Water Polo Ball
date: label: date made
content: 1979
name: label: maker
content: AMF Voit
notes: label: Description
content: Founded in 1922, the Voit Corporation is one of the oldest sporting goods companies in the world. It is responsible for many patents, including the “first full molded, all-rubber inflatable ball.” In 1936, James R. Smith, in collaboration with AMF Voit, invented a rubber ball with a cotton bladder. At this time, the color of the ball changed from red to yellow. Folklore says that the most available rubber material used for the new balls was made from yellow life vests, but most agree that it was changed because yellow was more visible. In the 1950s and 1960s the Voit Company developed the first rubber-bodied water polo ball which was adopted as the official ball for college, international, and Olympic competitions. This ball was used by the San Jose State University men’s water polo team in the late 1970s.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: level of sport
content: College
label: name of sport
content: Water Polo
label: web subject
content: Sports
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
label: See more items in
content: Artifact Walls exhibit
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Charles Lynn Walker
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1980.0451.01
label: accession number
content: 1980.0451
label: catalog number
content: 1980.0451.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ball
label: Object Name
content: ball, water polo
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 in; x 35.56 cm