Object Details
- Weber, Thomas E.
- Wilson Sporting Goods Company
- Description
- A basketball is defined as “an inflated spherical ball used in the game of basketball.” Most basketballs have an inflatable, inner, rubber bladder, are wrapped in layers of fibers, and then are covered with leather, rubber, or a synthetic composite. The surface of a standard 29.5 inch ball is divided by “ribs” and contains approximately 4,118 pebbles, at a diameter of 2.5 millimeters each. The traditional basketball is orange with black ribs although the balls come in a variety of colors. The Wilson Sporting Goods Company began producing basketballs early in its history, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that the Wilson ball was chosen as the official basketball of the National Basketball Association, cementing its place in sports history. The ball shown here was used by the donor, Thomas Weber, during the early 1970s in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Thomas E. Weber
- 1974
- associated dates
- 1976
- 1974-1976
- ID Number
- 1980.0682.01
- catalog number
- 1980.0682.01
- accession number
- 1980.0682
- Object Name
- ball
- basketball
- Physical Description
- synthetic rubber (overall material)
- orange (overall color)
- black (overall color)
- Measurements
- overall: 10 in; x 25.4 cm
- associated place
- United States: Virginia
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
- Artifact Walls exhibit
- National Museum of American History
- subject
- Basketball
- recreational
- Sports
- Record ID
- nmah_1065226
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-07dd-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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