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 293 items.
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Tennis Racket
- Description
- This racquet was used by American tennis player Arthur Ashe (1943-1993) while winning the Wimbledon Men’s Singles championship in 1975. With the victory, Ashe became the first African-American to win the prestigious event, defeating fellow American Jimmy Connors three sets to one.
- Ashe, a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the also first African-American to be named to the U.S. Davis Cup Team (1963) and to win singles titles at the U.S. and Australian Opens (1968 and 1970.)
- Ashe was a vocal advocate for civil rights, both in the United States and abroad, and was involved in many humanitarian efforts, including the opening of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. He has been recognized with honors such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and has had a statue erected on Richmond’s Monument Avenue.
- In 1997, the U.S. Tennis Association’s opened the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadow, New York. The court serves as the principal stadium for the U.S. Open.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1975
- associated dates
- 1991-04-09
- 1970-1980
- user
- Ashe, Arthur
- maker
- Head
- ID Number
- 1991.0178.01
- catalog number
- 1991.0178.01
- accession number
- 1991.0178
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, autographed by Connie Mack.
- Description
- Baseball autographed by former Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack (1862-1956).
- Born Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy, Mack played in the major leagues from 1886-1896. In 1901 he was named manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, a position he would hold for 50 years. During his tenure he became the sport's all-time winningest manager, accumulating 3,776 victories and leading the A's to 9 American League pennants and 5 World Series Championships.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- signer
- Mack, Connie
- maker
- Spalding
- ID Number
- 1993.0460.02
- catalog number
- 1993.0460.02
- accession number
- 1993.0460
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Odyssey 1 Dobsonian Reflecting Telescope
- Description
- This is a Dobsonian-type reflecting telescope. It was made commercially in the 1980s as part of the "Dobsonian revolution" in amateur astronomy.
- John Dobson began developing this form of telescope in 1956. At the time he was living in a monastery in San Francisco, working as a gardener. Although he had a degree in chemistry, Dobson had always been interested in spiritual issues. Seeking a way to directly experience a fundamental reality, he became obsessed with seeing the "deep sky"—the distant realm of nebula and galaxies.
- Unfortunately, to actually see these astronomical objects required large telescopes that were generally only available to astronomers and were too expensive for average people, and especially for Dobson, who had taken a vow of poverty.
- Undeterred, Dobson began teaching himself telescope making. In time he developed a new telescope design and a new approach to telescope making. Compared to the typical amateur telescope of the time, what came to be known as the "Dobsonian" telescopes were large, easy to use, inexpensive, and portable. They were also easy to make. The mirrors were ground from simple porthole glass. The mounts were made from common construction materials. Although comparatively crude, these strange new telescopes worked. Thrilled by his success, Dobson put them on wheels and pulled them around the streets of San Francisco, offering to show the wonders of the sky to anyone he met.
- Around 1967 Dobson helped found the Sidewalk Astronomers. They became famous for touring the United States, setting up their telescopes (affectionately known as "light buckets") and inviting passers-by to look through them. Telescope design continues to evolve and today the majority of amateur telescopes (like this one) are precise and commercially made. However, many active amateur astronomers credit an early encounter with a Dobsonian for starting their interest in astronomy and changing the way they view the sky.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1988
- patent holder
- Dobson, John L.
- maker
- Coulter Optical Co.
- ID Number
- 1994.0399.01
- accession number
- 1994.0399
- catalog number
- 1994.0399.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Kodak Petite Camera
- Description
- Since Kodak introduced the Brownie in 1900, a variety of easy-to-use cameras have been marketed, especially to women. The Kodak Petite from 1935, part of the Kodak Coquette set, came with a matching compact and lipstick case in a variety of color choices so that one might use it as an accessory to fashionable outfits.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1935
- maker
- Eastman Kodak Company
- ID Number
- 1995.0046.01
- catalog number
- 1995.0046.01
- accession number
- 1995.0046
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball
- Description
- Baseball covered in white adhesive tape with a nail inserted through the center. The ball is marked "FOR THE SMITHSONNIAN [sic] MUSEUM - 6 - 4 - 93." Accessioned with a baseball diamond diagram with names of baseball players and marked "HAVANA CUBA, 1946 to 1956."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1995.0330.01
- catalog number
- 1995.0330.01
- accession number
- 1995.0330
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Curling Stone
- Description
- Developed in Scotland and played in the northern United States, curling debuted as a medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics. This curling stone belonged to 75-year-old curler Rudy Senich, of Duluth, Minn., who has been curling three nights a week for the past 35 years. According to Senich's curling club rulebook, "Curling is a game of skill and traditions . . . Curlers play to win, but never to humble their opponents. A true curler would prefer to lose, rather than to win unfairly!"
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1950
- ID Number
- 2000.0121.01
- accession number
- 2000.0121
- catalog number
- 2000.0121.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Football Jersey
- Description
- Called "Roger the Dodger" for his ability to scramble with the football, Roger Staubach (b. 1942) played for the U.S. Naval Academy, winning the 1963 Heisman Trophy. After serving in the U. S. Navy, he began his professional career with the Dallas Cowboys in 1969. In eleven seasons as Cowboys quarterback, Staubach took his team to two Super Bowl championships, in 1972 and 1978.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1973
- user
- Staubach, Roger
- maker
- Russell Athletic
- ID Number
- 2002.0061.02
- accession number
- 2002.0061
- catalog number
- 2002.0061.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed by the 1957 Washington Senators
- Description
- Baseball signed by members of the 1957 Washington Senators. That season the Senators finished 55-99, 8th in the National League.
- Autographs include Herb Plews; Cookie Lavagetto; Chuck Stobbs; Pete Runnels; Dick Hyde; Bill Jurges; Bud Byerly; Jerry Snyder; Tex Clevenger; Bob Usher; Pedro Ramos; Camilo Pascual; Ed Fitz Gerald; Joe Black; Roy Sievers; Ted Abernathy; Jerry Schoonmaker; Rocky Bridges; Jim Lemon; Ellis Clary; Walter Beck.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1957
- associated institution
- Washington Senators
- ID Number
- 2002.0124.05
- accession number
- 2002.0124
- catalog number
- 2002.0124.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, hit by Bob Allison
- Description
- Baseball, hit foul by Washington Senators outfielder Bob Allison (b. 1934) at Griffith Stadium. The ball was owned by former Senators announcer Charlie Brotman. Allison played for the Senators from 1958-1960.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1958-1960
- associated institution
- Washington Senators
- ID Number
- 2002.0124.06
- accession number
- 2002.0124
- catalog number
- 2002.0124.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ka-Yo Musical Yo-Yo
- Description (Brief)
- This steel yo-yo was made by the Cayo Manufacturing Company of Benton Harbor Michigan in the early 1930s. There is a "Captain's Wheel" lithograph pattern design printed on one side in gray, white and black. Julius N. Cayo founded the Cayo Manufacturing Company as a metal stamping business and began making yo-yos in the early 1930s. It was called a Musical Ka-Yo, so not to infringe upon the Duncan Toy Company's trademark of the term "yo-yo." It whistled when spun due to holes in its sides.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Cayo Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 2002.0246.01
- accession number
- 2002.0246
- catalog number
- 2002.0246.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center