Vintage Photo of Gerald Ford Playing Basketball on USS Monterey, 1944 | Restored WWII Navy Print
Beautifully designed. Printed on archival paper for modern walls.
This vintage photo of Gerald Ford playing basketball on USS Monterey comes from the Navy's own files at the National Archives. Navy officers play a game in the well of the light carrier's forward elevator in 1944, with sailors watching from the flight deck edge above. The jumper on the left, going up for the ball, is Gerald R. Ford Jr., thirty years before he became the 38th president.
About This Historic Photo
Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and played center and linebacker on Michigan's national championship teams of 1932 and 1933. He joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor and served on USS Monterey from her commissioning in June 1943 to the end of 1944. As the ship's athletic officer, the court on the elevator was his idea, according to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Six months after this game, he rode out Typhoon Cobra on the same ship, when loose planes caught fire on the hangar deck below.
KNOWOL restored this print from the National Archives' scan of the original U.S. Navy negative (80-G-417628). It's a square print, printed edge to edge on ultra premium luster photo paper, a popular choice for fine photographic prints. Luster has a finish between gloss and matte and takes a heavy layer of ink, so the tones come out rich and deep.
The story behind this photo: read the full history in the KNOWOL library, with the sources for every fact.
The Details
About This Print
A physical reproduction of the artwork shown. Choose the available size and format above. The product description provides the subject and edition details.
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Materials & Craftsmanship
This reproduction is printed on archival paper. Framing materials for framed editions are listed in the product description. Decorative room props shown in display photographs are not included.
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