Presented here from the Luz Long Collection is this vintage 1936 Olympia abum packed with pictures, reports, and event details from the 1936 Winter and Summer Olympics that were each held in Germany. plus hundreds of Olympic athlete trading cards . The 1936 Winter Games took place in the Bavarian ski community of Garmisch-Partenkirchen from February 6-16 followed by the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin six months later from August 1-16. Published by Pet Cremer of Dusseldorf-Heerdt, the bound book contains approximately 70+ pages (unnumbered) of classic photos and info from both Games (text is all in German). Most significantly, it holds a complete 144-card set of the rarely circulated "1936 Pet Cremer Olympia" issue. According to the PSA Population Report, only 139 cards (as of 10/3/2022) from this set have been authenticated and graded by PSA. The highlights are the three Jesse Owens cards: #2 (100m)--34 graded by PSA; #3 (200m)--32 graded by PSA; and #12 (4x100m)--29 graded by PSA. The #16 card of Luz Long has no graded copies in the PSA pop. (See PSA pop details at https://www.psacard.com/pop/multi-sport-cards/1936/pet-cremer-olympia-1936/97411)
Other notable cards in the set are: #131 Sonja Henie (only three graded by PSA) of Norway, widely considered the greatest female figure skater ever with gold medals at three straight Winter Olympics (1928, '32 and '36) and world titles overall; #4 Archie Williams of USA (400m gold) #5 John Woodruff of USA (800m gold), #6 Jack Lovelock of New Zealand (1500m gold), #8 Glenn Hardin of USA (400m hurdles gold),#10 Forrest Towns of USA (110m hurdles gold), #15 Kitei Son of Japan-occupied Korea (men's marathon gold), #16 Cornelius Johnson of USA (High Jump gold), #20 Earle Meadows of USA (Pole Vault), #25 Glenn Morris of USA (Decathlon gold), #26 Helen Stephens of USA (women's 100m & 4x100m golds), #41 Willi Kaiser of Germany (Flyweight boxing gold), #42 Herbert Runge of Germany (Heavyweight boxing gold, #72 Italy Football/Soccer (gold), #76 USA Basketball (gold) #112 Japanese baseball players, #136 Canada Hockey (silver), #141 Great Britain Hockey (gold); #144 Ivar Ballangrud of Norway (three golds in speedskating). For more details on this unique German card set, visit https://prewarcards.com/2016/09/12/1936-pet-cremer-olympia-set-and-checklist.
Each black and white card measures 3-1/2" by 2-7/16" and comes affixed (seemingly glued) in its specific captioned slot, four or five per page, in card number order. The front side of the cards average EX condition, with some in better or worse shape. The thick paper cover (9-1/2" x 12-3/4"), with the colorful Olympic rings and Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate, has browned with age and has moderate edge wear, but the binding has stayed entirely intact. Some interior pages have small tears on the upper or lower edges (not affecting cards) due to the fragility of the paper stock when turning pages.
According to an Olympic connoisseur who we consulted, this album and card set was only available as a souvenir in Berlin within a couple years from the 1936 Olympics. It was not reproduced decades later for resale and distribution. The few that have survived rarely come up for auction. Includes a letter of provenance from the Long family.