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 4 items.
Odyssey 1 Dobsonian Reflecting Telescope
- Description
- This is a Dobsonian-type reflecting telescope. It was made commercially in the 1980s as part of the "Dobsonian revolution" in amateur astronomy.
- John Dobson began developing this form of telescope in 1956. At the time he was living in a monastery in San Francisco, working as a gardener. Although he had a degree in chemistry, Dobson had always been interested in spiritual issues. Seeking a way to directly experience a fundamental reality, he became obsessed with seeing the "deep sky"—the distant realm of nebula and galaxies.
- Unfortunately, to actually see these astronomical objects required large telescopes that were generally only available to astronomers and were too expensive for average people, and especially for Dobson, who had taken a vow of poverty.
- Undeterred, Dobson began teaching himself telescope making. In time he developed a new telescope design and a new approach to telescope making. Compared to the typical amateur telescope of the time, what came to be known as the "Dobsonian" telescopes were large, easy to use, inexpensive, and portable. They were also easy to make. The mirrors were ground from simple porthole glass. The mounts were made from common construction materials. Although comparatively crude, these strange new telescopes worked. Thrilled by his success, Dobson put them on wheels and pulled them around the streets of San Francisco, offering to show the wonders of the sky to anyone he met.
- Around 1967 Dobson helped found the Sidewalk Astronomers. They became famous for touring the United States, setting up their telescopes (affectionately known as "light buckets") and inviting passers-by to look through them. Telescope design continues to evolve and today the majority of amateur telescopes (like this one) are precise and commercially made. However, many active amateur astronomers credit an early encounter with a Dobsonian for starting their interest in astronomy and changing the way they view the sky.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1988
- patent holder
- Dobson, John L.
- maker
- Coulter Optical Co.
- ID Number
- 1994.0399.01
- accession number
- 1994.0399
- catalog number
- 1994.0399.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Stinger Yo-Yo
- Description (Brief)
- This plastic yo-yo was made by Small Minds Press in 1996. Called the Stinger, it remains unopened on a display card. It has indented flat sides. A real scorpion has been embedded inside of one half. There is educational information about scorpions on the reverse of the card.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1996
- maker
- Small Minds Press
- ID Number
- 2002.0246.51
- accession number
- 2002.0246
- catalog number
- 2002.0246.51
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Breezer 1 Mountain Bike
- Description
- First prototype of the JBX1 "Breezer 1” mountain bike. Hand built by Joe Breeze in 1977, the JBX1 was the first bicycle frame designed specifically for mountain biking.
- The “Breezer 1” was constructed with components that could withstand the repeated pounding of mountain bike riding, such as Araya brand 26” steel rims, Phil Wood hubs, Sun Tour derailleurs, and Dia-Compe brakes. The steel “riser” handlebars and Magura brand brake levers were repurposed from motorcycles and adapted to work with the “Breezer 1’s” stem and brake calipers. The large size of the Magura motorcycle levers provided increased braking leverage and was advantageous when trying to ride in wet conditions with slippery steel Araya rims. Other parts, such as the Sun Tour thumb shifters were adapted from five-speed touring bikes and only came in right hand models. The left side thumb shifter, which controlled the front derailleur, was a right hand shifter that was mounted backwards.
- Prior to the construction of the “Breezer 1”, mountain bike racers would modify vintage cruiser bikes, nicknamed “clunkers”, with coaster or drum brakes, sturdier wheels with knobby “balloon tires”, and “fork braces” to keep the frames from bending under the stresses of off-road riding. Mountain bike riders in Marin County, California would race these “clunkers” down mountain trails in events called “Repack Races”. The term ”Repack” was coined because the hub-based brakes would inevitably overheat, lose their effectiveness, and have to be disassembled and repacked with fresh grease prior to another ride down the mountain.
- Joe Breeze’s “Breezer 1” design served as a benchmark for mountain bikes to build and improve upon. In 1979 Tom Ritchey of Redwood City, California, started building fat-tire mountain bikes, which were sold by two veterans of the “Repack Races”, Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly. In 1982, mountain bicycles were offered by two separate companies -- Specialized Bicycles came out with the Stumpjumper and Univega released the Alpina Pro. The following year, Gary Fisher founded his own mountain bicycle company, which sold bicycles under the brand "Gary Fisher" from 1983 to 2010.
- The 1980s and 1990s saw mountain biking evolve from a niche sport to an International Cycling World Championship event in 1990. It became an Olympic event at the 1996 Atlanta games. Additionally, mountain biking became an increasingly popular amateur sport. Once only available from specialty shops, mountain bikes were suddenly being sold as recreation bikes at department stores and big box retailers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1977
- maker
- Breezer Bicycles
- maker; designer
- Breeze, Joe
- ID Number
- 2012.0066.01
- catalog number
- 2012.0066.01
- accession number
- 2012.0066
- serial number
- JBX1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed by 1984 All-Star Game Participants
- 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
- performing artist; recipient
- Fitzgerald, Ella
- maker
- Rawlings
- ID Number
- 1996.0342.109
- accession number
- 1996.0342
- catalog number
- 1996.0342.109
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center