06/14/2026
The History of Old No. 7
The following is "Mr. Derby" Jeff Iula's FB post from the "Memories of the Soap Box Derby in Akron" page 6/13/26
Happy Flag Day to all my friends but you know it’s a lot more than that 93 years ago today a young photographer named Myron Scott saw these five kids going down a hill in Dayton Ohio. They were going down in little cars and he took some pictures of them and said you know if you guys come back in a couple weeks, we’ll have a little race and I’ll give you a couple trophies and there was one individual there named Bob Gravett. He drove his car & He put number seven on it because he said it was the easiest number to write and Scotti took a bunch of pictures of that car that became the symbol of the Soap Box Derby and today is the birth 93 years ago of the Soap Box Derby! Think of all the people you met in the Derby and all the Fun both winning and losing! It’s been a great ride! Let’s hope it’s makes it 12 more yrs and we celebrate the 100th running of the All-American Soap Box Derby!!
Photos: The Dayton Daily News / Old No. 7 at Derby Down's topside / Jeff with Bob Gravett / Jeff with Myron Scott
