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.

This Elmore Smith basketball card is number 76 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Buffalo Braves center on a pink background.
Description
This Elmore Smith basketball card is number 76 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Buffalo Braves center on a pink background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “Elmore is first 7-footer to play for Braves,” as well as a short biography and career statistics.
Elmore played in the NBA from 1971-1979 as a member of the Buffalo Braves, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Cleveland Cavaliers. Elmore led the league in blocks in 1974 with an average of 4.9 per game, which remains the third-highest ever recorded for a single season. Smith also set the single-game record for blocks with 17 in a 1973 game against Portland.
date made
1972
copyright date
1973
publisher
NBA Properties, Inc.
Topps Chewing Gum
depicted
Smith, Elmore
maker
Topps Company, Inc.
NBA Properties, Inc.
ID Number
1982.0568.108
accession number
1982.0568
catalog number
1982.0568.108
This Otto Moore basketball card is number 70 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Houston Rockets center on a pink background.
Description
This Otto Moore basketball card is number 70 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Houston Rockets center on a pink background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “Otto has gained over 20 pounds since entering NBA,” as well as a short biography and career statistics.
Moore played nine seasons in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Kansas City-Omaha Kings, and New Orleans Jazz. The center averaged 8.2 points and 8.2 rebounds during his 682 game-career.
date made
1972
copyright date
1969
publisher
Topps Chewing Gum
NBA Properties, Inc.
depicted
Moore, Otto
maker
Topps Chewing Gum
NBA Properties, Inc.
ID Number
1982.0568.095
accession number
1982.0568
catalog number
1982.0568.095

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