Draper & Maynard / Plymouth New Hampshire

 I was driving at dusk, after dinner in Plymouth New Hampshire, on my way up to the foothills of the White Mountains. I was cutting through the town on a deserted road when I pulled a U-turn in the middle of the road having just passed a sign that I thought said Draper & Maynard. And wouldn’t you know, it was in fact the Draper & Maynard building. As luck would have it, the only vehicle I didn’t see was a parked police car who let me be and watched intently as I took photos of the sign and building from half a dozen vantage points. For those not in the hobby, Draper & Maynard was one of the larger early sporting goods manufacturers.

Harry Newman / 1932 Chicago Tribune Silver Football Trophy (Big Ten MVP)

Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago won both the Chicago Tribune Silver Football and the first ever Heisman Trophy. He considered the Silver Football more meaningful because it was awarded based on votes from Big Ten coaches who had firsthand experience watching and competing against him. In a 2002 Chicago Tribune article he recalled “When they called to tell me, I thought it was great (winning the Heisman), but the big award then was the Silver Football” which held more prestige at the time than the Heisman, then called the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy.

Years ago, after acquiring Benny Friedman’s Silver Football Trophy (see blog post dated July 31, 2018), Jacob and I talked about the possibility of going after another Silver Football Trophy if they ever became available. Those of Red Grange, Harry Newman, Jay Berwanger, Nile Kinnick and Otto Graham topped the list.

Harry Newman followed in the footsteps of Benny Friedman in many ways, Friedman coming out of Cleveland, Newman out of Detroit, both strong runners, kickers and leaders on the field. Newman initially was not the passer Friedman was, but under Friedman’s mentoring over a summer at his football camp (Newman still in High School), Newman was to become an outstanding record setting passer as well, in college and the pros. They both played for the University of Michigan and went on to play in the NFL.

Some stats on Newman:

College Career (University of Michigan, 1930–1932)

•             National Champion (1932)

•             Unanimous All-American (1932)

•             Chicago Tribune Silver Football (1932) – Big Ten MVP

•             Douglas Fairbanks Trophy (1932) – Outstanding College Player of the Year (pre‑Heisman)

•             Helms Athletic Foundation Player of the Year (1932)

•             Two time first‑team All‑Big Ten (1930, 1932)

•             Second‑team All‑Big Ten (1931)

•             Led Michigan to a 24–1–2 record over three seasons, undefeated in 1932

•             Played 437 of 480 minutes in the 1932 season — an astounding workload

Professional Career (NFL & AFL)

•             NFL Champion (1934) – New York Giants

•             2× Second‑team All‑Pro (1933, 1934)

•             NFL Passing Yards Leader (1933) and the Giants leading rusher

•             NFL Passing Touchdowns Leader (1933)

•             Played for:

•             New York Giants (1933–1935)

•             Brooklyn/Rochester Tigers (1936–1937)

 In 1934 Newman set the NFL single game carries record, at 38, broken by OJ Simpson in 1973, with 39. Simpson was intentionally being fed the ball in order to break 1000 yards on the season in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

A large trophy with an early 1930s full sized silver football. A most significant artifact from that period.

This trophy was exhibited at the Michigan Football Centennial in 1979 (photo of the bottom of the trophy base).

               Jacob holding Friedman's Silver Football Trophy and I holding Newman's (Thanksgiving, 2025)

Rare Shaker Knit Worsted Wool Football Cap c. 1890s

We are dating this cap to the 1890s even though the provenance of the cap is suggestive of the 1880s. It's the only cap of its type we have come across. All original, showing no outward signs of use. Measures 10 1/4" in width, 7 1/4" in height.

                                                                 Inside lining.

The above advertisements from the turn of the century are from Antiquefootball.com, in the article "The Football Cap", March 4, 2020.

Historically Significant Silver Trophy Bestowed By Lord Stanley Of Preston / 1891

 Only two trophies are known to have been bestowed by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada from 1888 to 1893. The first was this cup, dated September 3, 1891, presented to William Hendrie as a member of the Quebec Turf Club for his horse B.C. Bullfinch.

The second, a bowl for the 1892 -1893 amateur hockey season, initially called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, and eventually taking on the name of its donor, the “Stanley Cup”.

The cup that is the subject of this post is representative of the close relationship between the Stanley and Hendrie families and although equestrian, in fact, has as much to do with hockey.

Reads: Presented By Lord Stanley Of Preston - GBC - Governor General Of Canada - To The Quebec Turf Club - Quebec - Sept. 3rd 1891

Reads: Won By Mr William Hendrie's B.C. Bullfinch - 3 Years - Sept. 3rd 1891

At the time that this trophy was awarded (pre "Stanley Cup"), the important hockey relationship between the Stanleys and the Hendries was already well established. The families began their relationship by the 1880s, travelling in similar social circles, sharing interests in horse breeding and racing and with strong interest in hockey and with formalizing the development and rules of the game.

William Hendrie Sr., the recipient of this trophy was best known for breeding (Valley Farm) and racing thoroughbred horses. He also was involved for many years with improving the physicality of heavy draught horses using Shire and Clydesdales that he had brought in from abroad towards that end. Hendrie was the President of the Ontario Jockey Club at the time of his passing and was the first Canadian to be elected an honorary member of the English Jockey Club. His considerable wealth was the result of vast business enterprises and investments.

It was William Hendrie Jr., who first brought then Earl Stanley to Hamilton on business; the two were known to have developed a very close personal relationship. Both men, as well as two of Stanley’s sons shared a significant interest in the relatively new game of hockey that already was gaining traction in Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston.  It was the November 27, 1890 meeting at the Queen’s Hotel that led to the formation of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). When the OHA was formed it was the first association dealing with the administration and development of the sport of hockey. The attendees at this November 27th meeting included Arthur Stanley, William Hendrie Jr, and a number of athletes, barristers, and politicians* from across Ontario. Lord Stanley was considered its patron and his two sons were among the association’s first executives along with William Hendrie Jr., who also wrote the first rules and regulations of the game. 

*There is frequent mention in sources of an early hockey game (1890) involving Lord Stanley's sons, Algernon and Arthur, playing for the Rideau Rebels against a team of parliamentarians. 

While evidence from our research is circumstantial, it appears to be a reasonable assumption that the awarding of the 1891 trophy was the impetus behind a decision by William Hendrie Jr., Lord Stanley and one or both of his sons (Arthur and Algernon) that a second trophy could and should be awarded for their relatively newfound obsession, hockey. 

William Hendrie Jr. was a leading financier, had an exemplary military career, was an acknowledged sportsman and played an integral part in the management of his family's stables and the Ontario Jockey Club.

The significance of the Stanley and Hendrie families' hockey partnership is notable with the inclusion in the impossibly hard to find first edition "Classic Hamilton Hockey" card set, with photographs of Lord Stanley and William Hendrie Jr., featured side by side on the first card of the series (card #1 of 150).

To take a step back and put some context to the awarding of such equestrian trophies, there was a tradition of silver cups awarded by Vice-regal representatives in Quebec dating back to the early 19th century.  An article written by Ross Fox** ”Early Turf and Field Silver from Trois-Rivieres” discusses early equestrian pieces in Quebec. The Quebec Turf Club was the first such club in Canada, founded in 1789. Such silver cups were awarded by Lord Aylmer (Governor-in-Chief) to the Three Rivers Turf Club in honor of races in 1833, 1834 and 1835. The earliest record of such a trophy given to the QTC was in 1818 when the 4th Duke of Richmond as Governor-in Chief gifted a silver cup to the Quebec Turf Club appropriately called the Governor’s Cup. Vice regal representatives of the Crown, whether governors general, governors or lieutenant governors were often key patrons of horse racing. Richmond’s successor, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie, provided a silver cup for a sweepstakes run by the Quebec Turf Club in the spring of 1822. He provided a second cup the following year.  

**It is a small world. I first met Ross Fox in the early 1990s when he was a curator of the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College. At the time I was finishing up my research on likenesses of Jeffrey Amherst, including painted portraits and engravings. I like to think that I was the subject matter expert on Amherst at that time and still retain one of the more important documented portraits of him.  

As collectors of historical hockey memorabilia, we were quite excited to find this exceptionally important piece. This trophy measures 10 ¾” x 5” and descended through the Hendrie family.

Card #1 from the Classic Hamilton Hockey card set. Lord Stanley on the left, William Hendrie Jr. on the right.

               1888 Allen & Ginter "Racing Colors of the World" tobacco card for Wm. Hendrie

Note: The acronym GCB appearing on the trophy under the title Lord Stanley of Preston stands for Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, the highest class of the British order of chivalry founded by King George 1 in 1725.

Rare Reed & Barton Rugby Football Repose Style Silver Plate Humidor C. 1887

     Photo of the back of the humidor, which matches the front (front has a lock) and the sides. We have seen three or four of these rare humidors over a twenty-plus year period. A pretty neat piece. There are two sizes documented, this being the larger (we have never seen the smaller) and measures 6 7/8/" in width, 5 3/8" in depth and 3 1/2/" in height. 

                                                                          Side View

                                           Photo from above showing the football pull.

The two photos above show the major element of the design, which are the reverse of one another on the humidor and in the print. The second photo is the source of the design, an 1887 print of a Scotland V. England rugby football match. This same print, by 1890, distributed by a New York lithographer was now "Americanized", showing American flags in the scene, and renamed "Football". By the time of this humidor's manufacture, over one third of the two dozen designers at R&B were English or European, accounting for their design choices and sources.

An Unusual Letter With Cricket Associations 1854

 Previously having had the good fortune of acquiring two American cricket CDVs’, one of which pictures baseball’s Harry Wright (see blog posting dated March 7, 2025) I realized how little I knew of cricket, cricket’s origins and of its ties to baseball. In the last year and a half I have made a study of American and British cricket and happened across the letter which is the subject of this blog.

This ‘letter’, even with its cricket content, is more importantly a study of man’s ability to overcome life’s obstacles, no matter how great. A study in perseverance, in times that were indeed so much more difficult than today.

Richard Walker, a cricketer with no hands. At age twelve (1843) Richard Walker had an accident at Cornelius Nicholson’s Burnside Paper Mill, losing his hands between heavy rollers (Cumbria County Archives). He persevered in learning to write and draw and went further, to be able to play cricket.  

His handwritten letter reads:

“Written by Rd (Richard) Walker who lost both his hands at Burnside Paper Mill Aug 9^th 1843. Signed ‘Rd Walker, Sine Manibus (without hands) Aug 18^th 1854’. He continues, “R.W. can play at Cricket, is a very good Batsman and can Bowl very well, has occasionally partly shaved himself and has often Mowed a swaith in rank with other Mowers – and can do anything almost than anyone else can – And has taught the grammar school Haveley for 2 years. R.W.”

An unusual and thought provoking letter with sports associations.

Rare Tiffany Sterling Silver Football Themed Flask 1891/1892

 A wonderfully detailed, high relief, acid etched, Tiffany rugby football flask made in 1891/1892 for Dr. William Palmer Wesselhoeft. Wesselhoeft was a Harvard trained physician (MD in 1857) with ties to Boston University School of Medicine, where he and another four or five of his close Wesselhoeft relatives, who were also MDs, were working. This flask was presented to him before his planned world travels in 1893-1894, as inscribed on the flask. Also inscribed on the flask, translated from German “Travel around the world” and “Never full or never empty”. There are records of him in Rome and Venice and of having to abandon plans for going up the Nile in 1894.  

Interestingly, his son, William Fessenden Wesselhoeft (also a trained Harvard physician) played for the Harvard varsity football team in 1882 and 1884 according to The H Book of Harvard Athletics  and contemporary newspaper accounts. W.F. originally rowed crew but in 1882 "Harvard has taken its biggest boating men...and put them in training for the football team", and a football player he became. 

Tiffany’s craftsman, lacking familiarity with rugby football borrowed from contemporary publication’s illustrations. We have not done a serious search as yet, but should be able to identify the source of the etching on this flask. Publications such as The Century Illustrated Monthly magazine, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated New York Newspaper and Harper’s Weekly commonly had such illustrations, and would be the best place for us to start.

This flask is one of four football related flasks in our collection, and the second made by Tiffany (see post dated September 28, 2014). Also see posts dated November 6, 2022 (Walter Camp's personal flask) and June 15, 2015 (association football flask).