Halsted's Patented Exercising Chair 1844

The first patent for a true “exercising machine” was issued on March 13, 1844 to Oliver Halsted of New York; Specification of Letters Patent No. 3,480, “Machine For Producing Exercise”.

 

 

This chair’s significance lies in it’s being the earliest documented and manufactured piece of American exercising equipment. An extreme rarity, we know of only this example. The chair is stamped twice on the underside with “Halsted’s Patent  New York”. Period advertisements in the New York Herald and New York Evening Post ran sporadically for this chair in 1844 and 1845. No advertisements or information post 1845 can be located and sales of the exercising chairs must have been extremely limited.

The “ purpose for which it is designed, a substitute for carriage, horse and many other forms of gymnastic exercise” …"an admirable substitute for horseback exercise , which its motion most resembles. It has however, the additional advantage of giving active exercise to the arms and chest.”  There are also numerous recommendations from physicians  on its benefits to dyspeptics, primarily those with irritable dispositions or digestive issues, as well.

 

 

 

             Moving the levers slightly raises and lowers the seat, exercising primarily the arms and chest,  body weight providing the resistance.

1920s Football Kicking Shoes

 

We have a pretty good selection of football shoes but had a hole in the collection, never having picked up any kicking shoes. We found this pair at Brimfield. They are earlier than most (figuring likely 1920s due to the construction) and are unusual in that they are for a left footed kicker. They are labeled "Golden" (Golden Sporting Shoe Co., Brockton, Mass.) and are just over 12" in length.

A Meeting at Brimfield May 10, 2016

From left to right, Dan Hauser, up from North Carolina, Joe Lurie and Ed Turner, down from Maine. Meeting on the field at the Brimfield Fair on Tuesday. Great to have met up with these guys. As expected, saw a lot of interesting pieces.

A Great Get-Together April 29, 2016

From L to R: John Gennantonio, Ed Turner, Joe Lurie and Jacob Lurie

What a great day. We spent the day delving into two of our football collections, swapping stories and looking over some pretty special pieces, driving back and forth between Maine and Massachusetts. John even flew in from Cincinnati, and Jacob in from New York City.

Phillips Exeter Football Team w/ McClung , Rhodes and Morison c.1886 and Phillips Andover Football Team c.1886

Oversized albumin of the Phillips Exeter football team. Exeter was a feeder school for Yale and pictured are several notable players that went on to star for the University. Of particular interest are Thomas Lee McClung, William Castle Rhodes and Sanford Newel Morison.

 

 A young Thomas "Bum" McClung, mentioned a number of times previously in this blog.
McClung was a two time All-American at Yale, class of 1892 and played football in '88,'89,'90 and '91, captaining the team in his last year. He is generally considered one of the top twenty players of the 19th century. He coached football at the University of California in 1892 and went on to become the Treasurer of the United States.

 

William Rhodes, Yale class of 1891 played for Yale in '87,'88,'89 and 1890, captaining the team in 1890. Rhodes was also an All-American. After graduation he played for the Cleveland Athletic Club and then returned to Yale to coach the football team in 1893 and 1894.

 

 

Sanford Morison followed up his time at Exeter also playing for Yale, in '89,'90 and '91

 

 

A good shot of the ball

 

 

Oversized albumin of the Phillips Andover Academy football team and chief rivals of those portrayed in the preceding Exeter team photographs.  See also blog entries for Aug 4, 2014 and Aug 13, 2015.

 

Pratt Gym Indian Clubs c.1880s

 

We very rarely pick up Indian Clubs, a popular form of exercise in the US starting in the 1860s and dying out in popularity in the 1920s. We did however pick up this pair as they were marked (other than manufacturer), which is very unusual, and related to an earlier posting on this blog.

The pictured pair of clubs, standing 21” in height are stamped “PRATT GYM”. If you refer back to our blog entry of August 17, 2013, The Beginnings of Amherst Football , you will note that Amherst College’s first donated building from an alumni was Pratt Gym, erected in 1883, donated by Charles Millard Pratt.  Pratt, class of ’79 was a member of the 79 Eleven in 1878. This association made adding these clubs to our collection an easy decision.

 

 

1892 New York Recorder Football Supplements

Picturing members of the three predominant football teams in 1892, these “souvenir” supplements are considered to be the first set of colored newspaper supplements ever issued (preceding the 1893 colored supplements of the World newspaper), and are likely the second set of collectable football ephemera (supplements/cards/inserts) after the 1888 Goodwin Champions series. These football supplements are harder to come by than either the Goodwin’s or the 1894 Mayo’s (portraying players from 1893), and to date have generally, but not always been more affordable when you do find them than the average Mayo card.

These supplements are part of a series that included not only football but other sports teams and high profile celebrities and subjects of the day (these are the only football related supplements) and were included with the New York Recorder, a newspaper that appears to have existed from 1891 until 1896.

Football news coverage came of age in the mid to late 1890s, resulting in large part from competition between NY newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst (NY Journal) and Joseph Pulitzer (World) as well as the Sun and the New York Herald. An example of the fierce competitive environment that developed at this time was Pulitzer paying Richard Harding Davis (blog entry Nov 21, 2013) the unimaginable sum of $500 to cover the 1895 Princeton – Yale football game for his paper.

Some of the more prominent players pictured in the team photo supplements are for Yale,

Mayo subjects Hinkey and Hickok. Also pictured is Captain Vance McCormick.

The Harvard supplement includes William Henry Lewis (blog entry Aug 10, 2015), and Everett Lake (blog entry Nov 5, 2013) and the Princeton supplement includes Mayo subjects Langdon Lea (blog entry Sept 14, 2013), Thomas Trenchard (blog entry July 7, 2013), Art Wheeler and Augustus Holly as well as notable football personalities Johnny Poe and Captain Phil King. 

Supplements measure between 8 ¾” to 9” in width by 6 3/8” in height.