that the player’s would forfeit their fee to the team if the team name appeared so many players wore their jerseys backwards, wore their warm-ups, or posed in such a way to obscure the team name.
date made
1970
depicted
Boerwinkle, Tom
maker
Topps Company, Inc.
ID Number
1982.0568.382
catalog number
1982.0568.382
accession number
1982.0568

Elmore Smith Basketball Card

This Elmore Smith basketball card is number 76 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Buffalo Braves center on a pink background.
Description
This Elmore Smith basketball card is number 76 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Buffalo Braves center on a pink background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “Elmore is first 7-footer to play for Braves,” as well as a short biography and career statistics.
Elmore played in the NBA from 1971-1979 as a member of the Buffalo Braves, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Cleveland Cavaliers. Elmore led the league in blocks in 1974 with an average of 4.9 per game, which remains the third-highest ever recorded for a single season. Smith also set the single-game record for blocks with 17 in a 1973 game against Portland.
date made
1972
copyright date
1973
publisher
NBA Properties, Inc.
Topps Chewing Gum
depicted
Smith, Elmore
maker
Topps Company, Inc.
NBA Properties, Inc.
ID Number
1982.0568.108
accession number
1982.0568
catalog number
1982.0568.108

Bob Feller Baseball Card

1954 Bowman Baseball Card #132 featuring Bob Feller.Pitcher Robert Bob Feller (1918-2010) played Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians from 1936-1941 and from 1945-1956, with the time in-between spent in military service.
Description (Brief)
1954 Bowman Baseball Card #132 featuring Bob Feller.
Pitcher Robert Bob Feller (1918-2010) played Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians from 1936-1941 and from 1945-1956, with the time in-between spent in military service. Compiling a lifetime record of 266-162 with an E.R.A. of 3.25, Feller led the American League in wins six times.
An eight-time All-Star, the right-handed hurler led the league in strikeouts for seven seasons, throwing three no-hitters in his career. In 1948 he helped lead Cleveland to a World Series championship.
Following his playing days, Feller was named the first President of the Major League Baseball's Players Association (1958.) He was named to Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962.
Date made
1954
thru person
Rinsland, George
maker
Topps Company, Inc.
depicted
Feller, Bob
Associated Name
Cleveland Indians
maker
Bowman Gum Inc.
ID Number
CL.310547.021.63
accession number
310547
catalog number
310547.021.63

Bob Feller

1955 Bowman baseball card #134 featuring Bob Feller.Pitcher Robert Bob Feller (1918-2010) played Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians from 1936-1941 and from 1945-1956, with the time in-between spent in military service.
Description (Brief)
1955 Bowman baseball card #134 featuring Bob Feller.
Pitcher Robert Bob Feller (1918-2010) played Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians from 1936-1941 and from 1945-1956, with the time in-between spent in military service. Compiling a lifetime record of 266-162 with an E.R.A. of 3.25, Feller led the American League in wins six times.
An eight-time All-Star, the right-handed hurler led the league in strikeouts for seven seasons, throwing three no-hitters in his career. In 1948 he helped lead Cleveland to a World Series championship.
Following his playing days, Feller was named the first President of the Major League Baseball's Players Association (1958.) He was elected into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962.
Date made
1955
depicted
Feller, Bob
maker
Topps Company, Inc.
thru person
Rinsland, George
Associated Name
Cleveland Indians
maker
Bowman Gum Inc.
ID Number
CL.310547.032.553
catalog number
310547.32.553
accession number
310547

Ken Berry

date made
1971
referenced
California Angels
maker
Topps Company, Inc.
ID Number
1980.0201.001
accession number
1980.0201
catalog number
1980.0201.001

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