I believe a few people on the forum collect early boxing. I know little about it. Question..Was late 19th Century boxing a spectator sport popular with the upper class?
I picked up a boxing tournament program from 1891, and on the back of the program is an ad for Timing Watches. What I found interesting is the most expensive watch sold for $300 (the watch pictured in the ad) - a lot of coin for 1891. That's $8,000 in today's dollars. I realize certainly not unusual today to have an $8K watch, but pretty high priced to adverise in a program.
Curious as to what who this was marketed to. These are Timining Watches, and not jewelry, so I wouldn't suspect your wealthy socialite or industrialist watching the pugalist boughts. I wouldn't suspect most athletes and trainers would want to use an $8K watch for everyday use. This same jeweler made medals and athletic prizes, so maybe this was most intended as a high-end prize/award.
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