Basketball Ephemera

CIRCA 1900 INVITATION/TICKET TO A BASKET BALL TOURNAMENT AT THE CENTRAL BRANCH YMCA OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Tournament took place on March 21st, year unknown. The Fulton Street YMCA opened its doors in 1895 and the font used on this ticket was commonly used around the turn of the century.

1901 A.G. SPALDING & BROS. CHICAGO PURCHASE RECEIPT FOR A BASKET BALL

MARCH 30th, 1901 BASKET BALL GAME TICKET, R.P.I. vs S.W.C. AT STATE ARMORY, SCHENCTADY, N.Y.

The game was held at Schenectady State Armory, a building that was constructed 2 years prior at the onset of the Spanish American war. The teams playing were the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Continentals of Troy, New York and S.W.C. (I'm unsure what school team this acronym represents)

MARCH 3rd, 1904 BASKET BALL GAME TICKET, MATCH BETWEEN THE ALLENTOWN YMCA VS. ALLENTOWN PROFS

DECEMBER 18th, 1908 BASKET BALL GAME TICKET, MATCH BETWEEN THE C.H. YMCA VS. DETROIT JUNIOR TEAM

MARCH 17th, 1910 THE YOUTH'S COMPANION (NEW ENGLAND EDITION) FEATURING WILLIAMS COLLEGE & MT. HOLYOKE BASKETBALL TEAMS

The 1910 Williams College Varsity Team on the cover is the team used on the 1st Murad College Series Basketball Card (Williams College)

CIRCA 1910 WALTON SHOE PORTZ BROTHERS COMPANY INK BLOTTER

1912 GUEST PASS/ADMISSION TICKET TO ELITCH'S GARDENS IN DENVER, COLORADO FEATURING A PHOTOGRAPH OF WOMEN PLAYING BASKETBALL

This pass was given to Dorothy Root by Frances Wolcott Cloud of the Wolcott School. The Wolcott school was a finishing school to educate Denver's society young ladies and was active from 1898 until 1924. The students were from notable families including Buffalo Bill's granddaughter Clara, Antoinette Perry, Helen Bonfils (later owner of The Denver Post) and Mamie Down (later to be the First Lady to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

CIRCA 1915 REACH BASKETBALL ADVERTISEMENT LANTERN SLIDE BY MANHATTAN SLIDE & FILM CO. INC.

The lantern slides produced by Manhattan Slide & Film Co were used to advertise products and retailers on the big screen in between movies and intermissions at local theaters.

1925 CONVERSE RUBBER SHOE CO RECEIPT FOR A PAIR OF MEN'S ALL STAR BASKETBALL SHOES

1925 was a significant year for Converse as that year the All Star became their best selling shoe and a heel cushion was added as an option plus a new last gave the shoe a narrower shank for arch support. Converse introduced a patented ‘Peg Top’ design, a refinement to the collar of the shoe so it could be tied tightly ‘without danger of cutting or chafing across the achilles tendon’. Converse always touted their innovations as ‘new features – not experiments – tested by a full season’s play’. By the mid-1920s, the All Star was firmly established as the standard in basketball footwear as the newly formed American Basketball League was established – the first attempt to create a major professional basketball league in the country.

1926 ORIGINAL PRESS PHOTO OF MARGARET MACBURNEY OF THE EDMONTON GRADS BASKETBALL TEAM (CANADA)

1926-29 BASKET-BALL LICENSES FOR PLAYERS OF THE FRENCH ATHLETICS FEDERATION (FRANCE)

The story on reverse mentions the Grads playing a series of games with the Newmann Stearn Girls of Cleveland, Ohio. These games seemed to of taken place in May of 1927 according to the Edmonton Journal dated May 17th 1927. The photo is dated April 13th, 1926. This would make this a very early photograph of MacBurney as a Grad. According to her biography her first chance to play with the Grads came as a spare on an April 1926 road trip. Later that fall, she was given a permanent spot on the team. Margaret MacBurney served as the captain during the team’s longest winning streak of 182 games. She was a gifted player. In 1931 she made 61 free-throw baskets in a row during a game.

These early French examples of athletic licenses were required in most European countries in order to participate in club or league play. Players with these licenses would need to follow all athletic and basketball code established by the federation.

1926 M. SOLOMON COOPERAGE "BASKET BALL BUGS" INK BLOTTER

circa 1930s 'PLAY TODAY AT THE YMCA' INK BLOTTER

1932-33 PROMOTIONAL BOOKING FLYER FOR THE ORIGINAL OLSON'S TERRIBLE SWEDES, THE WORLD'S CHAMPION TRAVELING BASKETBALL CLUB

Olson's Terrible Swedes were a famous barnstorming pro team that played the top teams of the era including the New York Celtics and the all black New York Renaissance Rens. Olson later formed the Hall of Fame "All-American Red Heads" female barnstorming team.

1932 ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE UCLA BRUINS BASKETBALL TEAM POSING ON A NEW AUTOMOBILE "BIRTH OF A BASKETBALL DYNASTY"

1932 LA GRAND HOTEL (DIGUE, FRANCE) DINNER MENU FEATURING AN IMAGE OF WOMEN PLAYING BASKETBALL

1934 PRESS PHOTO OF BASKETBALL HALL OF FAMER EDWARD MOOSE KRAUSE OF NOTRE DAME

At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Edward “Moose” Krause was a basketball giant, and the subject of considerable attention by opponents. Krause’s size enabled him to dominate the post, and triggered the establishment of the 3-second rule in 1932-33. He was tough as nails and solid as a rock, combining great size and speed to become an excellent passer and a force at center. Playing under Hall of Fame coach George Keogan at Notre Dame, Krause led the Fighting Irish into national prominence in the 1930s. Krause enjoyed a 54-12 three-year record, and was the Fighting Irish's most prolific scorer, averaging 8.8 points per game for his career, in the early days of dirt floors. His three-year total of 547 points came at a time when the game was slow and deliberate and its rhythm was interrupted by the center jump after each basket. After graduating college, Krause took up coaching, and eventually became the basketball coach, and later director of athletics, at Notre Dame.

1935 LOS ANGELES RAILWAY PASS ADVERTISING BASKETBALL AT THE SHRINE AUDITORIUM

1936 CHICAGO RAPID TRANSIT COMPANY SUBWAY PASS ADVERTISING BASKETBALL ON THE L LINE

JULY 1939 FRENCH LOTERIE NATIONALE (LOTTERY TICKET) FEATURING BASKETBALL (FRANCE)

1939 KEYSTONE VIEW COMPANY STEREOVIEW STEREOSCOPE PHOTO CARD OF A WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM IN ALLSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Keystone View Company was the world's largest stereographic company in the early 20th century. When stereoview production went down with the times, one of their employees, C.L. Cupp, started his own company, Keystone View Company of New England. His company produced Stereographs in the New England area until about 1947. It is rare to find stereoview images featuring basketball.

1930s/1940s GULF REFINING COMPANY SUPREME MOTOR OIL INK BLOTTER

1940s ENG KEE GO TAO CHINESE FIRECRACKER LABELS

Label reads: Eng Kee Go Tao, Basketball Ground, Trademark, Juanasan, Sole Agents, Mee San Hong, Importers, Exporters & Commission Agents, 204 Wing Lok St West, 2nd Floor, Hong Kong

WASHINGTON D.C. BEARS VS. COLLEGE ALL-STARS ORIGINAL GAME TICKET, DECEMBER 3rd, 1943 (CHICAGO STADIUM)

The Washington D.C. Bears were an all-Black professional basketball team led by stars like Pop Gates, Tarzan Cooper, Dolly King, and John Isaacs. In 1943 they accomplished a historic undefeated season, going 41-0, the first professional basketball team since the turn of the century that enjoyed a season without a single defeat. This ticket is from that memorable season and was a double-header, with Phillips 66 vs Dow Chemical also playing that evening.

LATE 1940s/EARLY 1950s ST. HONORE SUPER BISCOTTES SALEES (SHORTBREAD) FOOD LABEL (FRANCE)

LATE 1940s/EARLY 1950s DUTCH KORFBAL (NETBALL) HOLLANDSCHE KASS CHEESE FOOD LABEL (HOLLAND)

BABE RUTH SPORTS COMICS, VOL. 1, NO. 6, FEATURING GEORGE MIKAN COVER & STORY, HARVEY COMICS FEBRUARY 1950

1950 BASKETBALL BEER COASTER ADVERTISING FUHRMANN & SCHMIDT BREWING COMPANY

1950s MÉTASPIRINE ASPIRINE COMPOSÉE TONIQUE & GRISON TOUS LE PRODUITS INK BLOTTERS FEATURING BASKETBALL (FRANCE)

1955 NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATION (NEA) FLONG MAT MOLD OF JIM POLLARD, ART BY MURRAY OLDERMAN

Murray Olderman was an American sports cartoonist and writer. His work appeared in 750 daily newspapers for the greater part of 35 years. This is an original mold sent to papers to accompany the story by Jim Pollard written for the NEA service and a copy of the article it was featured in. The article was published in numerous regional newspapers in April of 1955. The mold mat measures 2.5" x 4.5"

1950s CHEIW CHEWING GUM FRENCH INK BLOTTER

The image on this French ink blotter was replicated from a January 15th, 1949 Collier's Magazine cover that featured player Tommy Byrnes.

1950s RUHI (RUTH) GUM WRAPPER LABEL (ISRAEL)

1957 UNION OIL 76 SPORTS CLUB "FINE POINTS" BOOKLETS FEATURING BASKETBALL PLAYERS & COACHES