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 290 items.
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2008 U.S. Olympic Team Cycling Skinsuit
- Description
- This short sleeve track cycling skinsuit was worn by American Bobby Lea (b. 1983) when he competed in the Madison event during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, held in Beijing, China. Lea, a multiple-time national champion in the Madison and numerous other track cycling events, finished 1st in the Scratch Race at the 2012 Pan American Championships and competed in the Omnium at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
- The Madison is raced on an oval cycling track, also called a velodrome, and is named after its first venue, Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is also known as “The American Race” or course à l'américaine in French and Americana in Italian and Spanish.
- The Madison event held at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the 250 meter Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing, China on August 19th. The race was 50 kilometers long and lasted for 200 laps. Bobby Lea and his partner Michael Friedman finished in 16th place overall. An Olympic event since 2000, the Madison’s final year of Olympic competition was at the 2008 games.
- The Madison event began after late 19th century legal restrictions were placed on the popular Six Day races held in velodromes around the United States. The original format of these races had individual riders racing 24 hours a day for six consecutive days. While the event was very popular with crowds, and riders were paid extremely well, the demands of riding continuously for six days took a mental and physical toll on the racers.
- Eventually, laws were passed in New York State and Illinois in 1898 that prevented cyclists in six-day races from racing longer than 12 hours at a time. Not wanting to close the venue for half of the day, the promoter of the Madison Square Garden Six Day races changed the event to use teams of two or three, allowing the races to go on for 24 hours, without having individual riders exceed the 12 hour limit.
- Today, the format of the Madison consists of teams of riders, usually two, racing for a set distance on the velodrome. No longer a 24 hour/six-day long event, the goal of the race is for one team to finish their laps before the others. Because only a single rider from each team can participate in the race at a time, one rider races around the bottom of the track trying to gain laps or hold position on the other teams, while the other rides at a slower pace, resting, near the top of the track. Teammates in the Madison swap positions after being tagged in by the other rider, though more commonly they are launched into the race with a push or a hand-sling motion.
- The Madison continues to be an annual Cycling World Championship event and is often featured in a shortened format alongside other track events at modern six-day races.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- used date
- 2008-08-19
- user
- Lea, Bobby
- maker
- Nike, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2012.0213.01
- catalog number
- 2012.0213.01
- accession number
- 2012.0213
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
2012 U.S. Olympic Team Cycling Skinsuit
- Description
- This long sleeve one-piece track cycling skinsuit was worn by American Bobby Lea (b. 1983) when he competed in the Omnium event during the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games. Lea, a national champion in the Omnium and numerous other track cycling events, also competed in the Madison at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and finished 1st in the Scratch Race at the 2012 Pan American Championships
- The jersey and shorts worn by U.S. cyclists at the 2012 Olympics were intended to evoke the designs from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where American riders Alexi Grewal and Connie Carpenter both won gold medals in the men’s and women’s cycling road race. The one piece long sleeve skinsuit worn by Lea at the 2012 London Olympics is more aerodynamic than a short sleeve jersey and shorts, but the additional fabric coverage tends to make the wearer overheat. It is best used for either shorter events or instances where the aerodynamic advantages outweigh the drawbacks.
- The event that Lea raced at the 2012 Olympics, called the Omnium, is a cycling event raced on an oval cycling track, also called a velodrome, and was introduced to the Olympics after the Individual Pursuit, Points Race, and Madison were removed as individual Olympic track cycling events in 2009. The Omnium is similar to the Pentathlon in that winning overall relies upon placing well in the combination of six mass-start and individual time trial races that comprise the modern format of the event.
- The six races that comprise the modern Ominum race are:
- 1. Flying Lap (Single lap raced against the clock)
- 2. Points Race (30km men, 20km women, 15km junior men, 10km junior women)
- 3. Elimination Race
- 4. Individual Pursuit (4000m men, 3000m junior men and women, 2000m junior women)
- 5. Scratch Race
- 6. Time Trial (1km men, 500m women)
- The Omnium event at the 2012 Olympics was held at the 250 meter London Velopark on August 4th and 5th. The event was won by Lasse Norman Hansen of Denmark. Lea finished in 12th place overall.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- used date
- 2012-08-04 to 2012-08-05
- user
- Lea, Bobby
- maker
- SKINS
- ID Number
- 2012.0213.02
- catalog number
- 2012.0213.02
- accession number
- 2012.0213
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
McClellan's Chess Set
- Description
- Physical Description
- Wooden box covered with black paper. Inscribed on the cover “Geo. B. McClellan.” Paper label on the inside of cover bearing maker's name and address “Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, 19 Maiden Lane, New York.” One white pawn and one black knight are missing.
- Specific History
- Used by George McClellan during the Civil War.
- date made
- 1860
- user
- McClellan, George B.
- maker
- Schuyler, Hartley & Graham
- ID Number
- AF*17501
- catalog number
- 17501
- accession number
- 61384
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cocktail Table, SS United States
- Description
- This round aluminum-and-glass cocktail table was among the furnishings in the Duck Suite, the first-class luxury accommodations that included three upper-deck cabins aboard the ocean liner SS United States. Known as the most luxurious of the 14 first-class suites on the ship, these rooms were typically chosen by the United States’ most well-to-do passengers, from movie stars to British royalty. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, regular passengers on the rival ship Queen Mary, switched their loyalties to the United States during the mid-1950s and booked the Duck Suite, which was their favorite lodging at sea for a time.
- Like all of the furniture on this flagship of the United States Line, the table was crafted of flame-resistant metal. Launched in 1952, the ship was filled with aluminum furnishings. The ship’s architect, William Francis Gibbs, designed the vessel to be as fireproof as possible, and selected aluminum for its safety and aesthetic appeal. And while the massive amounts of aluminum did make the United States one of the safest ships ever launched, the metallic, modern décor also gave it a special feel unlike any other ocean liner. Most liners were decorated with opulent wood carvings and even had working fireplaces to make passengers feel as if they were sitting in their own living room or library. However, Gibbs put aside this notion of Victorian comfort with his new interior decorating style. The United States was the epitome of 1950s and 1960s design: sleek, modern, and practical.
- date made
- 1950s
- ID Number
- TR*336767.022
- accession number
- 1978.2219
- catalog number
- 336767.022
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Upholstered Chair, SS United States
- Description
- This beige upholstered chair with its deeply curved back was among the furnishings in the Duck Suite, the first-class luxury accommodations that included three upper-deck cabins aboard the ocean liner SS United States. Known as the most luxurious of the 14 first-class suites on the ship, these rooms were typically chosen by the United States’ most well-to-do passengers, from movie stars to British royalty. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, regular passengers on the rival ship Queen Mary, switched their loyalties to the United States during the mid-1950s and booked the Duck Suite, which was their favorite lodging at sea for a time.
- Like all of the furniture on this flagship of the United States Line, the chair had to be crafted of flame-resistant metal. Launched in 1952, the ship was filled with aluminum selected by the ship’s architect, William Francis Gibbs, who designed the vessel to be as fireproof as possible. And while the massive amounts of aluminum did make the United States one of the safest ships ever launched, the metallic, modern décor also gave it a special feel unlike any other ocean liner. The upholstered furniture and artwork throughout the ship added texture and color to interior spaces that epitomized 1950s and 1960s design: sleek, modern, and practical.
- date made
- 1950s
- ID Number
- TR*336767.027
- accession number
- 1978.2219
- catalog number
- 336767.027
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Bernice Palmer's Kodak Brownie camera
- Description
- Sometime around her 17th birthday, Canadian Bernice Palmer received a Kodak Brownie box camera, either for Christmas 1911 or for her birthday on 10 January 1912. In early April, she and her mother boarded the Cunard liner Carpathia in New York, for a Mediterranean cruise. Carpathia had scarcely cleared New York, when it received a distress call from the White Star liner Titanic on 14 April. It raced to the scene of the sinking and managed to rescue over 700 survivors from the icy North Atlantic. With her new camera, Bernice took pictures of the iceberg that sliced open the Titanic’s hull below the waterline and also took snapshots of some of the Titanic survivors. Lacking enough food to feed both the paying passengers and Titanic survivors, the Carpathia turned around and headed back to New York to land the survivors. Unaware of the high value of her pictures, Bernice sold publication rights to Underwood & Underwood for just $10 and a promise to develop, print, and return her pictures after use. In 1986, she donated her camera, the pictures and her remarkable story to the Smithsonian.
- date made
- ca 1912
- user
- Ellis, Bernice P.
- maker
- Eastman Kodak Company
- ID Number
- 1986.0173.38
- accession number
- 1986.0173
- catalog number
- 1986.0173.38
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Bone Dice
- Description
- Gambling usually was banned aboard whaling ships, on the grounds that it could cause too much strife among the crew. But “bones” or dice were easily concealed from a ship’s officers, and crews found out-of-the-way places to spend their free time wagering their earnings, tobacco, or other assets.
- date made
- 1800s
- ID Number
- AG*024849.1
- accession number
- 1875.4423
- catalog number
- 24849.1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Fox and Geese Game Board
- Description
- This 9-inch square board with 32 holes was made for playing Fox and Geese, a game of strategy between two players. The 19 pegs representing geese and a single longer peg for the fox are long gone from this particular board made in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Fox and Geese was among the games played by fishermen during idle times on sailing schooners working in the North Atlantic fisheries. This board was part of a display on “Habits of Fishermen,” at the International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883. Other games in the display, all from Gloucester, included cards, a checkerboard, backgammon, and a diamond puzzle.
- The rules of play for Fox and Geese are simple: one player controls the fox, while the other controls the geese. The fox can move in a straight line in any direction and, as it jumps over geese, the geese are removed from the board. To win, the fox must break through the entire line of geese. The geese are only allowed to move forward or sideways. To win, they must corner the fox so it cannot move.
- The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1633 reference to the game from a play called Fine Companion by Shackerley Marmion: “Let him sit in the shop . . . and let him play at fox and geese with the foreman.” The game was played in colonial America and, with minor variations, well into the 19th and 20th centuries.
- This game board was one of several items donated to the Smithsonian by Capt. George Merchant Jr., of Gloucester.
- Date made
- 1883
- ID Number
- AG*057950
- catalog number
- 057950
- accession number
- 12158
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sailor's Embroidery
- Description
- Sailors sometimes used their off-duty hours aboard ship to do hand crafts such as carving, knotting, and needlework. This sailor's silk embroidery on linen of patriotic symbols and Civil War-related scenes, was "Worked at sea by J. M. Adams" in the late 19th century. It is 20-1/2 inches long. The center vignette has "Liberty" seated on a wharf beside the "Mississippi River," looking at a three-masted ship flying the stars and stripes. She holds a pole topped with a liberty cap in her left hand and a shield decorated with stars, stripes, and the word "Liberty" in her right. An anchor and cannon balls are at her feet.
- "United States of America" and "In God We Trust" are embroidered on the scene's circular frame. Atop the frame is an American eagle holding an "E Pluribus Unum" banner. A rising sun is behind the eagle, and a stars-and-stripes shield is at its feet. To the right and left of the eagle are rifles with bayonets and American flags. To the right of the frame is a sailor; at the left is a soldier in Zouave uniform. The corner vignettes depict: 1. The "Battle of Mill Creek," fought in Kentucky on January 19, 1862, ending in a Union victory and a Confederate retreat. It is based on an engraving published by Johnson, Fry & Co., New York, from a painting by Alonzo Chappel. 2.The "Death of Ellsworth" in Alexandria, Va. He was the first Union soldier killed in the Civil War. It is based on an illustration in Harper's Weekly of June 15, 1861, from a sketch by Francis Brownell, a young Zouave soldier who immediately avenged Colonel Ellsworth's death and became a national hero. 3. Monument in Charlestown, Mass; designed by Martin and Joseph Milmore. Dedicated in 187l, it reads, "Erected in memory of the heroes of Charlestown who fell in the late Civil War." 4. Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument on "Boston Common," Massachusetts. Designed by Martin Milmore and dedicated in 1877.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- late 19th Century
- maker
- Adams, J. M.
- ID Number
- TE*E388178
- catalog number
- E388178
- accession number
- 182022
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
1942 Victory Bicycle
- Description
- Soon after the United States entered World War II, the federal government decided that bicycles should be brought under consumer manufacturing guidelines so that they might support conservation efforts, local transportation, and the war production work force. A series of orders reduced bicycle design to bare essentials, limited metal and rubber content, set output quotas, promoted the use of bicycles among adult civilians, allocated bicycles for military use, and suspended production of children's bicycles, which comprised 85 percent of the prewar market. These measures were designed to conserve rubber and metals needed for war materiel and complement gasoline and automobile tire rationing by providing an alternate form of transportation for war production workers and other workers.
- In December 1941, the Office of Production Management and leading manufacturers developed specifications for a simplified bicycle dubbed the "Victory bicycle" by government and media. OPM reviewed several prototypes submitted for examination. Regulations finalized in March 1942 specified that bicycles would be lightweight - not more than 31 pounds, about two-thirds the weight of prewar bicycles - and they would be made of steel only, with no copper or nickel parts. Chrome plating was limited to a few small pieces of hardware. Handlebars and wheel rims would be painted instead of chrome plated, and most accessories (chain guard, basket, luggage rack, bell, whitewall tires) were eliminated. Tire size was limited to a width of 1.375 inches, narrower than balloon tires on prewar children's bikes. Production was set at 750,000 Victory bicycles per year by twelve manufacturers, approximately 40 percent of total prewar production but a significant increase in annual production of adult bicycles. The manufacture of all other types of civilian bicycles was halted.
- As a prelude to rationing, the federal government imposed a freeze on bicycle sales and allocated almost 10,000 bikes to war production plants for use by workers and messengers. By July 1942 the Office of Price Administration estimated that 150,000 Victory bicycles and 90,000 prewar bikes were available for retail sale. OPA rationed new and prewar men's and women's bicycles. Any adult who was gainfully employed or contributed in some way to the war effort or public welfare could purchase a bicycle if she or he could cite a compelling reason, such as inadequate public transportation, excessive walking, or responsibility for a delivery service. In August 1942 eligibility was further restricted to persons in critical occupations, including physicians, nurses, druggists, ministers, school teachers, mail carriers, firefighters, police officers, construction workers, delivery personnel, public safety officers, and others. By the summer of 1942, American Bicyclist and Motorcyclist reported that thousands of war production workers were riding bicycles to their jobs, and new and used bikes were in great demand. Some companies owned fleets of bicycles for work-related uses such as reading electric meters.
- Pauline Anderson of Norwalk, Connecticut was hired as a mathematics teacher at Norwalk High School in the fall of 1942 and purchased a Victory bicycle shortly thereafter. She lived with her parents, George and Flora Anderson, in a residential neighborhood two miles from downtown Norwalk. Pauline married Walter Dudding on November 26, 1942 but continued to live with her parents while her husband was serving in the Coast Guard. Mrs. Dudding rode the bicycle on errands and pleasure trips in the Norwalk area. It was a good form of supplemental transportation, but she didn't commute to work on the bike; she rode a bus or shared a ride with her father, who owned an automotive sales and repair shop in downtown Norwalk. The high school also was located downtown.
- Pauline Dudding's bicycle has all the features of a 1942 Victory bicycle. The handlebars have black paint instead of chrome plating, and the wheel rims are painted a tan color. The frame is painted red, white and blue. In keeping with a War Production Board order, there is no nameplate or other brand identification other than the letter "H" (for Huffman) stamped on the bottom of the crankcase beside the serial number. In September 1942 the number of authorized Victory bicycle manufacturers was reduced from twelve to two, and the WPB decided that "no firm left in a business from which others are excluded shall be permitted to spread its name over the land and in foreign countries" (Wall Street Journal, September 3, 1942).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1942
- maker
- Huffman Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0183.01
- accession number
- 2006.0183
- catalog number
- 2006.0183.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center