It could take a long time sitting in a library searching for articles about tennis in newspapers from the mid 1870’s. Well thanks to a National Library initiative, there is now an online search engine with a key word search that isolates articles, headings, text and ads. Consequently, we have found some wonderful reference material in the form of ads to include on the site. A huge benefit of this material is that we can identify makes and models being sold by retailers prior to the development of the local industry and those produced locally. We have loaded some on the www.tennishistory.com.au website to provide a visual time warp back to earlier times. Check out racquet retailing in particular for informative display ads. http://tennishistory.com.au/equipment/racquets/racquet-retailing.html
See the national Library site at http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home and explore Australian Tennis History or any other subject as it was written at the time.
Cheers Rod
