Women's Cycling Suit, 1890-1900. THF 13335

When a woman today prepares to go for a spin on a bicycle on a beautiful day, she might pull on jeans, shorts or even cycling shorts and a t-shirt. Women cyclists don’t think twice about this casual clothing combination—it’s comfortable and practical. Never mind that the outfit appears very much like a man’s, and that’s just fine.

Ferris “Good Sense” corset advertisement, Ladies Home Journal, June 1897. THF 133356

However, this was hardly true a century ago, when cycling became widely popular in America. While both men and women enjoyed the sport, women found it particularly liberating (no chaperone was required) and invigorating (exercise and the looser corsets worn for cycling allowed their lungs to expand). Yet female bicyclists had a real dilemma. What in the world should they wear on the “silent steed?”


This young woman shows off her bicycle and bloomer outfit in this photograph taken in Brooklyn, New York about 1895. THF 203404


In this photograph taken about 1890, Cyclist Margaret Kirkwood wears a more modest bicycling outfit. Long skirts like these rather easily became entangled in the bicycle chain. THF 203414


This fashionable and expensive linen skirt, dating from the late 1890s, is divided into two wide leg sections. THF 29559

When the bicycling craze first began about 1890, most American women preferred long skirts. After all, real ladies—modest and upstanding—wore long skirts. However, these cyclists soon found that such long skirts got tangled in chains and sent their wearers hurtling to the ground. Those who thumbed their nose at conventional dress donned divided skirts or, even more extreme, short bloomers that cinched below the knee. While such an outfit seems quite modest today, over 100 years ago most Americans believed that if a woman dressed like a man and wore such masculine “trousers,” she risked becoming man-like and unfeminine. Bystanders might jeer at female cyclists dressed in bloomers. Fathers, brothers or beaux could not fathom that the women they loved would be so daring.

Brave female cyclists ignored the criticism and insisted on wearing these bloomers and divided skirts for safety and comfort. As more and more women found the outfit to be safe as well as rather attractive, the fashion began to catch on.

By the early 1900s, American men realized that women who wore such sporty, “masculine” outfits really were just the same old gals they had known all along. In fact, bloomers became rather popular for all sorts of sports, from canoeing to gymnastics to croquet. The "New American Girl" of the early 20th century actually became associated with sporty clothing—she was beautiful, fit due to exercise, and had some university schooling. But it had taken some perseverance to push through the prejudices about appropriate clothing for the new, more active American woman.

The move toward more rational clothing, designed to be appropriate to an activity, was part of the vast change in opportunities for women during this time.

As Demorest’s Monthly Magazine had proclaimed back in October 1882, “…there is a vast amount of real work for every woman to attend to, and her dress must have some reference to it.”

This post originally ran as part of our Pic of the Month series and was authored by Former Curator Nancy E.V. Bryk.

fashion, by Nancy E.V. Bryk, sports, bicycles, women's history

 

If you've visited Ford Field to see a Detroit Lions game, chances are you've see a neon sign that now hangs over the Pro Shop. And if you've visited Henry Ford Museum to explore Gridiron Glory: The Best of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, chances are you've seen that same sign here, this time a replica that looks like a lot like the original.

We had a chance to talk with our partners over at the Detroit Lions to learn a little bit more about this familiar sign.

The sign was created in 1963 when Mr. William Clay Ford, Sr. bought the club and was hung in the Detroit Lions Headquarters. The logo on the sign came from a patch that was worn on the team’s blue blazers that they would wear when travelling.

The Lions organization, along with the neon Lions sign, then moved to the Silverdome in 1975.

When the organization moved to Ford Field in 2002, the sign was left at the Silverdome. Ford Field Director of Sports Events Danny Jaroshewich brought it to Lions President Tom Lewand’s attention that the sign was left and suggested that it be brought to the new offices at Ford Field. The sign was sent to be refurbished before being placed above the Pro Shop, where it is still currently hung.

Lish Dorset is Social Media Manager at The Henry Ford

lighting, sports, Michigan, Henry Ford Museum, football, Detroit, by Lish Dorset

During the launch of Gridiron Glory: The Best of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, former Detroit Lion Barry Sanders toured the exhibit and received a special tour of the exhibit's highlights. Take a look at Barry's visit and hear what he has to say about this exhibit, on display at Henry Ford Museum through January 4, 2015.

Lish Dorset is Social Media Manager at The Henry Ford.

by Lish Dorset, sports, African American history, events, Michigan, Detroit, football

After a sultry summer, all of a sudden the air turns chilly and crisp.  The sunlight is somehow brighter and more intense.  The days get shorter.  The leaves start turning their riotous colors. When I was growing up, this was the time my brothers would stash away their baseball gloves and start tossing around the football.

Football Season had arrived.

American football got its start as a college sport.  In fact, virtually all the rules, playing strategies, player equipment, and methods of scoring that today we consider part of American football evolved during its early college years.

American football probably originated in England and it came to this country in two separate versions.  The first version, which involved more kicking, eventually became the game we know as soccer.  The second version, which involved more carrying and running with the ball, was akin to the British game of rugby.  Continue Reading

20th century, 19th century, sports, football, by Donna R. Braden

Earlier this week we shared another set of items that were recently digitized for our online collections: football artifacts to supplement our latest traveling exhibit, Gridiron Glory: The Best of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of those items is Edsel Ford’s 1934 season pass to home games of the Detroit Lions, which is actually on display inside the exhibit. In the picture of the pass you'll see that "Cancelled" is written in one of the top corners. After we shared the photo on Twitter yesterday Dave Birkett sent us this Tweet:

Anyone have any idea why "cancelled" would be written on that pass? @thehenryford

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) October 1, 2014

 

The explanation wasn't included in the online narrative for the pass and actually had several of us scratching our own heads - why was the pass cancelled?  Thanks to Brian Wilson, Digital Processing Archivist at The Henry Ford, we found the answer. Here's Brian's report as he took a trip to our archives. - Lish Dorset Social Media Manager, The Henry Ford. Continue Reading

20th century, 1930s, sports, research, Michigan, Ford family, football, Edsel Ford, Detroit, by Lish Dorset, by Brian Wilson

On Friday, a new traveling exhibition will open at The Henry Ford—Gridiron Glory: The Best of the Pro Hall of Fame.  As an online supplement to the exhibit, we have digitized selections from our collections related to football, including photos of football playing students from the Edison Institute Schools as well as Henry Ford Trade School; Mercury advertising photographs with a football theme; and assorted other items.  One hidden gem that we uncovered during this project is Edsel Ford’s 1934 season pass to home games of the Detroit Lions, which will be on display along with the exhibition.  Check out all of our digitized football collections in our Digital Collections, then come visit Gridiron Glory in Henry Ford Museum.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections and Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

Henry Ford Museum, digital collections, football, sports, by Ellice Engdahl

In the classic baseball movie, The Natural, one of Roy Hobbs’ (played by Robert Redford) most memorable lines comes as he is sitting in a hospital bed, realizing that his final game is just days away.

“God, I love baseball,” Hobbs declares softly with a tilt of his head and a sincere look in his eyes that tells you how much he really means it. Watching that scene, you know Hobbs doesn’t care about the money that can be made playing baseball. He only cares about the pure joy of playing.

Well, Roy Hobbs would certainly fit right in with those who play Historic Base Ball at Greenfield Village. Continue Reading

Greenfield Village, events, by Kevin Kennedy, sports, baseball, Historic Base Ball

The “Boys of Summer” will soon take the field for another season of historic base ball in Greenfield Village (and yes, base ball is two words here - in the time period we represent, base ball was spelled with two words unlike today). This Saturday is the home opener (the Lah-De-Dahs are hosting the Wyandotte Stars Base Ball Club) and marks the 20th season of the historic base ball program at The Henry Ford.

The program began on a very small scale in 1993 with a hand full of employees volunteering to make up a club of nine. The idea and concept of a historic base ball program came while researching the J.R. Jones General Store in Greenfield Village. In the early 1990s, the J.R. Jones General Store received a major re-installation, overhaul of maintenance and repair needs, as well as new and updated presentation priorities. While searching through the Waterford, Mich., area newspapers, where the General Store originated, references were made to the Lah-De-Dahs base ball club from the area.

The first season of the re-created Lah-De-Dahs saw the club wearing reproduced white base ball shirts with a red script “L.” Players wore nondescript white painter’s pants as the period clothing department made matching knickers style bottoms. Little is known about the uniform of the Lah-De-Dahs, but a small color clue was provided in the Pontiac Bill Poster newspaper on Sept. 14, 1887:

As the contest went on, slowly but surely dawned upon the minds of all the truth that a fine uniform does not constitute a fine pitcher, nor La-de-dahs in their mammas’ red stockings make swift, unerring fielders.

Only a few matches were played that first season with an amalgamation of rules from various “understandings” at the time. A couple of matches played in one of the Firestone Farm’s harvested wheat field wherein the Lah-De-Dahs club played the Firestone Farm hands before whatever crowd gathered along the farm lane. A couple other games were played on the Activities Field (Walnut Grove) with outside clubs coming in to play.

Over the course of the next two seasons, complete reproduction uniforms were hand made for 25 players that made up the Lah-De-Dah roster. By 2002, the home schedule consisted of no more than a dozen games, playing only on select Saturdays throughout the summer. Games were only scheduled when visiting opponents could be recruited to make the trip to Dearborn. The addition of the Dodworth Saxhorn Band on a few of those dates combined with the wonderful pastoral setting of Walnut Grove made for some very memorable experiences.

The popularity of the historic base ball program increased with Greenfield Village visitors each year. The request for a more consistent base ball schedule with more games also intensified as an emerging Lah-De-Dahs fan-base grew.

The colossal Greenfield Village restoration in 2003 heightened the stakes of programming and the historic base ball program stepped up to the plate so to speak. Mr. and Mrs. Edsel Ford provided financial support that made it possible to plan and deliver an entire summer of base ball. The Henry Ford was able to expand the program in three areas; daily offerings of period base ball, the formal nine inning game played by the rules of 1867 on both Saturday and Sunday every weekend of summer season, and the development and expansion of the World Tournament of Historic Base Ball, based on the original and first-ever World Tournament of Base Ball hosted by the Detroit Base Ball Club that took place in Detroit in August of 1867.

With the start of the 2004 season, the 12-game schedule was expanded to 30 games. In order to insure an opponent for the now beloved Lah-De-Dahs, a new Greenfield Village club was created. A simple name was chosen from among those who had originally played in the tournament in Detroit, the National Base Ball Club. Striking dark-blue-and-gold shield front uniforms were purchased along with a new set of the familiar red-and-white uniforms of the Lah-De-Dahs. The roster was also expanded to 42 players.

Greenfield Village’s daily program now includes Town Ball or Massachusetts Rules. This important program element allows Greenfield Village the capacity to offer a base ball experience on weekdays in the summer season. The chaotic rules of the early version of base ball, the soft ball, and minimal equipment needs made this a perfect choice for a game to be played on the Village Green. A dedicated staff now teaches and plays Town Ball with families throughout the day on weekdays all summer long.

Other key investments include a uniquely designed sound system on the primary base ball field, Walnut Grove. The system, installed on the outside of several strategically placed permanent garbage cans, allows the umpire and scorekeeper, by way of invisible cordless microphones, to present essentially a 19th century version of a play-by-play account of the game. The specially trained core of umpires and scorekeepers now are able to combine theatrical and interpretive techniques in the calling of each game. The play-by-play, live music and unpredictable nature of gloveless play makes for a very entertaining afternoon.

To further enhance our guests’ experiences, food opportunities were added to the field using contextual temporary structures in keeping with the rural/pastoral feel of the field. A huge hit with the visitors and fans has been the introduction of historically inspired base ball trading cards of the volunteer players. Throughout the entire game day, fans of all ages, but especially children, approach the historic base ball players wanting autographs on their base ball cards and/or programs.

With The Henry Ford’s collecting initiatives, we have been able to secure several baseball related artifacts. Prized among the collections is an original copy of Haney’s Base Ball Book of Reference for 1867 by Henry Chadwick and the gold mounted rosewood bat won by the Unknowns Base Ball Club of Jackson, Mich., in the first and original World’s Tournament of Base Ball in 1867. Haney' book of reference is the rules by which our clubs play and is now reproduced and sold in our stores.

Although Greenfield Village now has two official clubs, the Lah-De-Dahs and the Nationals, many veteran staff and visitors associate the Lah-De-Dahs as the “home” club of The Henry Ford. With great matches, excellent sportsmanship and many close games going to either club, the fan base has evolved to embrace both clubs with equal partisanship.

The base ball clubs of Greenfield Village play every Saturday and Sunday from June 8 to Aug. 18, with the World Tournament of Historic Base Ball Aug.10-11. As an American innovation, base ball is touchstone to our past, present and the future. With this program we represent a time prior to professional players when amateurs played for recreation and innocent amusement. For the love of the game - HUZZAH!

Brian James Egen is Executive Producer at The Henry Ford

events, 21st century, 20th century, #Behind The Scenes @ The Henry Ford, sports, Michigan, Historic Base Ball, Greenfield Village, by Brian James Egen, baseball

“Hip, Hip, Huzzah” echoed through the village with the annual World Tournament of Historic Base Ball. It was 1867 all over again as underhand pitches fairly met strikers at the plate, and gloveless fielders caught brown leather-covered balls.

The Saginaw Old Golds took home the trophy by winning the championship matchup, 33-12, over the strong-hitting Columbus Capitals. The annual tournament features Historic Base Ball played by the rules of 1867 as set down in Haney’s Base Ball Book of Reference. That same year, Detroit hosted 24 clubs in the World’s Base Ball Tournament.

Sixteen ball clubs from Michigan, Ohio and Indiana took turns in the field and with the bat in what proved to be an exciting two full days of base ball.

Above photo, left, by Scott Callejah

Since the balls are rubber that is wrapped in yarn and covered with leather, Saturday’s rain added some weight and some challenges. But the rain didn’t dampen the fun, as one player noted, “We were all playing with the same ball.” As much as the tournament is about base ball, it is about fun.

As well as team and player awards – a special award went to a dedicated fan, and the future of Historic Base Ball was recognized with cheers.

Award-winning teams and individuals take home trophies made in Greenfield Village’s Pottery Shop.

Although they didn’t receive trophies, the Welkin and the Bonneyville Millers clubs didn’t go home empty handed. The two teams each were presented a bag of peanuts: The same prize awarded in 1867 for the team with the least number of tournament wins.

By most accounts, this was the largest crowd to gather for the World Tournament of Historic Base Ball championship event. It’s the tournament’s 10th year at Greenfield Village.

It was competitive but gentlemanly play, and it was hard to find a player (or fan) who wasn’t smiling.

21st century, sports, Michigan, Historic Base Ball, Greenfield Village, events, baseball

A year and a half after the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I found myself in an all-things-Canada souvenir shop in Toronto, which felt more like an Olympics pop-up shop. It didn’t matter that the Winter Games had come and gone – Canada was still very proud of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and wanted to make sure you were, too, by still offering hooded sweatshirts, colorful scarves, and those popular maple leaf mittens, all embroidered with the 2010 logo.

Halfway through the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, I’m here in metro Detroit wishing I had access to some of the Union Jack souvenirs attendees can be seen wearing on TV. According to this story in the Guardian, there’s definitely no lack of enthusiasm, and variety, for souvenirs this time around. Whether you’re lucky enough to attend the Olympics in person or are on the hunt for a must-have gift for your family back at home, Olympics souvenirs reflect exciting times in sports history.

Here in The Henry Ford’s collections, this lapel ribbon from the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley was a welcomed souvenir for one lucky attendee as the Olympics returned to the United States for the first time since before World War II. Featuring a jumping ice skater and patriotic ribbons, you can almost picture hundreds of these badges proudly pinned to the coats of spectators as they watched their favorite athletes compete.

Which souvenirs do you think will become the most sought after for the 2012 Summer Games? Rebecca Bizonet, an archivist here at the Benson Ford Research Center, keeps this eraser (below) from the 2004 Summer Games in Athens on her desk as a small, but meaningful, reminder of the Olympics. Do you think any souvenirs from the London games will be in a museum some day?

20th century, 1960s, 2000s, California, Europe, Canada, 21st century, 2010s, sports