Europe Whips Chicago Gold Glovers
<em>The Chicago Daily Tribune,</em> May 13, 1939
A specific kind of transatlantic relation is at the heart of this article by Wilfrid Smith, long-time sports editor of the Chicago Tribune. It focuses on an annual boxing contest between a team from Chicago and a European squad sponsored by the newspaper. The Americans’ previous series of victories in mind, Smith asks for the reasons behind the European triumph in 1939, identifying a strong determination to win “that carried Europe to its long sought goal”. The article not only shows a special form of contact between Europe and the USA in the shape of transatlantic sports competitions before WWII, but also exemplifies how, by depicting Europe as the main US rival in the field of international sports, American newspapers often sought to measure the quality of US athletes through comparison with their European counterparts.
“The reign has ended! Last night eight years to the day after Chicago’s Golden Gloves boxers first ascended the throne of international supremacy, a sturdy team from Europe ended Chicago’s reign, five bouts to three. Twice Chicago previously had been tied, but no foreign international squad ever had won.”
Article available through ProQuest (subscription required)
Smith, Wilfrid. “Europe Whips Chicago Gold Glovers.” TheChicago Daily Tribune, May 13, 1939, p. 21.
