Steelers Collection

In this episode, we talk with Vintage Football Collector Derek Crawford about his amazing Pittsburgh Professional Football Memorabilia collection that includes Steelers items from every season, including Art Rooney teams prior to the 1933 Pirates of the NFL.

Derek Crawford grew up in the Pittsburgh area, and like most other kids that grew up in the 1970s in Western Pennsylvania, was swept into the frenzy of Super Steelers Mania. Derek kept the passion for his team throughout his teenage years and beyond. At some point after some childhood Topps Football Card collecting the bug for having memorabilia of the Pittsburgh area gridiron grew. At the time of this writing Derek has an extensive collection that spans from some well curated pigskin media of the 19th-Century including some Harper's Weekly articles and graphics, to modern day bobble-heads, pennants, autographed footballs and more. Derek not only collects the pieces but the stories and the football history behind them.

We are focussing in this edition mainly on his Steelers collection especially some pieces that pre-date Art Rooney Sr.'s football involvement with an NFL franchise. We know that Mr. Rooney started the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 9, 1933 for the sum of $2500, later to be rebranded as the Steelers in 1940. What many might not realize is that Rooney was involved with managing, owning and even playing in some cases on some sandlot and semi-professional teams in Pittsburgh before that.

Here is some more info on some of them...

Hope Harvey Team

The Hope Harvey Football Club was the first sports team managed by legendary Art J. Rooney. This team is reportedly the only time that all of the Rooney brothers, Dan, Art, Jim, and Vince played together on a single unit. This squad was one of the best-known sandlot football clubs of the 1920s.

The team was known, in its day, as one of the toughest teams to defeat in Pittsburgh. The Hope Harvey Football Club was coached and managed by Art J. Rooney as he was the team's quarterback alongside his younger brothers, Dan and Jim Rooney. The younger Rooney boys, Vince, served as a ball boy.

This marks the beginning of Art J. Rooney's long-standing career in football. Before football, Art was a star baseball player and boxer. His appearance on the Hope Harvey Club made him one of the biggest stars in sandlot football, as the Hope Harvey era stands as the only period when he managed, coached, and played on a team.

The team name and its origins are fascinating. The team's center of operation and locker room was housed in Pittsburgh's Hope Fire House, in the heart of the Northside. A local physician Dr. Harvey,, was the sponsor and unofficial team doctor who would 'patch" the fellas up after their hard-fought contests. The team's uniforms were handmade by the players or members of their families as each one was sewn uniquely.

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Majestic Radios Football Team

A semi-pro gridiron squad based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team was founded by Art Rooney, who is best known for being the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.

After a few years of playing as the Hope-Harvey eleven which included Art Rooney and his brothers on the roster, the team was sponsored by "Loeffler's Electronic Store", who renamed the team after one of its best-selling products, the Majestic Radio. Hence the team became known as the Majestic Radios. The team's affiliation with Loeffler's ended prior to the team's 1931 season. It was then they became the J.P. Rooneys, paying tribute to the candidacy of James Rooney, brother of Art, who was grinning for political office.

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Art Rooney Sr ‣ Steelers Origin

The story of Art Rooney Sr. is synonymous with the origin and early history of the franchise he founded, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers origin story

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One area of interest that Mr. Crawford loves to place in his collection are pins of the Steelers throughout the years. It is like looking at a time line of Steelers logo and marketing history....

Derek tells us of his passion for team pennants too. Here are a few, including his prize 1944 season pennant representing the merged Steelers and Cardinals squad during the War. We have aquainted Derek with famed historian and collector Joe Ziemba to hopefull gain more information on this piece.

Some of the most rare items Derek has brought into the fold are the early years of football in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Very cool items indeed that tell about an incredible era of football history.

We are so very appreciative that our guest Derek Crawford not only shared his time and knowledge of his collected pieces that tell football history , but that he also shared and allowed us to post the images above from his fantastic collection.

If you have a FOotball Collection or a Piece of Memorabilia, you WOuld like to discuss or maybe would like more information on the Vintage Football Collectors Forum (VFC) email us at PigskinDispatch@gmail.com and we can get some info to you.