History Daily - The First All-American Soap Box Derby

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

August 19, 1934. The First All-American Soap Box Derby draws 40,000 spectators during the Great Depression. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

It's July 19th, 2025, at the 87th All-American Soapbox Derby in Akron, Ohio. At the starting line, a 13-year-old girl pulls on a black helmet and listens to a final few words of encouragement from her mom. Thousands of spectators pack the stands around them. This is the girl's fourth year participating in the derby, so she's used to the crowd. But this is her last chance to win before she ages out of this division, and she can't help feeling a little nervous. as the other two racers in her heat settle into their cars. The girl takes a deep breath and then eases herself into her car. It's a sleek, fiberglass thing that she built with some help from her mom.

Its color scheme may not be as flashy as some of the others racing today, but the girl reminds herself of what her mother always says, how a car looks has little to do with its speed. Instead, its performance depends on countless small factors from the car's wheel alignment and weight distribution to the scale. of the driver. Her mother squeezes her shoulder and then steps away. A girl leans forward into her racing position, keeping her eyes just above the shell. Soon, the hot afternoon sun and the din of the crowd all die away. There's only one thing on this girl's mind,

the finish line. When the other riders are ready, race officials position each car on the metal starting ramps and then step away. The starting mechanism releases the cars and all three you roll forward down the ramps. The nose of the girl's car cuts through the humid air as her car accelerates down the long and straight track. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see the car on her right, edge ahead. She doesn't let that phase her. There's still a long way to go. So she settles deeper into her car, keeps her head down, and pictures herself with her hands raised high holding a first-place trophy. This race in 2025, with its shiny cars and precision-made wheels, looks very different from the first soapbox races. Over 90 years earlier, the predecessors of these modern

cars were made of old crates, metal sheets, wooden planks, and anything else families could spare during the Great Depression. Back then, most races were informal, with kids competing with their neighbors. But when a Dayton photojournalists saw firsthand how derbies created joy in a dark time, he was inspired to organize them into a larger event. The first All-American soapbox derby held on August 19, 34. Hello, History Daily listeners. The live show I've been telling you about for a few weeks has a new date, October 23rd at the Plaza Theater in Garland, Texas.

This is my Days That Made America Tour, a thrilling evening of history, storytelling, and music with me and a band live on stage. So if you're in the North Texas area or anywhere close, be sure to come out and see me live. More shows will be announced soon, too. So for information on tickets, and upcoming dates, go to historydailylive.com.

That's historydailylive.com. Come see my Days at Made America Tour, live on stage. Go to historydaily.com. From Noisor and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham. And this is History Daily. History is made every day. On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people on events that shaped our world. Today is August 19, 1934, the first All-American.

American Soapbox Derby. It's early June, 1933, in Dayton, Ohio, 92 years before the 87th All-American Soapbox Derby. In the dark room of the Dayton Daily News, Myron Scott carefully soaks a film strip in a tray of fixing solution. Myron has worked at the newspaper since he was a student, and now, at the age of just 25, he's the chief photographer. He lifts the negatives out of the tray and inspects them.

In the dim, red light, he can make out the silhouer. of dozens of men standing mournfully in line outside a soup kitchen. It's an all-too-familiar scene, both in the city of Dayton and everywhere else in the country. Since the Wall Street crash of four years ago, unemployment and poverty in the United States have soared. A quarter of the American labor force is now out of work. Families are struggling just to get by, and plenty of kids have had to grow up fast. Myron has documented it all with his camera, and these latest pictures, are technically proficient, but he can't help feeling dissatisfied with him.

Myron wants his work to do more than simply reflect the misery of the times. He wants to show people that there is still joy to be found in the world. After finishing in the dark room, he heads back to the office. It's quiet today, and only a few of Myron's colleagues are in, so when the phone rings, Myron picks it up. The man on the other end of the line identifies himself as George Connett, And as a local resident and longtime reader of the Daily News, he says he has a story he thinks the paper might like. It's not unusual for folks to call the office and make similar claims.

Most of the time, these phone calls lead to nothing. But Myron is polite and listens as George pitches his idea. He says that his 13-year-old son Bill and five friends have been tinkering around in the garage, building homemade carts that they race around the neighborhood at great speed. proud of his son's ingenuity, George asks whether the Daily News would be willing to come out to his neighborhood and write a story about it. Myron is already familiar with these races. They've become popular across the country as a cheap way to entertain kids during the Depression. Children fashion their cars from anything they can bolt together and then race against each other down hills,

their engineless vehicles powered only by gravity. So it hardly sounds like groundbreaking journalism, but it is exactly the kind of feel-good local story Myron has been looking for. He can already imagine the smiles of George's son and the other kids splashed across the paper, bringing a little joy to readers of the Sunday picture page. So he tells the delighted George Condit that he'd love to cover the story. And a few days later, Myron heads across town to Oakwood, a suburb just south of Dayton. There, he photographs young Bill Condit and his friends preparing their shabby vehicles on Big Hill Road. They race down the street, their cars blurring with speed as they cross the finish line, and everyone laughs and cheers.

Even the occasional crash into the bushes doesn't spoil of fun. But as Myron lines up the gleeful kids for one last picture, an idea forms in his mind. Seeing the happiness on everyone's faces, including his own, he begins to wonder how much joy a larger event could create. So he asks the boys to come back in a week with as many of their friends as possible, promising a prize for the winner. 19 boys show up for the next race, along with an even bigger crowd, and Myron decides that his idea really does have potential. So he takes it upon himself to organize an even bigger citywide event. Myron will have to find a way to finance and publicize it, though watching the kids race down Big Hill Road has given him all the encouragement he needs.

But even Myron will underestimate just how successful his idea will be, and soon one race in the small city of Dayton will give birth to a new, All-American tradition. It's December 1933 at the headquarters of the Chevrolet Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan, six months after Myron Scott photographed the racers on Big Hill Road. Myron sits outside the office of a senior advertising executive. He has a pack of note cards in his hand, and he mutters his pitch to himself for the umpteenth time, but no matter how many times he's practiced, he's still nervous. He's aware of how ridiculous his idea may sound.

He's about to ask one of America's largest motor car company, to sponsor a race with no motors. Ever since watching his first soapbox derby races back in June, Myron has been determined to bring the joy and fun he witnessed in Oakwood to as many families as possible. He began by organizing a citywide race for the kids of Dayton, Ohio. Myron's employer, the Dayton Daily News, quickly threw its weight behind the idea. In addition to printing advertisements for the race almost every day,

the newspaper gave Myron $200 toward the cost. Still, Myron had no idea whether the event would be a success until the day itself, and he was shocked when over 450 racers and thousands of spectators showed up. After inspections, 362 cars were deemed safe enough to take part, and the following day, the races began. The overall winner was 16-year-old Randy Custer, who received the coveted Dayton News Cup, but there were all surprises for the best-looking car, the car with the most original design, and the funniest car. The race was front-page news in Dayton. And inspired by this success, Myron is now determined to bring his soapbox derby to the national stage. But to do that, he needs help. The Dayton Daily News can't support such a big event alone.

Myron wants the backing of an organization with deeper pockets and nationwide reach, and he thinks Chevrolet would be the perfect partner. So Myron takes a seat across from the advertising executive and sets his briefcase on the floor beside him. He looks down to the note cards, now close. clammy and dog-eared from constant practice. He's about to recite the speech he's prepared when suddenly he has a better idea. He picks up his briefcase and pulls out a copy of the Dayton Daily News. He opens it to the Sunday picture page,

the addition that contains his photos of the first race in Dayton. And as he shows the executive the pictures of the boys, gleefully zooming through their neighborhood, he explains that kids are some of the most vulnerable victims of the Depression. Forced to take on responsibilities meant for adults, many of them are losing out on the opportunity to truly enjoy their childhood. But he says Chevrolet can do something about that. If the company agrees to sponsor an all-American race,

smiles like these in the pictures will spread across the country, and Chevrolet will win a place in the hearts and minds of children and families nationwide. The executive leans back in his chair, and for a moment Myron regrets not sticking to his script. But then a smile slowly appears on the executive's face. Just like Myron, he can see the potential in the idea. If the race in Dayton attracted 40,000 spectators, then many more will surely attend a national competition. And with newspaper reporters and newsreel crews likely to attend as well, it will be a unique advertising opportunity.

So Chevrolet agrees to co-sponsor the national race with the Dayton Daily News. The partnership will provide the funding Myron needs to get his race off the ground, but Myron doesn't stop there. With Chevrolet now on board, Myron seeks out more sponsors, and soon he secures deals with four major tire companies, including Goodyear and Firestone. Still, for this big event to happen, there will have to be local qualifiers first.

Cities across the country will need to host their own smaller derbies to select the local champions who will compete for the national title, and those races will all need sponsors as well. Myron will have his work cut out for him, and he'll have to move fast, because soon a date will be set for the All-American Soapbox Derby when kids from across the country will descend on Ohio with their homemade cars in tow, hoping to win glory on the racetrack.

It's August 19, 1934 in Dayton, Ohio, eight months after Chevrolet became a sponsor of the first All-American Soapbox Derby. Bobby Turner races downhill in a car built from wood salvaged from an old bar and fitted with stroller wheels. 11-year-old Bobby is competing in the five. of the first All-American Soapbox Derby, and as the finish line comes into view, he's in the lead. Every bump and divot in the road jolts him as his car speeds into the final stretch. He can hear the other two finalists behind him closing in, though.

One of the boys is from Tennessee, the other is from Nebraska, but Bobby has the edge on them both. If he just keeps his nerve for a few more moments, he'll become the first All-American Soapbox Derby champion. This race is the culmination of a year. of hard work by photographer Myron Scott and a team of organizers in Dayton. After securing the partnership with Chevrolet and the tire companies,

Myron persuaded newspapers in dozens of cities across the country to sponsor and promote regional qualifiers. Eventually, the 34 winners from these contests traveled to Dayton to compete for the inaugural championship title. Representing Muncie, Indiana, Bobby Turner takes first place.

He speeds past the finish line, but then slams on his break with such force that his car tips. Three wheels fly off, and the vehicle skids across the ground on its side. The crowd gasps and falls silent, but then Bobby slowly pulls himself out of his car. He has a nasty bump on his head,

but luckily he's otherwise unharmed. He dusts himself off as his mother rushes to embrace him, and the pair whisked away to meet the press. Bobby won't be able to claim his prize for several years, but it will be worth the weight. He has won a $500 scholarship to the College of His Choice. This first All-American Soapbox Derby is so successful that its organizers soon decide to make it an annual event.

The next year, the race has moved to Akron, Ohio, whose hills and more central location make it better suited to a national competition. And in 1936, with the help of the federal government, the city builds a permanent track for the sport there. Derby Downs will remain the home of soapbox racing for the rest of the 20th century and beyond. What began as a way of bringing kids joy during an economic depression now calls itself the greatest amateur racing event in the world. And today, the race still attracts hundreds of qualifiers every year, young boys and girls dreaming of glory, just like their counterparts who raced in the first All-American Soapbox Derby

on August 19, 1934. Next on History Daily, August 20th, 1989, Lyle and Eric Menendez shoot their wealthy parents, sparking a decades-long legal fight over their guilt. From Noisor and Ayrship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham, audio editing by Mohamed Shazzo. Sound design by Molly Bond, music by Throne. This episode is written and researched by Arjun Kumar, edited by William Simpson, managing producer Emily Burr. Executive producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hewold. use for noisor.