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Tennis Heritage Australia Newsletter Q2 2012

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Greetings Tennis Enthusiasts, Apologies for being late, but some photos we have been waiting on went north as part of the ritual winter migration of the retired folk from way down south. Indeed the photos we are most lucky to have at all. STOLEN PROPERTY AWARENESS On the return trip, a car was broken into and apart from the camera,  some truly rare multi autographed books were stolen, presumably by some youngsters who had no idea what they have taken.  Sadly, we have no positive news yet from police in Forbes NSW and just hope that they may be found under some bushes.      If you are offered some tennis books containing autographs of a significant nature (Davis Cup /Federation Cup etc) please do call Denis Tucker on 0409 317 804 for advice. AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MUSEUM (NSW) LUNCH The Museum organisers of annual lunch were  deservedly please by the well attended function and with special guest, Margaret Court, it is easy t0 understand why.  It was a great opportunity for members of Tennis Heritage Australia VIC to meet the newly formed NSW group and we had a great day. Apart from meeting Margaret and Ken,  we were also lucky enough to catch up with Lesley Turner, Jan Lehane and Thelma Coyne Long who now over 90 is a direct link to the top tennis days from the mid 1930’s and beyond. Thelma played in many overseas teams and was an Australian Champion singles and doubles player for many years.

Rodney Lack with Thelma Coyne Long Australian Tennis Museum lunch 2012

Denis Tucker, Margaret Court, Ken Rosewall, Rod Lack, Keith Jenkins- Australian Tennis Museum lunch 2012

First time together Melbourne & Sydney Tennis Heritage Members who were able to attend the luncheon.

Margaret was interviewed on stage and gave a good account of her times in the game.  Even the recent protests at her views on gay marriage were discussed, a little unexpectedly, yet her quite emotional rationale from her perspective as a church minister was met with considerable understanding.

A special thanks to Ada and team for organising the event and to patron Ken for taking on the role to support the museum which has very little budget for acquisitions and relies heavily on these events and benefactors of tennis memorabilia.

We look forward to the next event.

While at the Museum,  we were shown a very interesting trophy donated by the Roy Cozen family (husband of Daphne Akhurst).

The Australasian Championships for men commenced in 1905 at the Warehouseman’s Ground in St Kilda Rd, Melbourne but it was not until 1922 that the Women’s and mixed events were added to the calendar.

Funds to run competitions such as the event filled Australasian Championships were not excessive and so donations of funds or trophies were often made.  In 1922 the article from Australasian Tennis Magazine below shows this, including the Women’s singles trophy.

Prior to the confirmation of the Womens National championships, in 1921 the Association was moving forward with the plan to conduct a “Davis Cup” style competition between the states and New Zealand. While this may well have been for men,  the Wilding family donated one of Anthony Wilding’s trophy’s.   This state based competition never developed and so we find, presumably,  the Wilding Trophy being used to acknowledge the ladies singles champions from 1924 and beyond.

As you can see, Daphne Akhurst won the event 5 times and by claiming 1928-1930 in succession was entitled to take possession of the trophy.  As part of Australia’s championship, this trophy is very significant.

Tragically, Daphne died as a result of complications of a medical operation.  Also, in the early 1930’s the Men’s singles trophy was won outright by Jack Crawford for three wins in a row and in 1934 the tennis association introduced the current (always to be retained) Norman Brookes and Daphne Akhurst Challenge Cups a fine tribute to both Australian tennis greats.

As to the trophies supplied in 1922, 23 and 1931-1933 we are yet to uncover any historical reference, yet sitting on the mantlepiece in someones house.

AUSTRALIAN TENNIS HERITAGE MEETING MELBOURNE JULY 2ND

Thanks to the Grace Park Tennis Club President, Colin Davis and immediate past president, Terry Stone,  our meeting of some 15 interested participants was a great day.  Luckily both Colin and Terry are keen memorabilia collectors and this is reflected by the array of display cases filled with all manner of club and tennis equipment.   Grace Park is a quite famous club, spawning many champion players through its long association with Victorian Pennant.  The book AMAZING GRACE by Johnson & Oliver documents the clubs evolution. Players such as Frank Sedgman and Margaret Court have been members.

Highlights of the day were meeting a couple of new people and some special guests, Dirk Den Hartog ( great grand nephew of Ben Green the Victorian (Intercolonial champion) who brought along the impressive shield (SEE Q1 newsletter for a pic) and Tim Cawthorn who gave a fascinating account of the life of J0hn Cawthorn (as he was known), but that is another story.

With sandwiches, cakes, coffee & tea and potential of a full bar, Grace Park may well become a regular meeting place.

Settling down for a fine afternoon of show and tell.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Last newsletter there was a picture of a string preserver bottle acquired from America. This tin of Bentleys Dressing for Strings (String Preserver) was sold in Australia in the 1940’s.  Finding examples is very rare.

This brooch from the late 1890’s is silver and shows some very ornate detail.

Finally, many collectors have an example of a BAG or AGB aluminium tennis press. The correct name came from an ad that appeared in tournament programme. These were made in Australia.

Anyone who has some interesting memorabilia or family history that relates to tennis, please contact me rod@tacticalresponse.net.au 0418 362 386 AND PLEASE JOIN AUSTRALIAN TENNIS HISTORY ON FACEBOOK link from here

A Welcome to Australian Tennis History

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There have been many books written about the history of tennis with a focus on the UK and the USA. In Australia, unlike other local sports like Football, Rugby and Cricket, Tennis has suffered from a void where much of the history has simply vanished or focused only on the leading players of the time. Australia, does have a significant place in the annals of tennis and it a pleasure to present, in the one location, some interesting historical aspects of the game as it developed here and spawned a sporting industry which catered to the demand.

Various racquet sports have been tried over the centuries and although the modern game has its direct roots back into the Real Tennis, Rackets and Fives era it wasn’t until 1865 when Harry Gem and  A.J.Perera played an outdoor grass court game on their home court “Fairlight” and proceeded to set up a club in Leamington Spa in 1874.  Theirs was called “Pelota”.   In 1874,  Major Walter Wingfield launched his game of Lawn Tennis called “Sphairistike” and it achieved rapid buyer acceptance due his clever marketing of boxed sets and rules.

It is highly likely that many racquets were taken out onto lawns to play some form of hit to hit game, but it was the fast public acceptance of Wingfield’s boxed game that tips favour his way as the inventor of  the sport which has blossomed into the lawn tennis we enjoy today.

Below is a very rare picture from 1837, which shows an illustration of an outdoor game using the descriptive name “LONG or OPEN TENNIS”.  Not only do you witness a doubles style event, but within the text is reference to scoring in 15/30/45, advantage & deuce, rough or smooth to determine serving and even mentions volleying.

Thanks to Sebastiaan Van Hoorn for the photo and information from the book titled “Games and Sports” by Donald Walker, Published by Thomas Hurst, St Pauls Church Yard 1837.

field tennis

The Wingfield game to be marketed was also enhanced by a couple of other technological developments. First, the rubber ball was invented and then some years later cloth covered balls were developed. Second, lawn mowers now enabled the grass courts to be prepared with less effort.

Tennis created a social revolution appealing at first to women but then men as well. Courts were prepared for home entertainment, cities converted public  gardens into tennis courts, and courts were constructed within cricket clubs, croquet clubs and within the grounds of churches.  Wooden boxed sets of equipment were loaded on ships and transported toall corners of the world, including Australia, at a truly rapid pace. Tennis here spread quickly also, from homes to clubs, to far off country towns and although “Lawn tennis” was the name, Australian courts made from asphalt, sand, clay or plain dirt appeared everywhere.

A myriad of sporting goods manufacturers already producing cricket, royal tennis (UK) and in the USA baseball equipment, began designing and experimenting with new racquet designs, stringing techniques and tennis balls. Tennis fashion for the ladies and men was dashing and many clubs and local club competitions evolved. Tournaments like Wimbledon were created, The Davis Cup began in 1900, champions were held in high esteem and spectators were keen to see the best players in action.

The evolution of tennis, the playing techniques, the equipment, the stories and the memorabilia surrounding the game is remarkable. In Australia, tennis competitions evolved from club versus club to Intercolonial matches, to state championships and eventually the Australian Championships.  While much of the equipment was imported at first, the Australian Tennis racquet and ball industry developed with many brands and models that no longer exist today.  Occasionally you will find an item in a cupboard and wonder where this came from and who made it.

On this site you will learn about how tennis came to Australia, which companies made tennis equipment, how Australian players forged their reputations both here and abroad and be amazed at the memorabilia, such as vintage tennis racquets (or rackets) that collectors around the world simply adore.

The site will continue to evolve over time and we trust you will enjoy learning about new aspects of Australian tennis you didn’t know about before and encourage family members of former players and those still with us today to make contact and submit some photos or information that will help  add some new pieces into this fascinating Australian story.

For inspiration, we thank existing collectors and publishers Jeanne Cherry (Tennis Antiques & Collectibles), Siegfried Kuebler (A Book of Tennis Racquets), our tennis researcher Clive Oliver, National and State libraries and individual contributors which have included clubs, players (relatives) and relatives of families involved in the local tennis industry. A special note of thanks also to USA collector Rolf Jaeger for supplying photos of some of his rare items in his second collection. His first collection was sold to Tennis Australia and is now in storage awaiting the construction of a permanent tennis museum at Melbourne Park.

Punch Magazine ( black & white) Oct.10th 1874) but these hand coloured finishes of the original prints are very attractive.