Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last collection of sports and leisure prints and ephemera contains about 1,770 printed materials related to the history and advertising of athletics, recreational activities, pyrotechnics, gambling, and games in the United States. The materials date from approximately 1758 to approximately 1938, although the bulk of the items date from the mid-19th to early-20th centuries. The collection consists of about 67 large-sized items, and over 1,000 smaller-sized items, including paper dolls, playing cards, trade cards, puzzle cards, dime novels, and promotional billheads and letterheads. Images on the materials range from scenes of indoor pastimes such as billiard and board games, to outdoor sports and activities like roller skating and horse racing. Some materials also include advertisements for fireworks and other pyrotechnic products, largely promoted for Fourth of July celebrations. The collection also consists of many broadsides announcing lottery and charity drawings that took place in Delaware, Maryland, Louisiana, Wyoming, Kansas, and other parts of the United States. Many of the drawings were organized by reputed swindlers at the time, like J.M. (James Monroe) Pattee and L.D. Sine. Some of the drawings organized by the Louisiana State Lottery Company were also officiated by former Confederate generals G. T. (Gustave Toutant) Beauregard and Jubal Anderson Early. In addition to sport materials, this collection also consists of items relating to toys and novelties. Items range from paper cut-out templates, to playing cards, holiday toy listings by retailers, and toy advertisements by manufacturers such as the Milton Bradley Company and the McLoughlin Bros. A significant portion of this collection includes paper dolls with fashion accessories, published either as promotional product advertisements by companies, as art supplements by newspapers, or as toys retailed to consumers.
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