1936 Spalding Football

[bocca001]

So, I just picked up something like A Holy Grail item for me. In 1936, Santa Clara University defeated St. Mary's in the annual "Little Big Game." It was the first Santa Clara Victory over St. Mary's since 1923. Santa Clara's star player was Nello Falaschi, who became an All American that year and led the team to a Sugar Bowl victory over LSU (Santa Clara also won the Sugar Bowl in 1938). He later played for the NY Giants.

This Spalding J5-V football is from Falschi's estate. It has the 1936 Little Big Game score on the ball and a drawing of a Bronco. It is hard to tell if these features are stamped into the ball or hand written.

This is my first vintage football. As you can see from the pictures, it is flat. I was hoping to hear from some vintage football collectors for advice about taking care of it. Should I inflate it? Anything special I need to know before trying to inflate it? Can I use a modern needle?