tennishistory.com.au

Another interesting tennis item emerged this week with a 1927 photo article about an Australian invented tennis ball machine. Here we have the inventor, Mr P Jepson of Melbourne (left) along with Gerald Patterson (2nd right) with the visiting French Team of Brugnon and Boussus. It served out balls at a rate of 14 -28 balls a minute. So there you go a very early date for the development of ball machines. Also note that Renee Lacoste wrote about building a Tennis ball machine in his book “Lacoste on tennis” so maybe this was the inspiration. This also went to the USA for various exhibitions at tournaments. No idea of the commercial success but a great piece of ingenuity.

Now as far as head shape goes, the Head Legend c late 1970’s wins another award for taking design ideas to the maximum. You can see the shape is extremely oblong while still not being wider than a standard size frame. I haven’t hit with it, but an interesting addition to the collection. I also have a Slazenger Titanium with a similar look. Enjoy……and comments about other racquets welcome. See www.tennishistory.com.au for a site full of racquets and other memorabilia …………. Rod

When I first caught a glimpse of the 1920’s Dayton Steel racquets made in the USA, I was struck by the range of colours and the uniqueness of the design and the indestructible steel piano wire strings. While often quoted as specially suited to schools, these racquets did make their way to Australia in 1923.

The article (very bottom) was published in January 1923 while Australian Tennis champion Gerald Patterson on the right (below) is shown using one in Melbourne in March 1923. He went on to become a Sales Manager at Spalding in 1925 who also produced an early metal/ wood racquet. We also have an article about Jean Borotra from France arriving in Melbourne in January 1928 and playing with Pat O’Hara Wood at South Yarra tennis Club using steel racquets in very wet conditions and the Frenchman (like many first class players) was not very complimentary towards them even though this was the first time he had ever used them. See more about Dayton racquets under unusual racquets at www.tennishistory.com.au

I am thrilled to find this valid connection linking Dayton racquets to Australian collectors.