ESCO Boxing Exhibit Cards Collection
Scope and Contents
This collection includes more than 300 exhibit cards featuring images of boxers. Cards are the size of postcards. The fronts of most cards contain an image of a boxer with his name and sometimes other information like hometown, nicknames, etc. The backs of cards from the 1920s often contain short bios and/or selected match results, and many have a postcard back for mailing. Some of the cards from the 1920s are tinted in different colors. Many cards, especially those printed after 1928, contain no information about the year of publication and have blank backs. Formats include boxing cards, collecting cards, and photographic postcards.
Dates
- Creation: 1921-1960s
Creator
- Exhibit Supply Company (Chicago, Ill.) (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Biographical / Historical
The Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago (ESCO) manufactured collectible cardboard cards featuring many different types of images. ESCO also manufactured the mechanical coin-operated vending machines that sold the cards to customers. The cards were frequently nicknamed “arcade cards,” because of the prevalence of these machines in arcades. ESCO printed its first collectible postcards in the early twentieth century and became one of the largest publishers and distributors of exhibit cards. The cards covered many topics, and, in 1921, ESCO printed its first sports-themed cards. Over the years, ESCO’s sports cards mostly focused on baseball and boxing. ESCO continued publishing boxing and sports-themed cards into the 1960s.
Extent
.75 Cubic Feet (1 document case (letter size); 1 half document case (letter size))
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically when dates known.
Bibliography
Genre / Form
Occupation
Topical
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- 2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Notre Dame Rare Books & Special Collections Repository