Ultra tough arena chrome!!!

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN III

E-13585

New York Rangers (NHL) (1926–1968) New York Knicks (NBA) (1946–1968) New York Americans (NHL) (1925-1942) NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament (1943–1948, 1950)

Madison Square Garden III was the name of an indoor arena in New York City. Built in 1925 and closing in 1968, the arena hosted the New York Knicks of the NBA, New York Rangers of the NHL, countless boxing matches, concerts, and many other events. It had a maximum seating capacity of 18,496 spectators. It was eventually replaced by the current Madison Square Garden.

It was built on 50th Street and Eighth Avenue by boxing promoter Tex Rickard and was dubbed "The House That Tex Built." The New York Rangers, owned by Rickard, got their name from a wordplay on his name (Tex's Rangers). It was built in 249 days on the site of the city's streetcar barns. However, the Rangers were not the first NHL team to play at the Garden; the New York Americans had begun play in 1925 and were so wildly successful at the gate that Rickard wanted his own team as well. The Rangers were founded in 1926 and both teams played at the Garden until the Americans folded in 1942, the Rangers having stolen their commercial success with their own success on the ice (winning three Stanley Cups between 1928 and 1940). The Americans suspended operations due to World War II, and Garden management's refusal to allow the resurrection of the team after the war was one of the popular theories underlying the Curse of 1940 that supposedly prevented the Rangers from winning the Stanley Cup again until 1994, happened at Madison Square Garden.

Unused 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" standard size chrome postcard.

Dist. by Baumann