The World's Most Famous Arena - my MSG stuff

[NYRangers]

A pair of folding seats from MSG III with a section sign from more recent renovations.

[NYRangers]

A badge and hat piece for the security officers, photos suggest circa 1950s, give or take. Sorry for upside down. Not sure why my photos keep getting flipped when I upload.

[dougiedshow]

Here's my only MSG item. An original 1926 Wire Photo from the first practice in New York Rangers history at MSG III.

Dougiedshow@aol.com


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[NYRangers]

That's a great photo of earliest days of the Rangers. Thanks for sharing.
Here's a program from the opening event of MSG III in 1926, a game between the New York Americans and the Montreal Canadiens, a year before the Rangers were born.

[NYRangers]

And keeping with the early days ... this is a 1928 MSG pass signed on both sides by Tex Rickard. When Tex Rickard saw the popularity of the NY Americans, he decided to form his own hockey team to play in the new Madison Square Garden he was developing. Critics scoffed at the Texan's idea and called his new hockey team "Tex's Rangers." Thus was born the New York Rangers. This card directed MSG staff to permit entry at all times to Amon Carter, a fellow Texas millionaire with a famous art museum in his name. Rickard died one year later in 1929 of a burst appendix. He is a member of Boxing HOF as a promoter and deserves to be enshrined in Hockey HOF as a Builder. Upside down again - go figure!

[NYRangers]

Staying with the roaring 20's infancy of the highly hockey-relevant MSG III (1926-1968), this is an original 19" by 15" photograph. A truly incredible photo with remarkable detail taken during construction of the old barn. Taken by Duryea Photo Studios, it lists in hand ink the architect, Thomas Lamb, the engineers, the contractors, and so on.

[NYRangers]

And fast forwarding from the construction of MSG III in the 1920s to the plans for constructing MSG IV in the 1960s, these are original site plans or blueprints as developed by the famous architect Charles Luckman for the current Garden that opened in 1968. The oversized four-page plans are printed on some sort of rag stock paper and are date stamped 1962. The condition is still quite remarkable for half-century old documents.

[NYRangers]

Here's an original NYC subway sign removed from the MSG stop on the A line. The sign was replaced during renovations done in 2001. It is made of heavy steel with baked enamel lettering and is nearly six feet long. After many decades, the subway signs are no longer made in this sturdy and costly fashion. This sign directed fans like me to the Garden before, during, and after the 1994 Stanley Cup season.

[NYRangers]

And here's a ticket from the seat I sat in while watching the the Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup playoff run, including this Game 7 winner during the Finals.

[NYRangers]

This is an ancient framed collection of jersey crests from the Metropolitan Hockey League circa 1930s. This league matched amateur teams before the EHL Rovers games which preceded the Rangers games (triple headers of hockey at MSG!). I already had one of these from a former Sands Point player (including photos of the player with the team crest sewn on the front of his sweater). That was the only one I ever saw until I picked these up. In addition to a cool Met League patch, there are crests for the Jamaica Hawks, NY Stock Exchange Brokers club, Sands Point Tigers, and Manhattan Arrows. Except for Sands Point, all of these crests are styled after the NY Rangers shield logo. This display originated from the front office at the old MSG and the frame is original. Another personal connection for me is that this came from the collection of an old friend and these specific crests were photographed and included in Tom Sarro and Stan Fischler's great book, "Metro Ice."