Sports & Leisure - Overview
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.
"Sports & Leisure - Overview" showing 4 items.
Baseball, signed by the 1943 New York Yankees
- Description
- Baseball signed by the 1943 New York Yankees. That season the Yankees finished 98-56, winning the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 1.
- Autographs include Joe McCarthy; Spud Chandler; Joe Gordon; Frank Crosetti; Bill Dickey; Billy Johnson; Nick Etten; Charlie Keller; Tuck Stainback; Johnny Lindell; Bud Metheny; Marius Russo; Hank Borowy; Tiny Bonham; Roy Weatherly; Snuffy Stirnweiss.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1943
- associated institution
- New York Yankees
- maker
- Harwood
- ID Number
- CL*310547.124
- accession number
- 310547
- catalog number
- 310547.124
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed by the 1949 New York Yankees
- Description
- Baseball signed by the 1949 New York Yankees. That year the Yankees won the American League with a 97-57 record, winning the World Series by beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 4 games to 1.
- Autographs include Joe DiMaggio; Yogi Berra; Joe Page; Allie Reynolds; Bobby Brown; Tommy Henrich; Jerry Coleman; Phil Rizzuto; Hank Bauer; Cliff Mapes; Gene Woodling; Billy Johnson; Johnny Lindell; Dick Kryhoski; Snuffy Stirnweiss; Vic Raschi; Eddie Lopat; Tommy Byrne; Joe Page; Fred Sanford.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1949
- associated institution
- New York Yankees
- signer
- DiMaggio, Joe
- Berra, Yogi
- Page, Joe
- Reynolds, Allie
- Brown, Bobby
- maker
- Harwood
- ID Number
- CL*310547.125
- accession number
- 310547
- catalog number
- 310547.125
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed by the 1957 New York Yankees
- Description
- Baseball signed by the 1957 New York Yankees. That season, the Yankees finished 98-56, 1st in the American League, losing the World Series to the Milwaukee Braves, 4 games to 3.
- Autographs include Mickey Mantle; Yogi Berra; Whitey Ford; Don Larsen; Bob Turley; Hank Bauer; Sal Maglie; Bill Skowron; Bobby Richardson; Gil McDougald; Andy Carey; Enos Slaughter; Tony Kubek; Elston Howard; Harry Simpson; Jerry Coleman; Tom Sturdivant; Johnny Kucks; Bobby Shantz; Art Ditmer; Tommy Byrne; Bob Grim; Murry Dickson.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1957
- associated institution
- New York Yankees
- maker
- MacGregor
- ID Number
- CL*310547.126
- accession number
- 310547
- catalog number
- 310547.126
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Yankee Stadium Ticket Booth
- Description
- This 1923 ticket booth is from Yankee Stadium, called "The House that Ruth Built" because the star slugger, Babe Ruth (1895–1948), revitalized the game, bringing in thousands of new fans.
- Date made
- 1923
- played at
- Ruth, Babe
- user
- New York Yankees
- ID Number
- CL*310894.01
- accession number
- 310894
- catalog number
- 310894.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center