There are more than 28,000 three-dimensional artifacts in the BC Sports Hall of Fame collection covering over 150 years of sport history in this province. Many of these items are priceless, one-of-a-kind treasures like Olympic medals, championship trophies, or rare pieces of equipment.
On the other hand, some are just plain weird, bizarre, or unusual—but no less fascinating.
Here are five of the strangest artifacts in the BC Sports Hall of Fame collection.
‘Chimpy’ the dancing wind-up monkey
With the fledgling BC Lions on the verge of their inaugural Western Interprovincial Football Union season in 1954, the Lions were out and about promoting the new football team and trying to sell tickets. Somehow one of the promotional souvenirs they settled upon was a dancing monkey wearing a football helmet. When wound from the key on its back, the monkey clapped cymbals in its hands together.
At the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games that summer in Vancouver, the English fencing team adopted one of these dancing monkeys as its team mascot, nicknaming it ‘Chimpy.’
“I hope you don’t think us juvenile,” 23-year-old English fencer Allan Jay admitted to a curious reporter.
This particular monkey in the BC Sports Hall of Fame collection still dances when wound up. When last displayed it had the unusual habit of clapping its cymbals at unexpected moments, spooking both staff and visitors.
Doug Hepburn’s Powermaster 3 arm wrestling machine
Vancouver’s Doug Hepburn was considered the strongest man in the world after winning the 1953 world heavyweight weightlifting championship.
Later in his life he built and invented fitness equipment in his Vancouver warehouse.
One unique idea Hepburn had was an arm wrestling machine that the public could use to test their strength against male and female champions from various weight divisions all over the world. Users inserted a Loonie into the machine, adjusted the tension to whatever champion they desired to face, then gripped the handle and pulled with all their might.
Hepburn built a prototype himself that is so heavy a forklift is needed any time it needs to be moved.
Several of these machines were placed at Vancouver-area bars and gyms in the late 1990s.
A cup of red dirt
When Vancouver field hockey player Victor Warren attended the 1960 Olympics in Rome, he wanted to bring home a unique souvenir.
Bypassing the standard Olympic trinkets sold at souvenir stands, Victor instead collected a couple handfuls of fine, red dirt from the track upon which the Rome Olympic track and field events were held. To bring this dirt home, Victor rolled it up into a ball of tin foil and later placed it into a small cup for safekeeping.
Many legendary athletes ran on this red dirt at the 1960 Olympics, including New Zealand runner Peter Snell, American sprinter Wilma Rudolph, and 19-year-old Vancouver sprinter Harry Jerome making his Olympic debut in the 100m.
Broken chunk of wooden goalpost
The BC Lions' first WIFU season was a tough introduction to Canadian professional football.
The Leos lost their first six games and only scored in double digits once.
But in their seventh game on September 18, 1954, a rainy Saturday night match-up against the Calgary Stampeders at Vancouver’s Empire Stadium, the nearly 19,000 fans in attendance finally had something to cheer about.
On the strength of a touchdown from Lions running back By Bailey, the Lions downed the Stamps 9-4 to win their first-ever game—and as it turned out the only game the Lions won that inaugural 1-15 season.
Jubilant Lions fans stormed the muddy field after the game and tore down the wooden goal posts in their frenzied celebration. The posts were broken up into smaller chunks and kept by some fans.
One piece given to the BC Sports Hall of Fame features signatures of the fans who carried it off the field and a hand-painted game score.
Red leather jumpsuit
A few years before the Vancouver Grizzlies brought the NBA to Vancouver (briefly), the city’s first professional basketball team was actually the Vancouver Nighthawks who played their one and only season in the World Basketball League in 1988.
The WBL was a height-restricted summer league for players six-foot-five and under.
The Nighthawks played their home games out of BC Place Stadium, if you can believe it.
One of the team’s most enthusiastic supporters was its hardworking PR director, Mick Sahota, who often attended games and team events wearing a bright red full-body leather jumpsuit like something straight out of a mid-1980s Michael Jackson music video.
The BC Sports Hall of Fame celebrates over 150 years of sporting achievement in British Columbia, inspiring future generations through its collection of 28,000+ artifacts. With exhibits honouring legendary athletes, teams, and sports organizations, we highlight the history of sports in B.C. and the individuals who’ve shaped its rich sports culture.
Explore B.C.’s sports legacy — visit us online today!
