Tompkins
County Museum

Indian Clubs

Director Matthew Braun talks with Morning Report host, Casey Stevens about artifacts from the collections on WHCU 870AM, Thursday mornings at 9:45.

Indian Clubs are what you might think of as the predecessors to dumbbells. Used for exercise they were popular and featured in Montgomery Ward Co. and Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogues. These clubs belonged to Walter H. Stainton, whose wife donated them to the Dewitt Historical Society after his death at age 90 on December 9, 1987.

Mr. Stainton, a Cornell professor emeritus of speech and drama was well known locally for his extensive knowledge of early silent film making in Ithaca. Born in Orange, NJ, Stainton came to Ithaca as a Cornell undergraduate in 1915. He received his bachelor's degree in 1920 and went on to instruct physics in 1920. He received his doctorate in physics in 1927. After spending one year as a Dartmouth College faculty member, Stainton returned to Ithaca, and became assistant professor in the Department of Speech. In 1936, he founded and directed Cornell's theater art cinema division and taught a pioneer course in cinema history. During World War I, Stainton was an Army aviation ground instructor at Cornell, and during World War II, a Captain in chemical warfare service in Europe and a public welfare officer in the military government of occupied Germany. Stainton was the president of the DeWitt Historical Society from 1969 through 1974.

The Indian Clubs belonging to Stainton weigh approximately 5 lbs. and are well worn with use. The wooden clubs were made of maple wood and sold in pairs of varying weights and lengths depending on the level of exercise desired. As described in the Peck and Snyder Sporting Goods Catalogue from 1886, club swinging was universally recognized as one of the best methods for developing the muscles of the body while improving circulation, digestion, etc. The clubs are to be held upright, one in each hand and swung in a circular motion much like that of a windmill. A pamphlet illustrating Indian Club exercises could be purchased along with the clubs.

Sources Cited:

DeWitt Historical Society Files; Accession files.
Peck & Snyder Sporting Goods - Illustrated catalogue, Pyne Press, 1971.
Montgomery Ward and Co. Spring/Summer catalogue 1895, Dover Pub., 1969.
Sears, Roebuck and Co. Consumers Guide Fall 1900, DBI Books, 1970.

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