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 7 items.
Duncan Diablo Spinner
- Description (Brief)
- This wooden spinner toy was made by the Duncan Toys Company in the 1930s. Shaped like a bow-tie, one half is painted red and the other half white. It is stamped with a seal that reads “Duncan Diablo.” Commonly, diablo toys are usually larger and employ two strings: this example operates more along the lines of a yo-yo .
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1930s
- maker
- Duncan
- ID Number
- 2002.0246.57
- accession number
- 2002.0246
- catalog number
- 2002.0246.57
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Duncan Campbell's Soup Handball Toy
- Description (Brief)
- This paddleboard game was made by the Duncan Toys Company in the 1950s as part of a Campbell’s Soup promotion. The board is a red and white cardboard paddle. A hole in the center of the paddle holds a rubber cord and ball. There is a graphic of the "Campbell Soup Kids" on one side.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1950s
- maker
- Duncan
- ID Number
- 2002.0246.59
- accession number
- 2002.0246
- catalog number
- 2002.0246.59
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Duncan Hi-Li Paddle Ball Toy
- Description (Brief)
- This yellow and black wooden paddleball game was made by the Duncan Toys Company in the 1950s. The paddle is attached to a red rubber ball by a thin rubber cord. The paddle reads “Duncan’s Official Hi-Li, Reg. U.S. Pat. Off., Champion No. 99.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1950s
- maker
- Duncan
- ID Number
- 2002.0246.60
- accession number
- 2002.0246
- catalog number
- 2002.0246.60
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Duncan Koo-Lee Hat
- Description (Brief)
- This yellow plastic spinner was made by the Duncan Toys Company in the 1950s. This type of flying disc is also called a hat.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1950s
- maker
- Duncan
- ID Number
- 2002.0246.61
- accession number
- 2002.0246
- catalog number
- 2002.0246.61
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Horse
- Description (Brief)
- A celluloid blow-molded horse. It is made of cream colored celluloid and spray painted with deep pink/purple and black highlights. It was made in the Japanese workshop of Ando Togoro and bears that trademark, a crossed circle.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1945
- maker
- Ando Togoro
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0894
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0894
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Toy Fire Engine
- Description
- Cast-iron toys, such as this fire engine from about 1900, reflect many commonplace but often forgotten aspects of everyday life. The strength of the Museum's toy collection is an outstanding grouping of cast-iron and tinplate toys, 1870s to the 1950s, donated by Sears, Roebuck and Co. The collection was acquired by Sears, Roebuck and Co. from Kenneth Idle, a private collector. Gathered between 1915 and 1960, the collection numbers more than 1,400 cast-iron and tinplate examples of both American and European origins. Cast-iron toy manufacturers represented in this collection are Hubley, Kentontoys, and Kingsbury Toys. Subjects include the circus, horse-drawn vehicles, public transportation, mail delivery, home equipment, recreation, construction equipment, the farm, fire fighting, and police vehicles.
- Cast-iron toys are essentially American. Small foundries and factories were mass-producing them towards the close of the 19th century. These toys were sold in novelty stores, department stores, or mail order catalogs. One can follow along with shifts in technology by recognizing the changes in the different models of Sears toys. During the first half of the 20th century, tractors almost completely displaced the horse on American farms—and on the toy counter. Toy motor trucks replaced horse-drawn vehicles. The toy manufacturers were alert to new models and designs of vehicle and appliance manufacturers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1900
- ID Number
- DL*295669.0749
- catalog number
- 295669.0749
- accession number
- 295669
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Toy duck
- Description (Brief)
- Toy duck made of celluloid. Its head is black and its bill is orange. The body is cream-colored with blue wings. It bears a Viscoloid trademark.
- date made
- 1901-1915
- maker
- Viscoloid Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.1550
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.1550
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center