History Journal 88 - The Table Tennis Art of Gustav Rehberger 2019
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Table Tennis 88
History Journal
Excellent research for Historians, Collectors June
and all Lovers of our Great Sport 2019
The Table Tennis Art of
Gustav Rehberger
From the Editor
Table Tennis Dear Friends,
History Welcome to issue 88 of the Table Tennis History Journal, for
historians, writers, collectors, and all lovers of our sport.
Journal We begin with an astounding drum racket hand dated 1856, with
an inscription of a rally of 10,000 strokes! This is before Table
Tennis, from the shuttlecock game. I also report some early
images of a free-form racket and ball game.
Then a summary of a fine exhibition by the Shanghai ITTF
Museum at the recent World Championships in Budapest. We
also explore the powerful Table Tennis art of Gustav Rehberger,
and meet an Angel of Florida Table Tennis, Caron Leff.
Alan Duke (ENG) reports part 1 of his research into Hamleys, and
continues his research into early newspaper articles. Jorge
Arango (COL) sends his 7�� installment on early pirated images,
and Gerald Gurney (ENG) reports on some early Punch humour.
Todd Allen (USA) discovered a cache of documents about Trude
Kleinova Vogel and her husband Eric.
Our Philatelic Update includes several new stamps and
No. 88 postmarks, with grateful thanks to our contributors. Auction
Action, features some surprises and amazing bargains.
June 2019 Hope you enjoy the new issue. Feedback always welcomed. Next
edition scheduled for October 1, 2019.
For our sport … Table Tennis. For all. For Life. Chuck
Editor and Publisher: Mystery solved! Recall the fascinating mystery of the World
Chuck Hoey, Honorary Curator Championship medal discovered by a metal detector enthusiast in
ITTF Museum & China TT Museum Utah (USA)? This was reported in edition 86 of the TT History
museum@ittf.com Journal. In the 1931 ITTF Archives I found a report by Montagu
mentioning his stay in the USA from March until December 1930,
when he escorted Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein to
Hollywood. Along his journey Montagu stopped in Utah to speak
Publishing Schedule: at a gathering promoting the Labor Party. Montagu also received
June 1 Submit articles by May 15 the bronze medal from the 1929 Swaythling Cup as non-playing
Oct 1 Submit articles by Sep 15 captain. How it ended underground we will likely never know, but
Feb 1 Submit articles by Jan 15 we now have sufficient information to say … quod erat
demonstrandum (QED)
In this issue …
World ITTF Ball & TT Art of Trude Research
Record Museum Battledore Gustav Kleinova 22-29
Battledore Exhibition 10-13 Rehberger Vogel 43-53
3 4-8
14-20 21
Alan Duke
Philatelic Back Page:
Pirated Meet Punch World
Images Caron Humor Update Auction Championships
Part 7 Leff 42 38-39 Action Budapest
30-37 40-41
54-67 70
Jorge Arango Caron Leff Gerald Gurney
2
New Discoveries - Old Treasures
A World Record Battledore
by Chuck Hoey
The new world record of 10,000 strokes, recorded on the vellum of a No. 4 size
battledore by Payne, hand-dated May 14, 1856, in a shuttlecock rally between Fortes
and Warren. I estimate the rally lasted over 4 hours!
A world record has been discovered on
an old vellum drum racket (battledore)
with long handle. The inscription on the
vellum is dated May 14��, 1856, recording
an amazing rally of 10,000 strokes in a
game of Battledore & Shuttlecock. Recall
that in 1891 the Jaques game of Gossima
used vellum drum rackets, borrowed
from the shuttlecock game.
Someone contacted me many years ago
at the ITTF Museum in Switzerland to
inform me that a pair of battledores in
the Museum had the highest known
number of strokes ever recorded, 2,536,
in 1896. The above battledore smashes
that record, and is now the title holder.
Please contact the editor and send
photos if you have a battledore with a
recorded rally & date. ITTF Museum, Shanghai
3
ITTF Museum Exhibition
World Championships, Budapest
The ITTF Museum in Shanghai continued their series of
temporary exhibitions with a fine presentation at the
recent World Championships in Budapest. The
exhibition had a comfortable open space feel and
attracted many thousands of visitors.
The star of the show was the Sterling silver half-size St.
Bride vase presented to Victor Barna (HUN) after he
won his 3�� (of 5, a world record) World Singles title.
This was displayed along with Barna’s ITTF Hall of Fame
plaque. What a treat for the local fans!
There was also the popular Timeline history, which I
originally designed and introduced at the 2005 World
Championships in Shanghai, now updated through
2018 thanks to our friend Yao Zhenxu.
Congratulations to the museum team for their
professionalism, exhibition design and dedication to
the philosophy of taking the museum to the people.
Great job!
Chuck
4
Crowds of fans gather around display cases and the Timeline History
The Timeline History, a series of panels documenting all World Championships
and Olympic Games, plus historical notes such as ITTF Presidents and major
rules changes. Always a popular exhibit.
5
Panels describing the ITTF Museum, in English and Hungarian.
Next to the Timeline, panels about some of the great Hungarian players
throughout history.
6
ITTF President Thomas Weikert and CEO Steve Dainton visit the museum exhibition
Above right: Digital displays of the interiors of the museums in Shanghai
7
Racket displays
8
New Discoveries - Old Treasures
Peerless Parlor & Lawn Tennis - 1889
Very rare set of Peerless Parlor & Lawn Tennis
dated 1889, sold for a bargain $300. This is one of
several early experimental games with lawn tennis
motif, designed for play on the floor or on the lawn.
While not for table use it is an important game,
dated one year before the Foster set. The racket
has steel strings and is 15.25 inches (38.7cm) in
length. The set includes the net, netposts, original
wood box, but sadly only one racket has survived.
Below left is a copy of the patent for the racket, by
G. D. Corey (USA), patent number 404,899, dated
June 11, 1889, and that date is also stamped into
the wooden racket handle.
A great find !
9
Early Racket & Ball Game
by Chuck Hoey
There is ample evidence of the ‘Battledore & Shuttlecock’
game, the predecessor of Badminton played free-form without
a net. This was popular with children and adults. The famous
artist Kate Greenaway (ENG) often showed scenes of children
playing with small rackets and shuttlecocks, and there are
many such lithographed cards made in the 19�� century.
Jaques used vellum drum rackets borrowed from the
shuttlecock game in his Gossima 1891. A few very rare early
boxed sets of Battledore & Shuttlecock were produced in the
USA, and one in France named Jeu de Raquettes.
I have found some evidence of an early racket & ball game,
played free-form with small strung rackets as well as vellum
drum battledores. Let’s have a look …
Here is an example of the free-form
shuttlecock game, but note the red ball
on the ground. This likely suggests that
they played a free-form game using
battledores and ball as well.
This highly decorative early
New Years Greeting card
shows the game of ball
played free-form with small
strung rackets.
10This is an interesting example of the free-form racket & ball game, played with
strung rackets. I would love to find that boxed set in the lower right, though it
is curious that the artist shows the rackets bigger than the box!?
Another example of the free-form ball game played with strung rackets in this
French advertising die cut.
11Another image of the free-form racket and ball game. I wonder if
there was a formal name for this game. For the shuttlecock version,
boxed sets I have found were named ‘Battledore and Shuttlecock’
This example, published in New York, shows the ball & battledore game
was played on both sides of the Atlantic.
12This French boxed set of
Jeu de Raquettes has two
small strung rackets, with
some superb colorful balls.
But the box-lid shows a
shuttlecock (under the R).
The owners preferred the
game using balls!
So what do these images suggest? The fine
painting on the right by Edith Hallyar (ENG)
shows one possibility of how the idea of
tennis on a table was conceived: bored
lawn tennis players stuck indoors due to the
rain used their imagination …
What about bored kids stuck inside because
of rain? With rackets and balls that they
used to play outdoors, it seems plausible
that they might have tried hitting the ball
back and forth across a table - playing free-
form Ball & Battledore indoors would
probably be too risky. I have heard about
an early engraving showing kids hitting a
ball back and forth across a piano top, but
have never seen this.
I suppose, with reluctance, we must allow
for the oft-repeated tale of using cigar box
lids for rackets and a ball carved from a
champagne cork, but never any credible
evidence of this; once reported then copied
over and over again does not make a truth.
Chuck 13The Table Tennis Art of
Gustav Rehberger
by Chuck Hoey
Interesting how many encounters happen to us by His powerful art was shown on the front and back
chance. In fact I found some excellent museum covers, plus a lengthy article entitled ‘The Spirit of
pieces quite by chance, a sort of destiny I like to Table Tennis’.
imagine. Today’s featured artist was introduced to
me by a chance happening: our distinguished Rehberger, who was himself a strong player (ranked
colleague Diane Webb of England found some #23 in the US by 1939), really captures an intense,
American programs and kindly sent them to me. powerful spirit in his art. He also illustrated the 1968
book by 10-time US Champion Dick Miles.
One of the programs is for the 1962 US National
Championships. It is filled with the Table Tennis I am pleased to share this amazing program with
art of Gustav Rehberger (1910-1995). Originally our readers. Watch out for those huge smashes!
from Austria, in 1923 he emigrated to Chicago, Hope you enjoy meeting Gustav.
where he developed his precocious gift for art, as
well as a great love for Table Tennis. Chuck
1415
16
17
18
19
Source: Program for the 1962
US National Open
20Trude Kleinova Vogel
Todd Allen (USA) has found a wonderful treasure
trove of documents and memorabilia concerning
Trude Kleinova Vogel, a Czech national team
member who won 3 gold medals in the 1935 and
1936 World Championships. The papers also
document the amazing life of Eric Vogel, her coach
and 2ⁿ� husband, who was a design engineer and
inventor, also a very talented jazz trumpet player.
The materials were preserved by the mother of
Todd’s wife, Ruth, who was a caretaker of Eric in
his later years.
Among the items is a pair of rare bats with name
Kettnerova printed on the handles, the 1934 &
1935 World Woman’s Singles Champion. Todd
and Ruth are donating the documents to the
Institute of Jazz Studies & other museums. Bravo!
21Part One (by Alan Duke)
Hamley Brothers is a name well-known to anyone familiar with the history of table tennis, but their
involvement with the game does appear over the years to have been overlooked. Nevertheless their
contribution can never be forgotten if for no other reason than they were the applicants for the
original Trade Mark for the familiar Ping-Pong name (although the actual Mark illustrated doesn’t
seem to have ever been used!):
The story is told that the company was founded back in 1760 when William Hamley went up to London from
his home in Bodmin, Cornwall, and fulfilled his childhood dream of opening a toy shop, filling it with every
variety of toy imaginable. Unfortunately with the many changes in ownership of the company, documentary
evidence for the early years does not seem to have survived, but the store is known to have passed down
through the family over the generations. There was an advertising campaign in 1969 celebrating 200 years (a
little late!) under nine sovereigns, beginning in 1760. The
earliest evidence that I have found for this date was in an
advertisement in the Kentish Gazette of 21 May 1872:
The first known listing of the company is that of William
Hamley (1803-1874; born Cripplegate, London, son of
carpenter John Hamley), in 1830, at 231 High Holborn.
London Directory, 1830
[There was another William Hamley operating in 1811
from a wharf on the Paddington Canal as a Timber
Merchant; he later moved to Little Windmill Street, Golden
Square, finally joining forces there with John Bowser until the early 1830s. Was he perhaps part of the family?]
William had retired by 1871, with his business
passing to his sons (the Hamley Brothers; see
London Directory, 1878 ‘Timelines’, and ‘Last Will’ in Part Two), and then to
William Junior’s younger son, John (and Edwin’s son Cedric, born 1899, also opening a branch in Croydon). The
brothers opened a branch at 12 Oxford
Street for a few years from 1874, then in
1881 more permanently at 64 Regent Street (near Piccadilly Circus). London Directory, 1882
22HAMLEY BROTHERS
Another new branch was opened at 512 Oxford Street (Marble Arch) [left] in
time for Christmas 1898, when Hamley’s was described as “a national
institution. Everyone who knows their London knows Hamley’s, or ought to”.
Over the years the company’s premises suffered at times from damage
caused by fires, a common hazard in those days leading to regular newspaper
reports headed ‘Fires in London’. Following one such fire at 231
High Holborn in 1899, the premises at 86 and 87 (just to the east on
the north side of the road, next to Rose Alley) were brought into use
in 1900 as Noah’s Ark [right]. Around the same time Hamleys took
London Directory, 1888
over the conjuring business at 35 New Oxford Street (itself a
th
casualty of a further fire in 1916). Reports of this later fire, on the morning of Sunday 17 December,
described “all five floors … packed with Christmas stock of every description”, and how “at the end of an hour
the place was practically destroyed, and the damage … unofficially returned at £12,000”.
Through the years the store prospered, with the
opening in 1904 of a branch at 59 Knightsbridge
London Directory, 1901
(Albert Gate), and then in 1905 of The Toy Emporium
at 200 Regent Street (relocated a century later to its
current location a couple of doors away at 188-196). It was honoured to count royalty among its customers,
receiving Royal Warrants from Queen Alexandra (wife of Edward VII) in 1911, the Princess Royal (Louise, sister
of George V), Queen Mary (wife of George V) in 1938, and Queen Elizabeth II in 1955. It claimed at various
times to be the oldest, the finest, and/or the largest toy shop, in Britain if not the world. The company has
been known as (and traded as) Hamley’s, then Hamley Brothers (Ltd from 1901), and now just Hamleys.
Following their boom years the stores
began to struggle during the hard times
of the late 1920s, and were taken over
by Lines Brothers in 1931. The
London Directory, 1921
company was sold to Debenhams in
1977, and since then there have been a
number of takeovers by a variety of large conglomerates.
Considering the massive impact of the ping-pong craze in the first few years of the 20th century
there were relatively few advertisements by the company in the popular press, and even fewer (if
any?) surviving sets. But with regard to Ping-Pong, Hamley’s name frequently crops up in association
with Jaques & Son, in a business arrangement of which the details are not known, but always just
referred to as “Jointly Concerned”. Unfortunately, no records have yet been found which may have
been able to throw some light on the nature of the concern.
An early mention appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette of 22nd September 1900:
“No doubt “Ping-Pong” balls will soon be a feature in every toy-shop; they may be
obtained now at a penny a piece at Hamley’s, in Oxford-street” [TTH 85/28]. The
first Hamley’s advertisement found for “Ping-Pong,” or Table Tennis appeared in
Country Life Illustrated on 29th September 1900 [below left], just 9 days after the
Trade Mark had been registered, making it possibly the earliest advert yet found
for the game of that name. It was repeated in the edition of 13th October (although the Tether Ball
23HAMLEY BROTHERS
prices had increased to 12/6 and 15/-), and in her regular column in
the same issue, ‘Hermione’ referred to “the new game ping-pong
(…practically parlour tennis). Ping-pong, I am assured, is to be the
game of the future, and as it is always pleasant to be up to date in such
matters, I am off to Hamley’s, Regent Street, for the xylonite balls
required, together with battledores, and, I hope, the rules.” The same
magazine followed this up on 10th
November (right) with an advertisement
for Hamley’s Games for Country Houses,
one of which was “Ping-Pong,” or Table
Tennis, with a very similar illustration,
caption and text. For the 15th December
edition of the magazine, an advert for
Hamley’s Toys, Dolls, Games, etc., for
Christmas included exactly the same details for Ping-Pong, but the
caption to the illustration had
been changed (left). Jaques were
not mentioned in the
advertisement, but surely this use of their Trade Mark
‘Gossima’ implies some sort of a relationship between the
two companies?
The April issue of The Royal Magazine (published In late
March 1901, viz. an advert for ‘Pearson’s Magazine, on sale
Saturday, March 30’) stated that “We have it on no less
authority than the manufacturers, Messrs. Hamley, of Oxford
Street, that the aristocracy are delighted with it …..” [TTC
72/26-29]. A different sketch appeared in Country Life
Illustrated on 6th April 1901
[right] and 4th May [TTC 81/38].
These two advertisements were essentially the same, the only
differences being the removal of the reference to ‘TABLE TENNIS’
from the heading in the later version, and corrections to a couple of
prices.
But then we encounter again the puzzle of the nature and date of
the joint relationship! For on 16th April 1901, a Notice (dated 13th
April) was published in The Times containing an apology from J
Davenport for the use of the word “Ping Pong” in his advertisements
[TTC 81/38]. But this apology was addressed to
the solicitor acting for both Messrs. John Jaques
and Son, Ltd, and Messrs. Hamley Brothers!
[This must be confirmation that the firms were already ‘Jointly Concerned’.]
Meanwhile, on 27th April the Oxford Times reported that “the firm of Jaques,
the famous manufacturers of games of all kinds, introduced table-tennis a few
years ago under the name of ‘Gossima,’ but it did not take at all. Last year they made the same thing
24HAMLEY BROTHERS
for a well-known London retail establishment, Hamley’s, I think, and they invented for it the name of
“Ping Pong,” and lo! it rushed into popularity at once” [TTH 85/35]. [Could this be the reason for the
‘arrangement’, with each company seeking to utilise the strengths of the other; Jaques (“the famous
manufacturers”) enjoying access to Hamley’s “retail establishment”, and vice versa?]
The box-lid [above left] is the standard design used by
Jaques for their ‘Gossima’ and ‘Gossima or Ping-Pong’
sets, and then in conjunction with Hamleys, for ‘Ping-
Pong or Gossima’ and ‘Ping-Pong’ sets. There were
slight variations over the years, including one version
with Hamley’s address in the scroll [above right].
On 4th May 1901, Hamley Brothers registered a Design for a net post [373636; TTC 71/12]. Then on
25th May in Country Life Illustrated [without the names shown below between the illustrations of the
bats], and again on 1st and 8th June [below, with names added], they introduced the first of a series
of advertisements publicising their new game ‘Ping-Pong For the Garden’.
This features what I shall refer to as illustration ① [see below for descriptions of the two versions].
It also included the advice for Garden Parties that “Six games can be played at the same time, on a
medium-sized lawn”. That rather depends on the definition of ‘medium’, but perhaps it was
appropriate for the targeted readership of the magazine!
25HAMLEY BROTHERS
231 High Holborn
(in the parish of St Giles)
In 1760, at 231 High Holborn the
Cornishman William Hamley opened his
first toyshop, calling it ‘Noah’s Ark’. This
statement, either whole or in part, is encountered frequently in histories of Hamleys. But can it be
substantiated? ‘Established in 1760’ has been claimed since at least 1872 in the store’s advertising.
And William could well have been from Cornwall, as there were many Hamleys to be found in that
area, but the first of that name I could find at 231 (on the south side of High Holborn on the corner
with New Turnstile) was another William (probably a grandson), in 1830; and the first linking of the
names Hamley and Noah’s Ark (not a unique name around that time), in 1843 [Illustrated London
News, 23 December].
Prior to that Joseph Wilson (cabinet maker) was listed at 231 from 1779-1780, with Benjamin
Pearsall’s Toy and Hardware warehouse located
there from 1795 (and almost certainly from at least
1791) until his ‘Stock in Trade and Shop Fixtures’
were put up for sale, on the premises, on
21st December 1826 [Morning Advertiser,
same day]. On 14th April 1827 [Morning
Post], Ward and Co announced that the
Noah’s Ark Toy Warehouse at 231 High
Holborn had completed ‘their Summer
Stock of an extensive assortment of all
kinds of BRITISH and FOREIGN TOYS’.
This is the first example of the Noah’s Ark
name that I have found, and it continued
to be used over the next couple of years [Morning Post, 7 June 1827 (above), 26 March 1828].
An 1829 London Directory lists W Ward and
Co, Toy warehouse, at the address, but on
10th August that year [Morning Post] they were selling off the stock ‘at the Noah’s Ark old-
established Toy-warehouse, No. 231,
High Holborn. The Premises must be
cleared by Michaelmas next’ [29
September]. Was it cleared perhaps
for W Hamley, as he was listed as
occupant the following year?
[In the 1820s, there was a Ward and Co, tea dealers, at 2 Fish Street Hill (also referred to as Wm.
Ward and Co. on one occasion). It’s interesting to note that, whilst recognising that both William and
Ward are fairly common names, there was a William Ward (plus a Henry Ward) named as present at
the signing of the marriage certificate of William Hamley and Susannah Ward in 1842. Coincidence,
or was that how the two met?!]
26HAMLEY BROTHERS
No. 231 remained as Noah’s Ark until the title was
transferred to the “new premises” at 86/87 High
London Directory, 1900
Holborn following a fire at the original
building in 1899.
A Sale by Auction [below] took place on 27
April 1899 of all the salvage recovered London Directory, 1900
from the fire at 230 and 231 High Holborn.
In its 1st June edition Country Life Illustrated also published a short ‘article’ on the new game (in
reality an advertisement, even included in the advertisements section of the paper!) [TTC 3/15]; this
featured illustration ②. Also on 1st June 1901
1 The Graphic published the first of a series of
advertisements [left]. Throughout the couple of
months that these advertisements appeared
there were a few subtle changes to the layout
and content, which are itemised in the following
table, by comparison with this version 1 .
The two different illustrations can be
summarised as follows:
①: Single, 4‐legged table, house in background;
gentleman playing underarm.
②: Multiple, 6‐legged tables, with ball holders
on the tables; gentleman has played overhead,
lady (in frilly hat) is playing underarm [drawn by
Beatrice Spiller].
1901 Publication Details
Illustration ① used in layout that would then be employed, with changes as
1 June The Graphic 1
noted, in the publications listed below.
Heading arrangement altered, name added to bat illustration (and inverted
15 June The Graphic commas to "Tournament" in price list), and RETAIL added to 86-87 High
2
Holborn.
Heading arrangement changed again, the bat illustration and description removed (but
not the reference to the illustration under PING-PONG BATS!), the substitution of
PING=PONG SETS for THE GAME OF PING=PONG, removal of reference to full court
The Illustrated
29 June marking for four players, and the addition of “BACK STOP NETS (for Garden play),
London News
complete with Poles and Ropes, 15/6 each.” And the appearance below the
illustration of the wording ‘Hamley Bros. and Jaques and Son (Jointly Concerned).’ -
the first advertisement found containing a reference to Jaques. [TTC 82/41]
The Illustrated
13 July ‘Article’ (more free advertising!) accompanied by illustration ② [TTC 82/41-42].
London News
27HAMLEY BROTHERS
Major changes to the heading, with the game now also aimed at Country Houses and
27 July The Illustrated the Seaside, with the introduction of illustration ②; Jaques's Croquet added;
10 August London News reference to bat illustration (and 3/6 version of Hamley’s Tournament Bat), 3
finally removed [TTC 82/42].
27 July The Graphic Slight layout changes e.g. the Jaques’s Croquet reference [TTH 86/27].
24 August The Graphic As above but with a return to illustration ①. 4
7 Sept. The Queen Games for Country Houses, with illustration ②, but few product details [TTH 8?/??].
7 Sept. Country Life Similar to above.
Games for Country Houses: Outdoor & Indoor, with illustration ②; product details
21 Sept. The Queen
similar to ILN above; advert shared with Tennis-Cricket [TTH 8?/??].
2 3 4
During the summer of 1901 Hamley’s continued to advertise in
Country Life, plus a series in The Queen [the latter featured in TTH
90]. These were not solely for Ping-Pong, and indeed varied a great
deal in the extent to which Ping-Pong was featured.
For example, the advert in The Queen for 6th July 1901 gave merely a name-check to Ping-Pong,
with Country Life of the same day going only a little further, with just a one-line listing for ‘Hamley
Special Tables for the Garden’. On 3rd August, both magazines published very similar advertisements,
again with just a brief mention. In September there were adverts for Country House Games (see
table above), and then back to a brief mention in The Queen edition of 12th October.
During the period of these advertisements, Francis James Hamley was busy applying for a United
States Trade Mark for the name Ping-Pong. On 24th June 1901 (in London) he made a declaration
that Hamley Brothers had “a right to the use of the trade-mark, …. that no other person, firm or
corporation has the right to such use” [TTC 59/5 and 60/5]. He claimed that the trade-mark had been
“used continuously in business by us since about
August, 1900”. This Application was filed on 9th July,
and registered (No. 36854) on 6th August. [Possibly,
legally they did have sole ‘right’, as claimed, but by
association with Jaques had granted them
‘permission’ to use the name?] In the States, Parker
Brothers “had brought out Table Tennis, Indoor
Tennis, and Children’s Tennis, all of which had sold
only moderately. They had done much better in England, where the firm of Hamley Brothers, the
country’s largest dealers in sporting goods and
games, handles Parker products.
Shortly after the turn of the century someone
came to Hamley Brothers –– no one is sure
who it was among the later claimants of the
28HAMLEY BROTHERS
honor –– with the idea of using a celluloid ball, to be hit by paddles, instead of the net-covered ball
struck by small rackets. Hamley’s tried it out and won immediate success for the game, which they
named after the sound of the balls being struck back and forth –– Ping-Pong.
It was natural, in view of the close relationship between Parker Brothers and Hamley Brothers, that
Parker’s should have the American rights to the game Ping-Pong, the name of which was duly
registered at the patent office.” [75 Years of Fun; The Story of Parker Brothers, Inc. (TTC 51/13)]
Following their summer advertisements for the garden game, Hamley’s reverted on 9th November
1901 to publicising the indoor game in Country Life, with an advertisement headed ‘Ping-Pong for
the Winter Season’. This
advert re-appeared on 30th
November, then headed ‘Ping-
Pong for Christmas Presents’,
with the only other change
being to the small text box
headed ‘PING-PONG SETS’,
which in the earlier advert
claimed instead: ‘THE LATEST
SOCIETY AMUSEMENT. No
Indoor Game can afford more
healthy, physical exercise.’
On 16th November, again in
Country Life, ‘Hermione’ wrote
about Hamley’s: “Now a
particular word to the devotees
of that great game Ping-pong.
Its energetic pioneer, Mr. Hamley, permits himself no rest in its cause, and has quite recently brought
out and patented a most handy table, supported by trestles that can be folded underneath for portable
purposes. This is made of a special material, apparently some canvas preparation, which makes an
infinitely better playing surface than wood. It is painted the regulation black, a clear white line
running round the edge, and is to be had in five sizes, from 6ft. by 4ft. to 9ft. by 5ft., also minus the
trestles for placing on an ordinary dining-table. Another addition, also of comparitively recent date,
and one moreover highly appreciated, is ball pickers, whereof there are two varieties. The one
resembling a small fishing net is perhaps the more easily manipulated, although the experienced are
slightly in favour of an indiarubber cup, the edge cut into small claws, which draws the balls up by
suction. Furthermore is there a prevailing fancy for covered balls, another reminiscence of the garden
game. Vellum heads and wooden handles form the chief component parts of the rackets most
approved of the faculty, although there is a very admirable gut racket calculated to do the best service.
Inevitably, the quality and kind of racket must ever remain a detail to be decided by individual taste
and fancy; and taking this indefiniteness into consideration, Mr. Hamley now includes two of each
sort in his new and complete sets. He strongly advises, moreover, since the game has grown into such
a science, the use of the telescopic clamps, these carrying the ends of the net a good six inches beyond
the edge of an ordinary-sized dinner-table. There is a subtle side stroke which renders this addition of
the utmost importance, and it is apparently the work of Mr. Hamley’s life to be prepared for all these
and the like contingencies.”
[To be concluded in the next edition]
29EARLY PIRATED IMAGES
By Jorge Arango
Continuation
This is the seventh article of my series about early pirated images.
22. NOTHING NEW TO HIM
Above: Topeka State Journal, August 09, 1902. Below: Fort Worth Register, June 22, 1902 (Steve
Grant’s book “Ping Pong Fever”). Both images must be pirated ones.
3023. MUSHROOMS, ELVES AND SPIDER WEBS
The Delineator magazine, July, 1902.
Three images with mushrooms, spider webs and leaves for rackets. The lower right image is from the
Youth’s Companion magazine, and reproduced in Journal, Oct. 04, 1902, but giving the credit. Which
is the original one?
31Above: An image from the Punch Magazine, colored in a computer. Below: A detail of the image,
showing the mushroom and the elves with leaves as rackets.
32Ping-Pong in Fairyland
Six postcard series, showing the mushroom, the leaves for racquets, and the cobwebs. They have
different wordings, except the first one, above left corner, which is without any one. I know another
wording, “A happy Christmas”, and perhaps there are more of them. I do not know if all the wordings
were put on all the cards, but by all ways, these postcards are the most popular of the early postcards,
33German postcards. The German postcards are
the same of the English ones, and possible are
pirated copies, although it could be they were
reproduced from the original paintings, as there
are missing the “Ping Pong in Fairyland” wording,
and the initials of Ellen Andrews, which I think
were later added to the English postcards.
There are two versions according the back:
green and brown (shown at the bottom). The
brown ones have the labels “Druck u Verlag v.
Wezel and Naumann ATG, Leipzig,” and Serie
341. The left-middle postcard is a very rare one,
with the wording “Best Wishes for New Year.”
I present three of the cards, which correspond to Fairies I.
Bottom cards: Left: Brown card. Right: Green card. The green cards corresponds to the middle-left
card, and is the only one, which have the label “Wesel& Naumann ATG, Leipzig.”
On the other hand, Chuck Hoey and Rex Haggett found the pirated images.
34A series of eight oil paintings on silk. The age of these paintings is not known, but I think they are
very old, taking into consideration, the postcard set was very difficult to get, and the best opportunity to
do that it was when they were issued. Also, the set was sold by an antique shop. I think only in recent
times the collectors had the opportunity to get this postcards series.
Butterflies were added, and all the mushrooms are painted in white.
The images are the same of the fairies cards, with different colors, and two of them are repeated.
On the other hand, I consider these images very intriguing because I do not understand why the painting
were made, and with other colors.
Pirated image of Fairies I:
Pirated images of Fairies II and VI
35Pirated images of Fairies III and IV
Pirated images of Fairies V
The paintings are framed in pairs.
3624. MISS DARWIN
Above: Daily Express, London, January 8, 1903 (Steve Grant’s book). Below: The Denison Review,
April 11, 1903 (credit was given to Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.) The positions of the man and the
ball, and the table, were changed.
To be continued
37Philatelic Update
Croatia, 47250 Duga
Resa, 70�� birthday
of Antun Stipančić
Belarus 1.2.2019, for the European games 2019 Minsk, 21-30 June
4 sheets with block of 4 of 1 sport, and a tree with pictograms, including Table Tennis.
1 sheet with the 4 different stamps, and pictograms background, with Table Tennis
The postmark has no Table Tennis motif.
38France 18.5.2019 ‘Sport - Couleur Passion’ The Table Tennis
stamp (upper right) is dedicated for the European Table Tennis
Team Championships in September 2019 in Nantes/France.
Gibraltar 25.4.2019, 18�� Natwest
Island Games., 6-12 July 2019 Issued in
sheets with 14 sports stamps.
No Table Tennis motif in the postmark
German blue meter for the ITTF World Tour German Open
in Bremen, 8-13.10.2019
39Caron Leff
An Angel of Florida Table Tennis
One of the best benefits of our sport is meeting people. As
Founding Curator of the ITTF Museum in Switzerland, I have had
the great privilege of meeting thousands of interesting people
around the world. Many years ago I e-met the delightful Caron
Leff of Florida, and soon realized what a great heart for Table
Tennis she has. Caron was very generous to the Museum and
was so knowledgeable & well-connected that I was proud to
appoint her as an Ambassador of the ITTF Museum.
Caron has been active in Florida Table In 2006 she was inducted into the Florida Hall of
Tennis for over 50 years. She has ‘been Fame, in recognition of all Caron’s tireless work for
there, done that’ in most every aspect of our sport. Please join me in saluting Caron for her
the sport in the sunshine state. service, and her great love for Table Tennis.
She founded the Miami TT Club with Fred Recently I acquired a 1986 program for the US Open
Fuhrman in 1966, and also the Fort Myers Table Tennis Championships held in Miami Beach
club with her talented husband Marv, who (with thanks to our colleague Diane Webb of England)
is also a strong player. Caron & Marv were Caron wrote a page about the Miami Table Tennis
good friends with Laszlo Bellak, and she scene, which I am pleased to share with our readers.
told me many wonderful stories about
their back porch gatherings to relax and Chuck
reminisce with ‘the great Bellak’ & friends.
Caron began running local tournaments
with Bard Brenner and Fred Fuhrman, and
was active as a player from 1970 to 1975,
reaching #3 State ranking in women's
singles and #2 in mixed doubles with
partner Richard McAfee. In 1995 she
founded the Florida Hall of Fame with
Terese Terranova.
For 20 years Caron wrote a series of
articles entitled ‘Caron’s Corner’ for the
national magazine, Table Tennis Topics.
In the 1980.s through the 1990's she was
the local liaison and media coordinator for
a number of U.S. Opens held in both the
Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale
Convention Centers.
Caron has great memories of working at
the Table Tennis venue at the 1996
Olympic Games in Atlanta.
4041
Gerald Gurney (ENG) Reports
Punch Ping Pong Humour
Punch, or The London Charivari, a weekly comic
magazine,was founded in 1841, and it seems very
likely that it published table tennis cartoons soon
after the invention of the game.
While many of the Punch extracts have appeared in
several early editions of this Journal, here are two
examples to remind us of the early days, and how
society embraced the game with such enthusiasm
and humour.
42“Read All About It” – PART 5 (Early January 1902)
by Alan Duke
Belfast Evening Telegraph 1 January 1902 Why not Giggle?
The real fun about a game like ping-pong is that you
can giggle while you play it. It should be permissible to
fall over yourself, miss balls, tumble into the fire, and be
thoroughly ridiculous and jolly. It is neither algebra or
Euclid, but the glum-visaged organisers will try to make
it both until the “ping-pong face” is worn by all players,
and is recognised as a sadder thing than the look of a
funeral mute.
Golf and motoring have been made so technical that
they are much harder than hod-carrying. A man who
cannot spout by heart a lot of rubbish in connection with
them is snubbed by the other devotees, who work like
coal-heavers to learn a lot of stuff by heart, and who
thereby miss all the enjoyment of the sport.
th
You can’t play marbles nowadays without taking
[By 8 January, ‘STRONG’ had been corrected to ‘STRUNG’ - lessons from a professional, and if you want to spin a top
but they continued with their spelling of ‘RAQUET’!] you must put on a special costume and gabble a special
gibberish.
Sometimes, when we feel merry, we should like to turn
a somersault. But we daren’t. We are afraid there is
some sort of correct somersault costume that we don’t
know about. If we don’t put it on before we revolve
ourselves, our social position, perhaps, will suffer.
We call upon the ping-pongers of this country to arm
themselves, and to resent the attempt to make the game so
complicated that only a senior wrangler can ever learn the
[See also 20 December 1901] rules.
Abolish all the stupid phraseology and the silly-billy
Daily Express 1 January 1902 by-laws, for it is these that kill a game. The real secret of
A PLEA FOR SANE PING - PONG. ping-pong is to turn a man loose with a battledore and a
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
ball, and the oftener he falls over himself, steps on
People take things too seriously. There was one someone’s face, or whangs himself on the nose by
occupation that we sincerely believed was frankly mistake, the funnier it is.
frivolous; but now the solemn-faced tribe have descended
upon it, and invested it with so much gravity and so many
Lancashire Evening Post 1 January 1902
by-laws and regulations that it may cease to be a game at
all, and may become almost as hard work as that worst of
all drudgeries, chess.
The occupation that the rule-makers have captured is
the game of ping-pong, or table tennis. It began as an
amusement. Then a lot of fellows, who looked like
coroners with spectacles and a firm conviction that life is Dundee Evening Telegraph 1 January 1902
a solemn thing, came along and divested it of all its
delightful silliness and fun.
These rule-makers and problem-formers who have
already converted the diversion of bridge into a tragedy
have left very little of the original ping-pong. It reads
now more like algebra, or something you do for your
living, than a merry pastime.
To begin with, the game is handicapped by a lot of Do you ping, or do you pong? One or other you must
gloomy writers, who pen dirges about it. They call it a do. Like other diseases, ping-pong is spreading. It is
“serious club pastime,” which is the last thing there is any very easily caught. Spend an evening in a house where
demand for. Then they call for a “central controlling they play, and you cannot escape infection. There is
association to legislate upon the game,” and a “strong nothing to be done then but submit. As when you feel
provisional committee,” and a lot of gloomy, stupid influenza coming on, go to bed. So when you realise
personages who will formulate rule number ninety-six ping-pong has fastened its clutches upon you, don’t
and a quarter, and hamper and harass everyone until he attempt to throw it off. As a cure for insomnia, it is the
longs for the rest that work at his office would give him best thing the brain-worker can get.
from the awful task of learning rules.
43EARLY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
LIKE GOLF, IT DEMANDS exercise may be had over it that one needs to stir one up.
one’s complete attention; nothing more nor less. So long Next week we shall all be wishing each other “A Happy
as the ball goes––tom-tom-tom-tom––between the two New Ping-Pong Year,” and the signs of the times point to
rackets, gut or vellum, whichever is preferred, one can the possibility of 1902 proving a veritable ping-ponger of
think of nothing else than the game––the whole game and a year!
nothing but the game. Evidently the ravages of ping-
pong in Cockneydom are terrible. Tables, by all Yorkshire Telegraph and Post 2 January 1902
accounts, are now placed in City restaurants, and Stock A Sermon on Ping Pong.
Exchange patriots, in the intervals of bulling and bearing That zealous but unconventional clergyman, the Rev.
the market, wield the racket and forget business cares in W. Carlile, of St. Mary-at-Hill, Monument, recently
the thrilling excitement of a tussle. As is our wont, we in preached a sermon on ping-pong [and took up into the
Scotland are not yet quite so wildly enthusiastic. But pulpit with him a racquet and ball to illustrate his
there’s no saying what the New Year may not bring in.
subject]. Mr. Carlile does not see why “love,” which is
There is talk of starting ping-pong circles. Shakespeare
the greatest power in the world, should stand for
and Browning and Dante will soon be driven out of court
“nothing.” “Deuce” might have been expected to cause
as circle gatherers. They have simply no chance in these
more than a passing diffidence to the preacher, but he got
days.
over it by saying that the Christian is always at ’vantage
STAID, RESPECTABLE PEOPLE
––if he is a Christian.
who formerly indulged in whist and––whisper it softly––
chess now horrify their old acquaintances by chanting the Belfast Telegraph 3 January 1902
praises of table tennis. Dundee is half-full of ping-
pongers. In some west end houses ping-pong rooms are
set apart for the game. The great object of every player
is, of course, to prevent the ball secreting itself in the
farthest corner of the room under the side-board. Table-
cloths and cushions and stools and all kinds of things are
employed to defend dangerous positions, but
notwithstanding these the ball will occasionally elude
everything, and rattle merrily away out of sight. But that
is the essence of the game. The players thereupon throw
themselves on the floor and grope about with the poker Shields Daily News 3 January 1902
and the tongs. Corpulency disappears in a week’s time,
without harmful drugs, when ping-pong is indulged in “Ping-Pong” will be Ping-Pong no more if a new
seriously. The game corrects all kinds of possible battledore which has just been invented comes into
unpleasantnesses after plum-pudding and mince pies. general use. The new battledore has a wooden
These seasonable luxuries simply cannot stand up to it. foundation covered with vellum, which entirely destroys
In fact, ping-pong is the sound of the ping, from which the game has derived
WORTH A GUINEA A GAME
its title. The game is more popular than ever, and several
to suffering diners-out. Hear the table-talk of two of the younger billiard enthusiasts have forsaken their
players––enthusiasts who are breakfasting at 8 a.m. after former pastime for Ping-Pong.
having finished the previous evening’s play at 1 a.m. “I The Sportsman 3 January 1902
always oil the handle of mine, you know, every
morning.” “Yes; and do you know, I find it ever so good THE PING PONG ASSOCIATION.
–––––––––––
to keep my racket in a press all day?” “Yes. Well, I got TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPORTSMAN.
another tip from a professional––never use the same SIR,––I notice in many of the papers recently that a Ping
racket two nights in succession.” “Indeed!” “Yes, Pong Association has been formed, and that clubs are
indeed. All the best players have a racket for every night invited to affiliate. It may, therefore, be news to some
in the week––including Sundays, I’m told.” And so they and of interest to others to know that Ping Pong is a
glibly discuss points in the game. So far the literature of registered name, and may not be used with impunity by
ping-pong is limited, but no doubt volumes on the subject the common herd. The Table Tennis Club to which I
will soon appear. A corpulent “Colonel, retired,” will belong was started in October, 1900, as a Ping Pong
write a handbook on the subject, and an enterprising Club, such was our ignorance in those early days. Some
publisher will tabulate his sales of it week by week. months afterwards our dovecote was flattered, without
Once it begins to boom, it previous warning, by a request through solicitors that we
WILL GO LIKE WILDFIRE,
would immediately abandon the name, or beg permission
and another fortune will be made. Then an imaginative to use it under certain restrictions. Being unwilling to be
lady will turn to, and deal with “The Anecdotal Side of under obligation to any trade firm in a matter of sport
Ping-Pong,” illustrated, and a limited edition de luxe at a such as this, we complied with the peremptory request as
guinea a copy will be issued. There are always people gracefully as we could, and changed our name to Table
ready to profit by the short-lived enthusiasms of the men Tennis. I need hardly say we have not regretted the
and women in the suburbs. But on its practical side there change, but for the benefit of those who might sin in
is no doubt ping-pong is a good game. For winter ignorance, as we did, the facts seem worth stating.
evenings it is most delightful. Just the amount of
44EARLY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Reproduced below is Arnold Parker’s racquet touches the ball it must be drawn upwards
‘How I Play Ping-Pong’ article from sharply, the spin thus imparted causing it to fall rapidly
the Daily Mail (the “page 7” item and “shoot.” If the racquet be drawn sideways, the ball
referred to elsewhere in the same can be made to break in either direction. For a slow
edition of that paper [TTC 66, page 28], service, hold the racquet so that its surface is parallel to
and also as a note in TTC 78, page 21). the floor, and cut the ball as quickly as possible. It will
rise very slowly and break almost at right angles.
Daily Mail 3 January 1902
HOW I PLAY PING-PONG.
BY THE CHAMPION
OF ALL ENGLAND.
By causing the ball to spin a clever player can compel it to bounce
from the table backwards or forwards as shown in this diagram.
The strokes apart from the service can be divided into
two main classes–(a) the half volley, (b) all other strokes.
A half volley is a ball taken immediately after striking
the table. You hit where you think the ball will be, not at
the ball itself. It is, therefore, almost impossible to
actually hit in half volleying; it is the ball which hits your
racquet and bounces off.
This is purely defensive play. To attack, the ball must
be struck after it has reached the top of the bounce or
The new stroke––a very baffling reply––about to be introduced by even later, for then only have you complete command
Miss Bantock, the lady champion of all England. By a quick turn of over the ball.
the wrist at the moment of striking, the ball takes a course which
THE SMASH DIRECT.
appears to be entirely opposed to the natural law.
Constant practice of new strokes, thought out during I will first talk of the forehand stroke. By a forehand
spare moments, is the secret of success at ping-pong, stroke I mean that the palm of the hand faces the ball.
writes Mr. F. Parker (sic), champion of All England.
Every day before playing at the recent tournament I
thought of something new, and, when playing, sacrificed
games for the sake of the stroke until success was
assured.
First of all I will describe the most important strokes,
without any reference to what may be called the strategy
of the game.
To perform these strokes it is necessary for the racquet
to be held as short as possible. I should recommend The lady has hit the ball too high in the direction indicated, and the result is a
every one to try to play with the thumb and first finger on high rebound which enables her opponent to strike with such force that the
flight of the ball cannot be followed. This manœuvre is considered absolutely
opposite sides of the framework of the racquet, the other unplayable.
fingers holding the handle, which should not project First comes the drive, when the ball falls on the right-
beyond the palm of the hand. The racquet should be hand side of the table.
made of vellum of good quality. Swing the racquet freely at the ball so that the handle is
further away from your body than the bottom. Directly
you feel the racquet touch the ball give
a Sharp Pull
upwards. This will help greatly to keep the ball within
the court by the spin imparted.
Next suppose that the ball falls on the left-hand court.
Step sharply across, and swinging the racquet from
A very rare stroke mentioned by the champion. The ball is actually
made to bound back over the net. right to left parallel to the table, as if you were driving to
the left, let the hand bend back so that the ball is actually
The service claims attention first. I hold the ball a little sent short down the right-hand side with a screw that
below the level of the table, and stand about a yard and a makes it almost impossible to take.
half back. Throwing the ball up a little, I hit it straight When the ball bounces rather high it can be smashed
towards the spot where I wish it to fall. Directly the straight on to the table, but if your opponent gets back so
45EARLY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
as to take the return, turn your wrist so that the ball is game so as to keep your adversary well away from the
gently hit at right angles to the flight or even somewhat table, start a series of short cross shots, so that he has to
underneath; it will drop close to the net and come straight lean well over the table. When he has got quite used to it
up or even bounce back over the net. and begins to feel happy and quiet, a hard drive will
usually be effective.
THE “CROUCH SMASH.” Another sensational coup invented by A Ping-Pong Freak. The ball has been known to touch the top of
the Ping-Pong champion. His opponent generally finds that this is the net and crawl along it before falling.
practically unplayable.
One of the most annoying things that can happen is for
A very effective stroke in reply to a hard drive is that the ball to hit the top of the net and literally crawl over.
shown in the illustration, which I may call the “crouch But that is nothing to a ball hitting the post hard, then
smash.” As the ball comes towards you, crouch down dropping on the net, and finally on the edge of the table.
and hit the ball with the racquet above the wrist just as it Playing against the boy who got third prize at the
passes the edge of the table. This is a good return for a Queen’s Hall, I have once or twice turned away from the
hard service, but is most difficult to accomplish. All table thinking the stroke was won, and found that he had
these strokes can be done back-handed; in fact, some are taken it about a foot from the ground with his back to the
much easier, as owing to the wrist having more play in table.
the proper direction a greater twist can be imparted to the When driven to swing round a great deal to take a hard
ball. drive, after hitting the ball do not stop and turn back, but
In addition, a ball falling on the right-hand side of the continue the swing the same way so as to make a
court can be driven with the back of the hand in any complete circle; you get square with the table much
desired direction. I only use this stroke in case I am quicker by doing this. I have chiefly spoken of drives
pressed by a hard ball. falling near the side lines. These are usually more
Now for the, to my mind, most interesting part of the difficult to take than a ball straight down the centre. But
game––namely, its strategy or science, as apart from the used occasionally so as to cause surprise, it is most
“moves,” so to speak. effective. The spin imparted by practically all the strokes
It will be gathered from the strokes described above mentioned not only makes the ball break off the table, but
that I play both back and fore hand. This gives many curve very considerably in the air. So much so, that a
more opportunities for deceiving an opponent. Variety is player who meets them for the first time frequently
the secret of success, never let your opponent anticipate misses the ball altogether.
your intentions.
By a swift movement while the ball is still in contact with the racquet it is
made to “screw” or spin so that when it strikes the table it will bounce off in
any of the indicated directions at the will of the player.
Playing in the tournament the other day I had some A LESSON IN STRATEGY. After a succession of corner-to-corner strokes
amusing experiences. I drove three or four balls from the champion out-manœuvres his opponent by driving the ball to the opposite
corner with a twist that causes it to leave the table at right angles.
right to left, and then hit the ball straight down the side
line by turning my wrist back. My opponent at the Now to describe a game as played at Hendon for four
moment the ball hit the table on one side was holding his players. Fix a tape down the middle of the table, dividing
racquet to take it the other. Again I had driven the ball it into four oblongs. I take the right half of one side and
hard from left to right backhand. It was returned weakly my partner the left. In the first game I serve and play
to the same place. Instead of driving backhand, I stepped every ball into my opponent’s left-hand court; it must be
across as described above and hit the ball forehand to the returned to my partner’s half, and he must send it to our
same spot. My opponent seeing me step to the left other opponent, who has to return to me. Any ball
dashed across, thinking I should drive to the vacant space. returned to the wrong court counts as if it did not touch
He was disappointed. The next time a similar thing the table. Vary the rotation every game so that every one
occurred, only he, learning by experience, stayed where plays diagonally and straight.
he was. What could I do but use the first stroke described I must add a little advice to beginners. Don’t get
and hit hard across to the left. Again, I say, vary your disheartened if you find that for the first few games the
strokes as much as possible. After playing a hard hitting ball never touches your racquet. It will come in time. Try
46EARLY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
at first simply to hit the ball with the middle of the PING-PONG TROUBLES.
racquet. The rest will come. Then commence to develop Ingenious observers with an eye to the picturesque have
the strokes described above. When fairly accurate take found that ping-pong has (or may be expected to have)
another, and so on until you begin to get ideas of your quite a number of curious consequences, mainly for the
own, then develop them. beholder.
“The ping-pong squint” is the discovery of one visitor
to the tournament at Westminster. While another––the
PING-PONG DICTIONARY. Westminster Gazette’s representative––has discovered
–––––––––
BACKHAND PLAY.–The bat is grasped with the
the deadly peril of the umpire, “the new ping-pong
knuckles outward. Useful for half-volleying. disease––perpetual motion of the eyes.” Spectators, we
BREAK.––See screw. are told, also get swollen necks by constantly turning the
COURTS.–The ping-pong table, nine feet long by head from side to side in following the flight of the ball.
five wide, divided in the middle by the net. Is ping-pong neck to succeed bicycle back and golf
CROUCH SMASH. –– An invention of the elbow?––London “Leader.”
champion. It is an overhand stroke made at
the edge of the table, the player being in a Penny Illustrated Paper 4 January 1902
crouching position.
DEAD BALL. –– The ball is “dead” after the
second bounce from the time it leaves the
player’s racquet, and cannot then be hit.
DIAGONAL PLAY.––From corner to corner HAT of it? Well, it has become a craze. Whether
diagonally. It usually means brief rallies. it will turn out to be more than this, time will
DRIVE.––A hard, straight stroke with no screw. decide. Its inventor had in his mind a game which
FOREHAND PLAY. –– The racquet is held with could be played in any decent-sized sitting-room,
the palm of the hand facing the ball. Good for hence the feather-weight celluloid ball which might be
drives.
struck against an article of vertu without doing any
HALF-VOLLEY.––Purely defensive. The ball is
taken at the moment of bouncing, and damage. It was received warmly. Here, there, and
rebounds almost by its own impetus. everywhere the “ping” and the “pong” of the battledores
LET.––If, in serving, the ball touches the net, and were to be heard, and the merry laugh of those engaged in
then lands in the right court, it is a “let,” and the new indoor pastime. Finding balls which had become
counts to no one. In returns, a net ball counts hidden in the folds of the curtains, diving under couches
as usual. and chairs after others which had been served too smartly
PING-PONG. –– “The murmur of the racquets,” to be taken––these were the incidents of Ping-Pong’s
from which the science derived its name. infancy, and are so now where the game is not played
RALLY.––A long succession of returns.
seriously. Seriously! Ah! there’s the rub. Some have
RETURN.––The reply to service.
SCREW.–– The spin on a ball imparted by a played it so earnestly as to desire for something more
drawing motion of the racquet. Causes the ambitious than a game at home or at a friend’s house.
ball to curve in mid-air and break at an angle. One name has proved insufficient. It is also called Table
SERVICE.––The first stroke in each point. Tennis. Two Associations are in the field. Open
Players serve alternately. tournaments have been played––at the Westminster
SHOOT.–By giving top-spin (q.v.) to a ball it will Aquarium and and the Queen’s Hall––and, presumably,
shoot instead of rising after a bounce. other championships will follow. The parchment-covered
SMASH.––Impossible to take. The whole force of battledore has had to give way to wooden bats, some
the body is put into a downward stroke. It is
faced with cork. Other developments may be expected.
somewhat dangerous to attempt this stroke, as
the ball may miss the table altogether. What is at present quite certain is that there is less
TOP-SPIN.–– Given by an upward movement of amusement for lookers-on in the open tournament game
the racquet during the instant that the ball in which skilled players engage than in the more humble
touches the vellum, keeps the ball low, and phase of it as played at home. Still, large numbers,
causes it to shoot violently like a cricket-ball doubtless attracted by the novelty of the affair, attended
on a wet pitch. at Queen’s Hall last week, when the Ladies’ competition
UNDER-CUT.–– The reverse of “top-spin.” If was won by Miss Bantock and the Gentlemen’s by Mr.
severe, will cause the ball to bounce back A. Parker. Mr. Robert Newman announces another
again over the net. Checks the speed of the
tournament for Jan. 27 and following days.
ball, and may cause your opponent to
miscalculate its whereabouts at the critical Dundee Evening Post 4 January 1902
moment.
Dublin Warder 4 January 1902
This article was a reprint of that published in The Field of
st
21 December [TTH 87, page 50]. “Page Six” carried a reprint of the ‘Ping-Pong Dictionary’
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– published in the previous day’s Daily Mail [see left].
47You can also read
