A new photographic exhibition has opened on the second floor of the Museum in the Lockview Lounge titled Developing Athletes: St. Catharines Sporting Youngsters on Film. The photographs come from The St. Catharines Standard collection from the 1930s and 1940s. As with most of our exhibits, there isn’t enough wall space to share all the photographs, so we’ll be posting photos in this new blog series as a companion to the exhibition over the next few years.

In this first companion post, we’ll introduce an artifact which inspired the graphic design of the exhibition: a softball jersey from 1949-1950.

Enjoy the series!

Developing Athletes: St. Catharines Sporting Youngsters on Film 

Picture day for a sports team is a day filled with pride. It’s a day when teammates celebrate the sportsmanship and camaraderie, reflect on team losses, and take stock of their achievements.  

It’s a generations-long tradition for sports team and school sports photographs to appear in the local newspaper. The St. Catharines Standard published countless group portraits of teams, champions, and participants throughout its history. These photos spotlight the community’s interest and enthusiasm for celebrating youth participation in sport.  

The photographs also serve as a remarkable record of youth life and culture in the city’s past. For some of these subjects, these may be the only photographic record from their youth as early cameras weren’t common household objects until the second half of the 20th century. From clothing and hairstyles to chosen sport, and the many girl’s teams – shattering the myth that girl’s participation in sport is new – these photos aren’t just a celebration of sport, but a glimpse into the everyday lives of the youth in our city.  

Norgrants Softball Jersey, 1949.

This jersey was worn by Donna Chiborak (nee Claus) during her 1949-1950 season with the Norgrants, a midget baseball team based in North Grantham. Donna was pitcher. To fund the team, the players had to find their own sponsor, so each jersey has a different sponsor name sewn to the back. Donna’s sponsor was Fleetwood Motors on Ontario Street. 

Cotton baseball jersey, 1949. 
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Later, Donna worked for Lightning Fastener and was pitcher for their Industrial League team from 1953-1958. They won the championship in 1955. Donna’s bright orange Zipperettes jersey is on display in the permanent exhibition galleries.  

This jersey, along with many others in the collection, served as the design inspiration for this exhibit. Crests, stripes, and cursive writing were all part of the early design for sports uniforms helping teams achieve a distinct look and making it easier for players to identify each other and spectators to distinguish players from a distance. 

Graphic Design Inspiration

The classic cursive text associated with baseball jerseys. The crest. Large numbers representing player numbers. And the red and white stripes with bold colour contrasts evoke the classic and nostalgic sports jersey to instantly bring the visitor back to the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s central to the exhibit’s timeline. The Norgrants jersey is a perfect fit to inspire the design of Developing Athletes!

Developing Athletes is on display in the Lockview Lounge at the St. Catharines Museum June 2026 through July 2028.

Adrian Petry is a public historian, Visitor Services Coordinator, and curated the Developing Athletes exhibition.