November Pickups

[Michael B]

My Olympic club collector's show was in Colorado Springs the first weekend of November. Despite publicizing it our show rarely attracts anyone off of the street. Being in Colorado Springs, home of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Training Center and Museum we did expect more than normal. During the show one of the other members came up to me and started looking for an autograph. He asked me to come to his table. A woman was standing there. She said her grandfather, Ben Eastman, competed in the 1932 Olympics. I knew who he was as I had written him in the early 1990's. He won a silver medal in the 400m. I told her I had the cover of the 1932 Time magazine he was on signed by him and I would send it to her for free. I also have a number of photos I could scan and email to her. She said she would come back the next day. She came to my table the next day with two boxes. One had a 6' x 8' Olympic flag, presumably from the 1932 games. She showed me a photo of it in a frame on her wall. It looks like she went through quite a bit to get it down.

The other box was his wool warmup suit from the 1932 Olympics. She gave me the box and said she wanted me to have it. She appreciated my knowledge and enthusiasm and knew I would enjoy having it. Strangely, she had contacted the Olympic Museum years ago and they did not respond to her. The archivist, a Parlympic medalist and two time winner of the NY City Marathon wheelchair division, said they did not have one and would gladly display it if I would loan it to them. I want to enjoy having it in my possession for now. Perhaps I will loan it to them in the future.

Here are some photos. It is almost navy blue and made by Spalding. My camera was being stubborn so no good photos of the tagging. The zippers on the pants still work perfectly. I am also including a photo of the Reemstma card that shows him wearing it. He is on the right. The photo of the box is how it will be stored. That is an archival, metal edge box. The two pieces are folded in unbuffered tissue and there a desiccant cannister inside. When covered the box will be placed in a polyethylene bag.

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