Nissen Scoremaster "Cadet" Scoreboard

Object Details

Description (Brief): One of the first known reports of a scoreboard in use came in 1895 at a Harvard football game. The scores consisted of numbers on a piece of wood, hung on a nail and changed manually by a person watching the game. These types of scoreboards were prevalent during the 1920s and 1930s with the addition of clocks and an occasional advertisement. One of the first basketball scoreboards appeared in 1934 with a clock in the center and two nails on either side for hanging the score. Electronic scoreboards began appearing in the 1950s and often included multiple cable wires that connected the scoreboard to the scorer's table or press box. This scoreboard was used in the gym at North Canton Junior High School on Charlotte Street in North Canton, Ohio from the 1960s to the early 1990s and consists of the main scoreboard and a control box that sat on the scorer’s table and was attached to the scoreboard with cables. Light bulbs which were covered with colored plastic discs provided different colors for score and time. As technology improved this scoreboard was eventually replaced with a computer driven one which was controlled with wireless technology.

Physical Description: plastic (overall material); metal (overall material); glass (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 53 in x 72 in x 5 in; 134.62 cm x 182.88 cm x 12.7 cm; overall: 54 in x 72 in x 6 in; 137.16 cm x 182.88 cm x 15.24 cm

See more items in: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure; Highlights from the Culture and the Arts Collection
Exhibition: Change Your Game
Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ac-c9dd-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa