Historical information

This trophy is one of several from the 1930s that were awarded as part of inter-church competitions in Warrnambool. One of the chief sponsors of this inter-church competition was Fletcher Jones, the well-known clothing manufacturer. He had his head office and factory in Warrnambool. The competitions were for indoor sports and this one has been awarded for deck quoits. The game of quoits consists of competitors throwing four or five rings or hoops onto a raised spike some metres away. The hoops are generally made of plaited rope and the game is said to have been started or popularized by sailors on board ship. In deck quoits the raised spike is usually replaced by concentric circles drawn on the playing surface. This game became very popular on ocean liner cruises from the 1920s on. The winner of this trophy, the Congregational Men’s Institute (C.M.I.) was a leading church activity group for men in the 1930s. A Congregational Church in Warrnambool was opened in 1864 in Liebig Street and transferred to Henna Street in 1940. This church was sold in 1979 to the Salvation Army when the Congregational Church merged with the Methodist Church to become the Uniting Church.

Significance

This trophy is of historical interest as it is one of the trophies dating from the 1930s and awarded by the now-defunct Inter-Church Indoor Sports Association in Warrnambool.

Physical description

This is a silver-coloured cup with an attached stem on a brown Bakelite stand. The cup has two ornamental handles. There is an inscription on one side of the cup. The silver is a little tarnished.

Inscriptions & markings

‘I.C.I.S.A. Deck Quoits won by C.M.I. 1936-7’