Lloyd A. Strickland Collection of 1936 Olympics Souvenir Materials
name: label: Creator
content: McDermott, Joyce
label: Creator
content: Strickland, Lloyd A.
label: Names
content: Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945
place: label: Place
content: Berlin (Germany)
label: Place
content: Germany
topic: label: Topic
content: Track and field
label: Topic
content: Olympics
label: Topic
content: Athletes
label: Topic
content: Sports cards
label: Topic
content: Sports -- Collectibles
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was donated to the Archives Center, by Lloyd A. Strickland in 2000.
creator: label: Creator
content: McDermott, Joyce
label: Creator
content: Strickland, Lloyd A.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Lloyd A. Strickland Collection of 1936 Olympics Souvenir Materials
abstract: label: Summary
content: Lloyd A. Strickland purchased these souvenir cards while attending the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, Germany.
accruals: label: Accruals
content: Additional materials were donated by Joyce McDermott on February 14, 2003 consisting of two volumes relating to the 1936 Olympics:  Die Olympischen Spiele 1936 in Berlin und Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: In 1931 the city of Berlin was awarded the summer Olympic games for 1936. The 1936 games (the 11 th Olympiad) featured athletes from 49 countries and some 4,000 athletes participated in 148 events. The games were memorable for many reasons, including the beginning of the tradition of the torch relay, advances in media coverage, and the introduction of canoeing and basketball as Olympic sports. But in particular, they are remembered for the politically charged atmosphere in which they took place, with World War II in Europe just three years away. With Adolf Hitler's election in 1933 and the Nazi Party's rise to power, the games were seen by those in power in Germany as a means to advance the Party's ideologies. As events unfolded and information spread about the persecution of Jews and others by the Nazis, there were more and more demands upon the International Olympic Committee to remove the games from Germany. These efforts did not succeed, and the German government went on to spend huge amounts of money to make the games successful. The Reich Sports Field, a new sports complex built for the summer games, was draped in Nazi regalia for the games. The success of a number of black athletes, notably American track and field star Jesse Owens, was a blow to the notions of "Aryan supremacy" touted by Hitler and the Nazis. The games proceeded to their conclusion without incident. The souvenir cards in this collection provide a cross-section of images of the games of the 11 th Olympiad.

Mr. Strickland had the souvenir cards in his possession for over 60 years.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Cubic feet (2 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1936
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0743
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Books
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Collecting cards
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is organized into two series.

Series 1, Olympics Souvenir Cards, 1936

Series 2, Olympics Souvenir Albums, 1936
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Cathy Keen, archivist, and Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archives technician, March 2002; supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist. Finding aid revised, June 2008.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Books -- 1930-1940
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Reproductions -- 1930-1940
label: Genre/Form
content: Collecting cards
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection consists of 149 photomechanical reproductions of scenes and events from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The scenes are not only of the competition, but include opening and closing ceremonies, officials, crowd scenes, candid shots of the athletes while not competing, medal ceremonies, scoreboards, artworks, and close-ups of Olympic medals. Adolf Hitler appears in three of the souvenir cards. Athletes are pictured on the cards with printed captions. Some of the athletes pictured include Jesse Owens, and Kitei Son [i.e., Son Gi-jeong of Korea]. *

All but seven of the souvenir cards are 3 x 4-1/ 2", while the remainder are 4-1/ 2 x 6-1/ 2". The souvenir cards are part of a set, as they are numbered on the reverse up to the number 200 (not all numbers are present). The printed inscriptions on the reverse sides indicate that this is a follow-up set to another set from the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch. Each card also has a printed caption on the reverse, in German. Also included are two postcards of hotels: Hotel Bender and Niederbreisig, which have no clear connection to the Berlin Olympics.

The two albums, Die Olympischen Spiele 1936 in Berlin und Garmisch-Partenkirchen document the Olympic games through text and photographs of events and athletes. Both albums are in German.

* Note: When Korea was occupied by Japan (1910-1945), Son Gi-jeong competed for the Japanese in the 1936 summer Olympics, but was forced to use the Japanese name "Kitei Son," and this incorrect name was the one printed on the card.