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Computer Graphics	Olympic Memorabilia Collecting Types of Material to Collect Let’s now move on to what to collect with a specific category. Most Olympic Collectors start stamps, coins and pins are probably the most common. In the process of advancing through a specific area, especially if you attend the Games, you are exposed to numerous other collecting areas. The inclination might be to get into everything. This is not entirely unreasonable, if you can set limits such as seeking representative examples in each category, i.e. one ticket per Games, one pin, one credential, one poster,...one of every other category. Even that limitation could get costly, as early material is almost always high priced. Certain material will strike your fancy more than others and it is likely you will want to a mass a deep collection in those areas. In my own case, Mascots and Posters fit into that category while, right how, I am happy with a single example of a Torch and a Winner’s Medal. I collect just about everything else to varying degrees. Categories to collect include -in no particular order: Medals, Torches, Books, Posters, Documents; Pins, Badges, Clothing Decorations, Tickets, Programs, Photographs, Autographs, Art, Seals and Vignettes, Films and Videos, Music, Cards, Souvenirs, Plates, Scarves, Mascots and Ephemera. v Medals Winner’s medals are the biggest prizes among Olympic Memorabilia collectors. They are the heart and soul of the Games as they are the thing athletes devote entire careers pursuing. I find it hard to believe that anyone could part with such treasures, but they are available in relative abundance. All Olympic Games participants are generally given a medal recognizing their part in the Games. Often athletes, officials, journalists, volunteers and OCOG employees receive the same medal but sometimes there are different medals for different participants (torch run, ceremonies, Arts Festival). These are all highly sought. Beyond these, which have a direct connection with the Games, many more commemorative, fund raising, and souvenir medals were produced to note the Games. There is no shortage of materials for those who want to confine their Olympic collecting to just medals. Torches The torch is the second most important symbol of the Games after the rings. A torch runner can be chosen for any reason, you do not have to be a great athlete to carry the torch, you do not. even have to be famous; a common man can do it. Perhaps, that is why it epitomizes the Games. Many torches were produced for most of the summer Games torch runs. While they are not inexpensive they can be readily be found. For various reasons, cold weather, the mountainous terrain of Olympic Winter Games sites and the smaller budgets among them, Winter Games torches often have been produced in very small quantities and consequently they are difficult to collect. Also included in this category would be the miners’ lamps that have been used to safeguard the Olympic flame when in transit, as well as other torch like devices used in various ceremonies over the years. Books Books described simply by a good friend as “anything bound between two covers or with a staple in it” are another highly favored area of mine. Foremost in this category are the official reports each OCOG produces after their Games which detail all that went into conducting the Games. After that there are all manner of Olympic history books in a variety of languages that range from those which examine wide areas of the Games to very specific areas. Most candidates for hosting the Games produce books on their qualifications (bid books). There are also statistical analyses, picture books, children’s books, doctoral theses, joke books and exposes. Many Olympians have also had biographies written about them. There even have been many works of fiction that use the Games as backdrop and even a few non-fiction works that are more fiction than not. Tickets Collectors of tickets can look for those to the opening ceremonies, closing ceremonies, to specific sports, or to all of them. Cultural events, rehearsals, or season tickets in booklet form or pass type, press passes, used, unused, team trials, pre-Olympic events, variations, complimentary and most recently with technology’s help, personalized tickets. Sometimes tickets purchased in advance are far different than general admission sold on site for preliminary round events. There are also transportation tickets and lottery tickets. At Lillehammer, I even got a betting slip which shows I bet on the outcome of an Olympic event. Documents The Games’ Organizing Committees produce an awful lot of documents, invitations, application forms, identification cards, transit passes, credentials, diplomas, rules booklets, instruction of all types and results. Just about anything printed by the OCOG can fall into this category. Posters Since 1912, each Organizing Committee has used posters to promote interest in the Games. There is usually a primary design (often in a variety of languages) and sometimes there are a few additional secondary designs used by tourist and transportation organizations.Travel posters are also prepared separately Art competition at the Games also produced limited edition posters. In the last 30 years or so, there was a tremendous increase in the number and varieties of posters produced. Grenoble saw many posters noting the various venues of the events. Mexico City saw whole series produced highlighting the various sports as well as the cultural events. Commercial promoters, sponsors and the media have joined the list most recently. There were even protest posters produced with obvious political overtones against the Berlin and Moscow Games, and I even have in my collection an election campaign poster with the rings on it - used by the incumbent mayor of Lake Placid. Pins Pin exchanging has been an integral part of the Games from very early on. Primarily confined to athletes, coaches and other participants, the 80s saw the phenomenon expand to the media and sponsors and, finally, the fans. I have to admit that while I thoroughly enjoy this pursuit at the Games, once I return home, I put all my pins on a board, frame it, and consider it a wonderful souvenir of the Games. I understand others take this aspect of Olympic collecting more seriously. Badges Badges are bigger pins and what I said about pins basically applies to badges. Uniforms and Clothing The uniforms worn by officials and volunteers are usually very attractive. Uniforms worn by athletes and team members often are unique to a specific Games. The problem with uniforms is that they are difficult to display. Many collectors will seek only items they can wear themselves. For reasons that may be obvious, I collect only Olympic ties. Also included in this category are the identification numbers worn by athletes, official and other support personnel at the competition sites, which could be made of cloth or paper and take the form of of bibs, vests or arm bands. Programs I really enjoy Olympic Collectibles that connect you directly to the Games. Programs offer that connection perhaps better than any other category of memorabilia. They offer contemporary information on the Games and direct contact with historic moments, especially if they are hand scored. General or souvenir programs are intended to acquaint an Olympic visitor with all aspects of the Games. Guides serve the same purpose but are designed for regular use and are smaller so they can be carried around. Ceremonies often have special programs devoted to them. Daily programs were used early on at the Olympic Winter Games and some Summer Games (e.g., London 1908 and Berlin). Sport specific and venue programs often both appear at some Games, e.g., Paris 1924, Los Angeles 1932 and Montreal was probably the last to do this. In recent years, traditional daily and sports programs has been replaced by newspaper-like Start and Result publications. Moscow’s were given free to visitors. At Los Angeles and Seoul these publications had to be bought. At Moscow there were also single page event lists in Russian intended for local residents sold at some venues for 40 kopecks. Single page start sheets were the norm at the two most recent Olympic Winter Games. Barcelona seemed to have an aversion to daily programs and start lists. The only ones of any substance I saw were at Equestrian events. There might have been more, but I did not find them. At some, Xerox copies of start lists were sporadically available. Photographs Whenever I go to the Games, I take dozens of rolls of film. Photographs of past Games offer different perspectives on those Games. I have seen thousands of books on the Games and they contain a lot of photographs, many of which are often repeated. News agencies took thousands of original photos at each Games and their morgues are filled with them, usually with accompanying text. These are great finds for a collector. Even better are photos taken by team members that occasionally pop up in scrap books. Films and Videos The advent of the VCR now allows us to add to our collections copies of the official films of the Games and other films about the Games that would have been difficult to amass and enjoy years ago. Films like Leni Riefenstahl’s “Olympia,” Munich’s “Visions of Eight,” ‘Tokyo Olympiad,” and Los Angeles’ “16 Days of Glory” enjoyed various modes of theatrical release and are readily available on video cassette and laser disc. The other official films were much less popular but some can be found. Summaries of U.S. network broadcasts of the Games since 1976 are readily available and I imagine from other countries too. Bud Greenspan, the producer of the Los Angeles and Calgary official films, has produced an impressive series of television documentaries on the Games which are available on video as the “Olympiad Series.” Every four years there seems to be a new Olympic History film made for TV and subsequent video release. One American network cleaned out its sports library and an enterprising collector was at the trash collectors truck and salvaged hundreds of unique videos before they hit the trash heap. From that find, I have in my collection an interesting short video made to support the bid to be host broadcaster for the Los Angeles Games. There have been a number of fictional films made about the Games or Olympians that are available on video too. Everyone knows about “Chariots of Fire” and “Cool Running,” but some of my favorites are “Wee Geordie,” “The 500 Pound Jerk,” and “Charlie Chan at the Berlin Olympics. ” In the past few years, Bid cities have included video presentations in their Bid files. I like to think that video material I loaned to the producer of the Atlanta video pieces was partly responsible for them winning the bid, but I could be wrong on this.