Tag: 1891

Homer W. Crawford

Posted on Friday, July 27th, 2018 by John Wood
On April 3, 1890, at the G.A.R. Hall in New Lisbon, Ohio, Homer W. Crawford broke the world’s record for endurance Indian club swinging by swinging a pair of 8 pound ten ouce clubs for six hours and thirty one minutes. This record was broken on January 1, 1891 by Edward W. Brown of Bath, Maine who swung a pair of 9 pound 8 ounce clubs for six hours, forty one minutes, and ten seconds (averaging sixty five full swings per minute).

Crawford regained his record on March 12, 1891 by swinging a pair of ten pound clubs for a full seven hours while averaging seventy full swinger per minute. Crawford was also an accomplished dumbbell lifter and bicycle racer. He stood 5ft 8in and weighed 149 pounds.

The 1891 Bowdoin College Tug Of War Team

Posted on Friday, March 18th, 2016 by John Wood

This hardy looking bunch is the 1891 Bowdoin College Tug of War Team: Top row, left to right: John Roberts Horne Jr. ’91 (Anchor); J. P. Cilley, Jr., ’91; G. C. Mahoney, ’91; and G. B. Sears, ’90. (The manager H.H. Hastings; (’90) was not pictured.) They were undefeated that season, beating Colby College (at Waterville) by four inches and Bates College (at Bowdoin) by sixteen inches.
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Author: John Wood. All contents, including images and text, copyright © 2005-2021 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc. Not to be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved. We will most likely grant permission but please contact us if you would like to repost. IMPORTANT: Equipment and books, courses etc. pictured in blog posts are generally not available for sale unless specifically noted.

The Springfield College Gymnasium

Posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 by John Wood

What’s notable about this particular old gym?  Look close and you’ll see a rack of Indian clubs, some light barbells and some other vintage gymnastic equipment which makes it pretty nifty insofar as oldtime training gear goes but there is another reason that this gym stands out… It was at this gym, at the School for Christian Workers at Springfield College in December of 1891, where the first game of organized basketball took place. James Naismith, under orders from Springfield’s physical education director Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick, was to develop a vigorous indoor game which could keep the students in shape during the winter months. The baskets — actual peach baskets — were nailed to the lower rail of the balcony, which happened to be exactly 10 feet from the floor… and the rest is history.

This picture was taken around 1887, so a few years before all the hubbub started.