C1885 Tug of War Plaque 7.5" X 5.5" - Tug of War an Official Sport?…Yup!

[CarltonHendricks]

Last night I was quickly jamming thru eBay before hitting the hay and came across this copper plated kind of beat up plaque….I was about to shut it down for the night but this darn thing took over…The derby, the cane, the cap of the guy in the center, the guy waving the flag, and the flag next to the building in the background all had a Victorian era college scene look that grabbed me and sent me researching….of all things in the middle of the night….Collegiate Tug of War contests….

It’s never been anything I was interested in…sort of a fringe athletic endeavor I vaguely recalled in all my travels….But I lucked out…I googled and found a remarkable semi comprehensive record of Tug of War contests between eastern colleges in the 1880’s…It was in the April 1887 to September 1887 volume of Outing magazine…not a written dialog but a quick “records set” at the 12th annual, I.C.A.A. track meet (Intercollegiate Athletic Association)…which may have been the big meet of the year for the eastern colleges then…When I say I lucked out, it not only gives the records for the 1887 Meet but an informal recap of (some of) the records of total wins and losses from 1880 to 1887 per school…see below. Bottom line is “Tug of War” was indeed an official event of the meet…and apparently an officially recognized sport!

Also of note…I thought I remembered “Tug of War” represented on that c1888 Bailey Championship plaque I got back in 2009…I checked and sure’nuff…see photo below.

So then…brain fuzzy from reading droopy eyed in the middle of the night all about Tug Of War history…I made an offer last night (early AM this morning really) and got it today!....Someone once asked in jest on this site if there was any sport I didn’t have…last month when I posted the Harness Racing clock I thought I had exhausted new sports….However….








Close in, c1888 Bailey Championship Prize Plaque - Awarded by Amateur Athletic Union of the United States 1888-1891
http://sportsantiques.com/baileychampprize.htm

[Michael B]

From 1900 to 1920 the tug of war was also an official Olympic event. Great Britain won the most medals (5) followed by Sweden, the U.S. and a mixed team, each winning two. Great Britain won all three medals in 1908. Back then you could enter a lot more athletes/teams in an event than is allowed today.

[BigJJ]

Can be a Net54 dinner entertainment

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by BigJJ

Can be a Net54 dinner entertainment

Right... I think the "Autograph Guys" should have at it

[CarltonHendricks]

For those of you who just can’t get enough Tug-Of-War memorabilia…you’re in luck here at Net54…there have been two new developments related to this copper plated plaque…And I'm sure many have been laying awake nights wondering if there would be any new updates about Tug-Of-War items...











First of all I received the plaque in hand and it’s signed and dated by the sculptor…As someone who researches this stuff...those two attributes are outstanding intel…The sculptor was Thomas Swaffield-Brown...who I learned was the Art Director at William Hutton & Sons in Birmingham and Sheffield England from 1880-1914. William Hutton & Sons produced decorative metal ware items and may have been the Reed and Barton of England. Logically the plaque would have been produced by William Hutton & Sons since Brown was the Art Director there for 34 years…as noted until 1914….and the plaque is dated very precisely under the signature “3-4-1898”. I didn’t find Brown’s obit but did find a dispersal of estate notice in the January 29th 1915 London Gazette…So he would have died sometime within the previous year.

So anyway…the plaque isn’t American…but I still speculate it is collegiate….only it probably represents a Tug-Of-War between Oxford and Cambridge…not Harvard and Yale…still cool…but not quite as cool as having something that represents an American scene…..I’m still glad to have it though.



And then…more news…I sent a link to this thread to my friend Bart White…In turn Bart sent me a link to an eBay listing for the c1886 photo above of a Tug-Of-War between Harvard and Yale….When I first looked at it I thought it was interesting but I’d sort of had enough Tug-Of-War finds for a while…But the next day I revisited it and took a harder look…First of all it was an eye opener that the real Tug-Of-War events between Harvard and Yale did not look like the scene in the plaque…and were a lot more structured…i.e. the foot braces….and they are nearly on the ground…not standing like the plaque…so that was interesting….like they say a picture is worth a thousand words….And where in the world would I ever find another 1886 photo like it…

The way I started seeing it was you can have an interesting photo with a blank back….or you can have a photo with some markings on the back that give a little bit of background on the image…..OR….you can have a photo that just kills it with info…this one kills it….It had the teams….the names of all the “tuggers” of both teams…even the year they were to graduate….and the score…in almighty 1886 dip pen handwriting….oh yeah…..So….it had a BIN or best offer…I sent a feeble offer and the seller happened to be a fan of my website and let me have it for my offer!

There are some things that are puzzling about it though….The handwriting one the back is what convinces me its real…but it was apparently trimmed from the way the top of the word Harvard is cut off…and the modern little title card is adhered on…like it was part of a display at one time…very curious…By the way...check out the garments...the hats and shoes...The belt apparatus worn by the anchor appears to be a specific proven design not something worked up last minute...Could have been made by a harness maker or could have been ordered from Spalding or one of the other sporting goods companies.

[Scott Garner]

Carlton,

The background research that you do surrounding your acquisitions never fails to amaze me.

Congrats on another cool pickup for the Hendricks Museum!

[smokelessjoe]

Carlton, nice pick-up! Coincidentally here is something that fits this thread.

Here is something I recently acquired really by accident (came with a bunch of stuff). When I first looked at it I thought hmmm "maybe ship-yard or something"? Then I turned it over and Wow!

Have trouble reading the back?

Tug of War

Won by Grinding room at the Annual outing at Slater Park as pulled off at noon at ??????????????

Pawtucket RI

[CarltonHendricks]

Thanks All for the good words...Thanks Shawn for the R.I. photo...Grinding room?...wonder what that was.

[Michael B]

The rest of the words on the photo appear to be H & B Am Mch Co. - probably H & B American Machine Company.

[CarltonHendricks]

Originally Posted by Michael B

The rest of the words on the photo appear to be H & B Am Mch Co. - probably H & B American Machine Company.

Michael, Very good deciphering job...I have an 1840 letter in that squiggly long hand that talks about a football game between Harvard and Dartmouth...which is hard to make out...maybe you could decipher it...

https://archive.org/stream/ringspinn...ge/n1/mode/2up
BTW...there is a lot of references to H & B American Machine Company on google...seems to have been big on cotton machines...link above

[Michael B]

I would be more than happy to give it a whirl. I am pretty decent at deciphering old handwriting. At one time I bought and sold Civil War documents, letters and signatures so it came in handy. Currently it is trying to decipher Eastern European, mainly Hungarian and Czech, autographs of pre WWII Olympians. Either post it or send it along to me.

Cheers.