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Last week I came across a very early New Zealand wooden racquet made by Slazenger, presumably, in New Zealand.

As you can see, the Slazenger Matchpoint, a name used in various markets is in nice condition.

Whilst being interested in Australian racquets our interest extends to racquet makers from around the World. See the full site at www.tennishistory.com.au

What is very nice about this design is the recessed throat from gently shaped shoulders. This provides for a really well contained area for the graphics which you can see here are in pretty nice condition and different from similar vintage designs.

So we need to know more about Slazenger New Zealand, when it opened and closed the factory, what age is this model (my guess 1940’s) Any other unusual models or stories about racquet or ball makers in New Zealand.

Since Australia is the 3rd island of New Zealand maybe some local kiwis can help us out with some good history.

Cheers & enjoy…. Rod

From 1874 when Major Wingfield patented his lawn tennis game called “sphairistike”, the game caught on quickly and headed around the globe. In the USA, the story goes that in February 1874 a Mrs Outerbridge brought a set back from Bermuda where British Troops were playing the game, although Wingfield had only applied for his patent at this exact time ( 23-2-1874) . Maybe there were early sets made prior to the patent, but it seems odd that sets would be on the other side of the world prior to the patent application which would be required to protect the intellectual property. The Wimbledon Museum actually has the sales records for Major Wingfield’s partner business French & Co. for the period from 6 July 1874 to 26 June 1875, noting that none of these records contain any information about direct sales bound for the USA or Australia. They also believe that many sets may well have been sent out many before and after these dates – probably up to 1880. As for the early lawn tennis game devised at Leamington Spa by Major Gem, he did not market his game and just produced a set of rules.
From the above, it would be reasonable to assume that British military bases which required consistent supplies may well have included sporting items such as tennis sets. However, the whole scenario as to how tennis arrived here is wide open. The first Australian, official croquet club commenced in South Australia in 1867 and this club was connected to the All England Croquet Club. As the UK parent was instrumental in defining new rules of the game this could be a very strong candidate for the first set arriving. Of course Cricket clubs were also widespread even in the USA and tennis was a popular way to provide the ladies a pastime while the menfolk played their game. Many of the cricket manufacturers easily adapted tennis into their sporting goods range.

In Australia, in January 1876 we have our earliest mention of the new and now fashionable game of tennis from a retail store ad in Launceston, Tasmania. For there to be an ad means that demand and interest had already been established at some point over 1874/1875. But perhaps one of the greatest insights, is the Courier Mail 1888 article looking back at tennis arriving in Queensland in August 1876 and the early development of the local clubs. The description of the high net and scoring method seems to point to this set being a Wingfield version that the schoolmaster of Brisbane Grammar, Mr Roe brought with his family from the UK. The social popularity of the game via Sunday afternoon lawn tennis parties and individual families buying sets for their own entertainment, particularly if they were heading to unknown lands may end up being the eventual source of tennis arriving in Australia.

Please check the full article on www.tennishistory.com.au

Anyone with more knowledge and articles on tennis arriving here please email us your contact details.

Cheers Rod

Metal tennis racquets were first developed in the early 1920’s which is often not known. The most famous UK racquet was the Birmal Aluminium racquet which was extremely well forged and certain models had cord wound handles whilst others had the more standard leather grips. Whilst this was the first all metal version, combination metal head-wood handle versions were developed not only by Birmal but with huge success in the USA by a company called Dayton. These racquets were strung with piano wire strings and were reputedly highly regarded by schools for their sheer ability to survive. As a collectable, the difficulty is finding good examples with minimal paint loss.

Spalding by the way, had an aluminium head-wood handle racquet in the 1930’s shaped much like a wood racquet with relatively flat edges. Dayton’s early racquets were quite thin steel frames, however they also started a similar design with a brand called the ‘Aviator’.

Jumping up to the 1960’s, there was little development of successful metal racquets until the launch of the Wilson T-2000 was in fact designed by Frenchman, Renee Lacoste’s firm, Lacoste and versions of the racquet are available under both brands. I am no steel expert, but I believe these were made from carbon steel.

In Australia, as the reign of the local wooden racquet manufacturers was ending due to worldwide shortages in Ash plus the interest in lightweight stronger metals, a few locals began to experiment in metal racquet production. While the likes of Spalding, Slazenger, Yonex and others lauched racquets in Aluminium one innovator in South Australia was an expert in Stainless Steel, which is a much more complex metal to adapt. Nevertherless, from a backyard workshop in the early 1970’s, came the ARCO Stainless steel racquet in a standard size (at first) then oversize version. We gather people loved them. They were super strong and quite flexible and with 19lb/16lb stringing provided strength and power. See www.tennishistory.com.au for more details. If you had one let us know how they played. There were some thousands made so maybe you will be lucky enough to find one for your vintage tennis racquet collection. The green covers are the really early standard size racquets. The later models had blue covers, some were powdercoated and if you find bright silver model called a “Starmaker” that was an ARCO first attempt at a carbon steel racquet before the big switch to Stainless Steel………….. Rod