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.

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
Baseball signed by participants in the 1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game . The exhibition was held on July 10th in Candlestick Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. It was won by the National League All-Stars by a score of 3-1.
Description
Baseball signed by participants in the 1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game . The exhibition was held on July 10th in Candlestick Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. It was won by the National League All-Stars by a score of 3-1. The game's MVP was Montreal Expo's catcher Gary Carter. The ball was collected by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), who was also an avid baseball fan.
Autographs include Al Holland; Keith Hernandez; Dwight Gooden; Bob Brenly; Tim Wallach; Charlie Lea; Rafael Ramirez; Mike Schmidt; Mario Soto; Dale Murphy; Jesse Orosco; Tim Wallach; Tim Raines; Chili Davis; Jody Davis; Tony Gwynn; Ryne Sandberg.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1984
recipient
Fitzgerald, Ella
maker
Rawlings
ID Number
1996.0342.109
accession number
1996.0342
catalog number
1996.0342.109
Baseball signed by the 1982 San Francisco Giants. That season the Giants finished 87-75, 3rd in the National League West.
Description
Baseball signed by the 1982 San Francisco Giants. That season the Giants finished 87-75, 3rd in the National League West. The ball was collected by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), who was also an avid baseball fan.
Autographs include Frank Robinson; Bob Brenly; Chris Brown; Chili Davis; Jose Barrios; Reggie Smith; Mark Dempsey; Dan Schatzeder; Joe Morgan; Jack Clark.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1982
recipient
Fitzgerald, Ella
presenter
Los Angeles Dodgers
maker
Rawlings
ID Number
1996.0342.107
accession number
1996.0342
catalog number
1996.0342.107
Baseball signed by the 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers. That season the Dodgers finished 79-83, 3rd in the National League West.
Description
Baseball signed by the 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers. That season the Dodgers finished 79-83, 3rd in the National League West. The ball was collected by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), who was also an avid baseball fan.
Autographs include Dusty Baker; Steve Yeager; Burt Hooton; Von Joshua; Bill Russell; Johnny Oates; Don Sutton; Pedro Guererro; Steve Garvey.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1979
recipient
Fitzgerald, Ella
ID Number
1996.0342.108
accession number
1996.0342
catalog number
1996.0342.108

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