Ed “Harold” Freiter was the recipient of a silver globe trophy awarded to the winner of the City of Tacoma soap box race in 1938. Soap box derby racing began in 1933 and was a popular activity for youth during the decades to come. The first official All-American Soap Box Derby in Dayton, Ohio, was in 1934. The national race ran continuously until a four-year hiatus during World War II and then resumed in 1946 and has been held every year since. Tacoma held its first soap box derby in 1940.
