From the archives

Archival Athletes

From the Musee McCord Museum Archives, here are some terrific photographs of individual and team sports from the turn of the (past) century.  I love reprinting images of historical athletes as evidence of a time when athletic prowess was conflated with a snappy, well tailored presentation for the camera.  Here, in the McCord image set, …

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Shopping From the Past

Shopping from the 1950s: Sporting Goods

  One of my primary time travel fantasies involves shopping from catalogs from the past.  For my Spring workout wardrobe, I’d love to order sportswear and gym equipment from the pages of these old Athletic Journals from the 1950s.  What I adore about this era of sporting garb is the emphasis on rugged construction, quality …

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Vintage female rugby team
From the archives Shopping From the Past

From the Archives: Rugby Ephemera

In honor of the World Cup, I’m reposting selections from Frederick Humbert’s awesome collection of historical rugby print ephemera. Humbert’s flickr catalog and blog, Rugby-Pioneers, include photographs, programs, cigarette cards, advertisements and even hand painted lantern slides of vintage rugby action. Even if you don’t follow rugby as a sport, study the photographs as a …

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Uncategorized

Archival Exercise: Rope Jumping

Count the Olympic brand jump rope as another best quality product still being manufactured in Oregon. The plastic beaded Olympic rope was designed over 45 years ago by a coach who was looking for a durable sports product that could be used both indoors and outdoors. The Archival Web Shop is now offering this rope …

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