The Age of Sports Heroes

Sports Heroes from the 1920s George Herman “Babe” Ruth- Baseball William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey- Boxing Harold “Red” Grange- Football Robert T. “Bobby” Jones- Golf William T. “Big Bill” Tilden- Tennis Suzanne Lenglen- Tennis Helen Willis- Tennis Gertrude Ederle- Swimming

Why sports idols? Promoters made these athletes seem bigger

than what they actually were.

Announcers and journalists also created images of athletes which often overshadowed the athlete’s actual achievements.

However, for the most part the American public was at the focal point for why sports idols came about.

No longer were the heroes lone businessmen or statesmen, but the “stars” of movies, television and sports.

Determining the level of success of a doctor, lawyer, or business manager might be difficult, but achievement in the world of sport was unambiguous.

It could be measured in home runs, knockouts, touchdowns, victories and even in salaries.

Due to this, it stands to reason that boys dreamed of becoming athletic heroes rather than captains of industry, and girls dreamed of Hollywood stardom rather than the hearth.

During the Great Depression, the age of athletic heroes seemed to be over.

“After 1930 our stream of super-champions ran dry, replaced by a turgid brook,” wrote John R. Tunis in 1934. “The champions were now just ordinary mortals, good players but nothing more.” But once prosperity returned with World War II, Americans again found a set of peerless heroes in sports.