Accession Number

1998-3-3

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Physical Description

1 scrapbook

Date

[1928?]-[1985?]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of one scrapbook documenting the personal and athletic (boxing) activities of Sam Cynamon. The majority of the material relates to life in Winnipeg and Montreal.

Subjects

Athletes

Boxers (Sports)

Places

Montréal (Québec)

Winnipeg (Man.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2011-9-4

Material Format

graphic material

Physical Description

1 photograph : col. ; 19 x 24 cm on matte 28 x 36 cm

Date

[ca. 1983]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of one photograph of Sydney Cooper with Sammy Luftspring. Writing on the mat reads: Sydney Cooper and Canadian Welterweight Champion Sammy Luftspring. Writing on the verso reads: To my friend Sydney Cooper, You are nice people. My best wishes always. Sincerely, Sammy Luftspring.

Custodial History

The item was dropped off to Brenda Cooper of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto by Sydney Cooper's daughter, Tobie Bekhor.

Subjects

Boxers (Sports)

Name Access

Luftspring, Sammy, 1916-2000

Source

Archival Accessions

Level

Item

Item

2513

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1939

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Name Access

Luftspring, Sammy, 1916-2000

Subjects

Boxers (Sports)

Repro Restriction

Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Places

New York (N.Y.).

Accession Number

1981-1-7

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

2514

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1938

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Admin History/Bio

Sammy Luftspring (b.1915-d.2000) was a professional boxer and Canadian Welterwight Champion. Luftspring married Elise and together they had two children, Brian and Orian.

Scope and Content

Item consists of a copy of an advertisement for Adam Hat, featuring Welterweight Champion of Canada Sammy Luftspring.

Name Access

Luftspring, Sammy, 1916-2000

Subjects

Boxers (Sports)

Repro Restriction

Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1981-1-7

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

2516

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1930

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Admin History/Bio

Sammy Luftspring (1915–2000) was a professional boxer and Canadian welterwight champion. Luftspring married Elise and together they had two children, Brian and Orian.

Scope and Content

Sammy Luftspring was fourteen years old at the time of this photograph.

Name Access

Luftspring, Sammy, 1916-2000

Subjects

Boxers (Sports)

Repro Restriction

Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1981-1-7

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

2517

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1938

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Admin History/Bio

Sammy Luftspring (b.1915-d.2000) was a professional boxer and Canadian Welterwight Champion. Luftspring married Elise and together they had two children, Brian and Orian.

Name Access

Luftspring, Sammy, 1916-2000

Subjects

Boxers (Sports)

Repro Restriction

Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1981-1-7

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

2512

Material Format

graphic material

Date

11 July 1936

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Admin History/Bio

Sammy Luftspring and Norman "Baby" Yack were boxers. Harry Sniderman was a baseball pitcher.

Scope and Content

Identified in this photograph from left to right are: Sammy Luftspring; Harry Sniderman; Norman "Baby" Yack.

Name Access

Luftspring, Sammy, 1916-2000

Sniderman, Harry

Yack, Norman (Baby)

Subjects

Boxers (Sports)

Pitchers (Baseball)

Repro Restriction

Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Accession Number

1981-1-7

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Sammy Luftspring fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

82

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1922-2000

Physical Description

2 scrapbooks ; 65 x 48 cm and 34 x 30 cm

Admin History/Bio

Sammy Luftspring was born on 14 May 1916 in Toronto's Ward neighbourhood. His parents were working-class Jews who emigrated from eastern Europe. Sammy began training as a youth at the Brunswick YMHA. He lived in Kensington Market and attended B'nai Brith summer camp as a youngster. In 1932 he started entering boxing matches. He competed in 105 fights and only lost five bouts, capturing the Golden Glove tournaments in weight classes ranging from bantamweight to welterweight. Sammy became famous for his fighting prowess and Jewish pride, always sporting a Star of David on his boxing shorts.

By 1933, he became the Ontario lightweight champion, representing the Elm Grove Athletic Club. That same year, he took part in the Christie Pits riot. Because of his accomplishments in the ring and his contribution to his community, he became a highly respected athlete within the Jewish community.

In 1936, he was selected for the Canadian team to take part in the Berlin Olympics that year. Although he was eager to compete, his parents and the community pressured him to boycott the games in protest over the Nazis' treatment of Jews in Germany. Luftspring and "Baby Yak," another famous local Jewish boxer, decided to participate instead in the alternate games in Barcelona, Spain, called the People's Olympics. After making the trip to Europe by ship, the two faced the disappointment of having the event cancelled after the Spanish Civil War broke out on the eve of the opening ceremonies.

After his return to Toronto, Luftspring began to box professionally. In 1938, he won the Canadian welterweight championship after a fifteen-round fight where he defeated Frank Genovese. He held the title for two years. During a fight in New York against Steve Belloise, Luftspring was poked in the eye, resulting in a detached retina. This injury left him blind in one eye, ending his boxing career.

By 1948, he began a new career as a boxing referee. He refereed for several decades, overseeing some of the most celebrated fights of that time. He also ran a nightclub in Toronto called the Mercury Club with three partners. It attracted famous entertainers such as Henry Youngman, Vic Damone, and Tony Bennett. He subsequently ran other nightclubs such as the Tropicana.

In addition to his boxing career, Sammy was also a devoted family man. He married his wife, Elsie, in 1938 at the McCaul Street synagogue. Three hundred and fifty people attended and hundreds waited outside of the synagogue to wish them well. They had two children: Brian and Orian.

His biography, Call Me Sammy, was published in 1975. Luftspring was given the great honour in 1985 of being inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. He passed away on 27 September 2000.

Custodial History

The scrapbooks were created by Sammy Luftspring. He kept them at his house and when he passed away they were safeguarded by his son Brian.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of two scrapbooks that reflect Sammy Luftspring's personal life and various careers as a boxer, referee, author, and nightclub manager/owner. Scrapbooks contain correspondence, ephemera, newspaper clippings, brochures, autographs, coins, and approximately seven hundred photographs.

Personal records include photographs of Sammy and his family during his childhood, family weddings, trips and vacations, and other family events, such as birthday parties and his son's bar mitzvah. There are also letters and cards from Sammy's wife, children, grandchildren and friends, and other ephemeral items Sammy collected, such as ticket stubs from baseball games.

Professional records include images of Sammy training for upcoming boxing matches, portraits of Sammy posing in his boxing attire, images from the grand opening of the Mercury Club, photographs of Sammy as a referee, as well as photographs of Sammy at various celebrity boxing matches. There is also correspondence and a brochure documenting Sammy's incorporation into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and some correspondence regarding the publication and promotion of his book. Finally, there are numerous newspaper clippings relating to all of Sammy's professional endeavours.

Name Access

Luftspring, Sammy, 1916-2000

Subjects

Boxers (Sports)

Physical Condition

The scrapbooks are in poor condition. Many of the photographs, documents and clippings were glued to the pages and the pages have almost all fallen out of the bindings.

Related Material

1981-1-7

Arrangement

The scrapbooks have been kept intact and no arrangement has been done. However, some of the key images have been scanned and item level descriptions have been completed for them.

Creator

Luftspring, Sammy, 1916-2000

Accession Number

2009-10-3

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Jewish Community Centre of Toronto fonds

Jewish Community Centre Archives Committee series

Photograph collection sub-series

Level

File

Fonds

61

Series

2-2

File

43

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1961-1974

Physical Description

5 photographs : b&w ; 18 x 13 and 9 x 13 cm

Scope and Content

This file consists of photographs depicting boxers at the YM-YWHA. Four of the photographs are of individuals, including Merle Dawson, volunteer instructor at the Bloor and Spadina YM-YWHA. The fifth is of a group of boxers posing at the Bloor "Y".

Subjects

Boxers (Sports)

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Source

Archival Descriptions

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