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.

Bocce is a game with ancient roots that was widely practiced in Italy and among Italian immigrants to America. Played on a court or any large, flat surface, the inexpensive game was an important element in the social and community life of immigrants from Italy.
Description
Bocce is a game with ancient roots that was widely practiced in Italy and among Italian immigrants to America. Played on a court or any large, flat surface, the inexpensive game was an important element in the social and community life of immigrants from Italy. Since the late 1980s bocce has become a popular pastime for millions of Americans.
This bocce ball was part of a set owned by John P. Bargetto, who immigrated to the United States in 1909 to join his brother Philip, a winemaker in California. Made of a rubber composition, the ball is well used and shows a few remnants of green paint and black marks. In bocce, each player rolls two balls toward a mark (another, smaller ball called the Pallino). The player whose bocce balls land closest to the mark is awarded points. Bocce games can go on for hours as players strategize each roll of the ball.
The Bargetto family’s story reflects in many ways the history of Italians in California, with several themes threaded throughout: multiple migrations between Italy and America, opportunity and work in the wine industry, and the importance of family and community. The first Bargettos to arrive in California were Giuseppe (Joseph) and his eldest son Filippo (Philip), who left their ancestral home in Italy’s Piedmont region, in 1890. They settled among other Italians in the winegrowing area around Mountain View, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where they found work at the Casa Delmas Winery. Although Joseph moved back to Italy two years later, Philip remained until 1902, when he returned to Italy to be married. Three years later Philip and his new family arrived back in California, settling first in San Francisco, then, with remarkable prescience, to Mountain View just before the devastating earthquake and fire in 1906.
In 1909, back in San Francisco, the Bargettos opened their first family winery on Montgomery Avenue. Philip’s uncle Giovanni (John) arrived from Italy and, with a third partner, Alberto Colombo, they formed the South Montebello Vineyard and Wine Co., where they fermented, aged, and delivered barrels of wine to local restaurants. The next member of the family to arrive from Italy was Philip’s younger brother, also named Giovanni (John P.), who went to work in a San Francisco restaurant. After two years and suffering from exhaustion, he moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains, where he was joined by his sisters Angelina and Maddalena, both of whom married Italian immigrants. The growing Bargetto family became part of an expanding community of Italian Americans in the town of Soquel.
As Prohibition loomed, the Bargettos closed the San Francisco winery and moved to Soquel in 1917, where they purchased the site of what became the family’s winery after Repeal. Here they began making wine for home use by family and friends. To keep themselves financially afloat during Prohibition’s dry years, the family peddled vegetables and also served meals out of their home on weekends. Customers who wanted a glass of wine with their meal, a longstanding Italian tradition, were served wine from barrels stored in the cellar.
After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the Bargettos applied for federal bonding, and officially became Bonded Winery 3859. The two brothers, Philip and John P., ran the winery together until Philip’s death in 1936; through the 1940s and 1950s, John P. held the company together with help from his sons Ralph and Lawrence, who took the lead in the 1970s and 1980s.
The winery was still family-owned in 2014, when artifacts associated with the early years of the Bargetto family’s winery were donated to the museum. The donor, John E. Bargetto, with his brother and sister, are the third generation of Bargettos to operate the family’s wine business in the Central Coast region of California.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2014.0321.02
accession number
2014.0321
catalog number
2014.0321.02
Bocce is a game with ancient roots that was widely practiced in Italy and among Italian immigrants to America. Played on a court or any large, flat surface, the inexpensive game was an important element in the social and community life of immigrants from Italy.
Description
Bocce is a game with ancient roots that was widely practiced in Italy and among Italian immigrants to America. Played on a court or any large, flat surface, the inexpensive game was an important element in the social and community life of immigrants from Italy. Since the late 1980s bocce has become a popular pastime for millions of Americans.
This bocce ball was part of a set owned by John P. Bargetto, who immigrated to the United States in 1909 to join his brother Philip, a winemaker in California. Made of a rubber composition, the ball is well used and shows a few remnants of green paint and black marks. In bocce, each player rolls two balls toward a mark (another, smaller ball called the Pallino). The player whose bocce balls land closest to the mark is awarded points. Bocce games can go on for hours as players strategize each roll of the ball.
The Bargetto family’s story reflects in many ways the history of Italians in California, with several themes threaded throughout: multiple migrations between Italy and America, opportunity and work in the wine industry, and the importance of family and community. The first Bargettos to arrive in California were Giuseppe (Joseph) and his eldest son Filippo (Philip), who left their ancestral home in Italy’s Piedmont region, in 1890. They settled among other Italians in the winegrowing area around Mountain View, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where they found work at the Casa Delmas Winery. Although Joseph moved back to Italy two years later, Philip remained until 1902, when he returned to Italy to be married. Three years later Philip and his new family arrived back in California, settling first in San Francisco, then, with remarkable prescience, to Mountain View just before the devastating earthquake and fire in 1906.
In 1909, back in San Francisco, the Bargettos opened their first family winery on Montgomery Avenue. Philip’s uncle Giovanni (John) arrived from Italy and, with a third partner, Alberto Colombo, they formed the South Montebello Vineyard and Wine Co., where they fermented, aged, and delivered barrels of wine to local restaurants. The next member of the family to arrive from Italy was Philip’s younger brother, also named Giovanni (John P.), who went to work in a San Francisco restaurant. After two years and suffering from exhaustion, he moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains, where he was joined by his sisters Angelina and Maddalena, both of whom married Italian immigrants. The growing Bargetto family became part of an expanding community of Italian Americans in the town of Soquel.
As Prohibition loomed, the Bargettos closed the San Francisco winery and moved to Soquel in 1917, where they purchased the site of what became the family’s winery after Repeal. Here they began making wine for home use by family and friends. To keep themselves financially afloat during Prohibition’s dry years, the family peddled vegetables and also served meals out of their home on weekends. Customers who wanted a glass of wine with their meal, a longstanding Italian tradition, were served wine from barrels stored in the cellar.
After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the Bargettos applied for federal bonding, and officially became Bonded Winery 3859. The two brothers, Philip and John P., ran the winery together until Philip’s death in 1936; through the 1940s and 1950s, John P. held the company together with help from his sons Ralph and Lawrence, who took the lead in the 1970s and 1980s.
The winery was still family-owned in 2014, when artifacts associated with the early years of the Bargetto family’s winery were donated to the museum. The donor, John E. Bargetto, with his brother and sister, are the third generation of Bargettos to operate the family’s wine business in the Central Coast region of California.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2014.0321.03
accession number
2014.0321
catalog number
2014.0321.03
In his day, Bill Russell (born 1934) was considered the best defensive center in the history of the game, initiating strategies that remain key to championship basketball.
Description (Brief)
In his day, Bill Russell (born 1934) was considered the best defensive center in the history of the game, initiating strategies that remain key to championship basketball. A star college player, 1956 Olympic gold medalist, and famed defensive center for the Boston Celtics, he became the first African American head coach in the NBA, coaching first the Celtics and later the Seattle Supersonics. This Wilson game ball marked Russell's 10,000th rebound; he ultimately achieved 21, 620.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1962
associated institution
Boston Celtics
user
Russell, Bill
maker
Wilson Sporting Goods Company
ID Number
1979.0622.01
accession number
1979.0622
catalog number
1979.0622.01
Brunswick Mineralite regulation bowling ball. Used by donor, an amatuer bowler, during the 1970s.Currently not on view
Description
Brunswick Mineralite regulation bowling ball. Used by donor, an amatuer bowler, during the 1970s.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1970s
maker
Brunswick Mineralite
Brunswick Mineralite
ID Number
1981.0548.01
accession number
1981.0548
catalog number
1981.0548.01
This ball was used in Super Bowl XIV, held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on January 20, 1980. In the game, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams 31-19.
Description (Brief)
This ball was used in Super Bowl XIV, held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on January 20, 1980. In the game, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams 31-19. It was the Steelers' fourth Super Bowl win and the second straight year that Terry Bradshaw took home the Most Valuable Player trophy.
The Wilson Sporting Goods Company introduced the Wilson Duke football during the early 1940s. Wilson has provided the official ball for the National Football League's Super Bowl since Super Bowl II in 1968.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1979
user
Pittsburgh Steelers
maker
Wilson Sporting Goods Company
ID Number
1980.0131.05
accession number
1980.0131
catalog number
1980.0131.05

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