The Journal of the Table Tennis Collectors’ Society · PDF fileThe Journal of the Table...

THE TABLE TENNIS

The Journal of the Table Tennis Collectors’ Society

36 Winter

2004

In this issue…In this issue…

No. 36 The Table Tennis Collector

Hans-Peter Trautmann and Win-fried Engelbrecht

· Latest from Ebay (p6)

· Invicta Table Tennis Team: 1903 (p8) by Chuck Hoey

· Russ’ Japanese Find (p9) by Russ Walker

· Nets & Edges (p2)

· Bill Tilden the Ping-Ponger (p3) by Gerald Gurney

· World Championships in Phi-lately : Part 4 1957-9 (p4) by

· What’s the Score? (p10) by Chuck Hoey

· Philatelic Pages (p12) by Anton Zwiebel

· Early Local Tournament Scene (p14)

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Editor: Graham Trimming 17 Gwendale, Pinkneys Green Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 6SH England Tel: +44 (0)1628 636978 email: [email protected]

Next issue - publication March 2005 - copy date 1 February 2005

36 Winter 2004

TTHEHE T TABLEABLE TTENNISENNIS

CCOLLECTOROLLECTOR


From the Editor

Nets & Edges Bibliography of Table Tennis Publications

Hans Kreischer has finished his work on the Bibliography of Table Tennis Publications. It consists of more than 1,500 entries. Because of the large cost of printing and shipping the pub-lication, Hans has made it available on CD. This also makes it very easy for fellow collectors to add the publi-cation onto their own hard disks and maintain it up to date themselves. It is written in Microsoft Word. The CD can be obtained by sending EUR 35 to Hans in cash or by PayPal. No cheques please.

Hans has also recently moved from the Netherlands to Spain and his new address is:

Fam. Kreischer Urb: Hoya de los patos Calle del os cisnes 69 03111 Busot, Alicante Spain

Romanian Covers A couple of eminent members have remarked recently that caution should be exercised in buying philatelic cov-ers from Romanian sources via Ebay.

It appears that these covers are pro-duced using an inkjet printer and pur-port to commemorate all sorts of ta-ble tennis events. Often, these events are in no way connected with Romania and it is obvious that they are not official souvenirs of the events depicted.

However, some of the images used in the preparation of these covers also appear to have been illegally copied from websites and one such site was recently successful in per-suading the seller to remove items from sale that included images ob-tained in such a way.

More problematic, potentially, was the recent sale, for a very high price, of a cover purporting to be from the 1953 World Championships which were held in Romania. This looked more promising but I have been ad-vised that the item sold may have been a copy produced in the same way as the others.

Caveat emptor!

Notice from the ITTF Museum

It has come to our attention that some images of original pieces in the ITTF Museum have been pirated for use on other websites, without per-mission, without credits.

Images from the ITTF Museum can be used only in a non-commercial context and each such image must have this clearly and easily readable caption credit next to the image:

"Courtesy the ITTF Museum www.ittf.com/museum"

The ITTF would also appreciate the courtesy of a formal request for use of its images, by letter, fax or email, with the address of the website or a copy of the publication in which such images appear.

Chuck Hoey, Curator, ITT Museum

Table Tennis Illustrated I wonder how many of the members of the Table Tennis Collectors’ Soci-ety are also subscribers to the official ITTF magazine Table Tennis Illus-trated? All of you, I hope.

For any that are not, you are missing out of a fascinating magazine with topics to interest every reader inter-spersed amongst the current news items. Every article is illustrated with fantastic photographs.

Of special interest to our membership is the series of articles penned by Chuck Hoey, Curator of the ITTF Mu-seum. So far his topics have in-cluded:

· A Cheap Plastic Auction Bin (no. 45) · Original Classic Table Tennis Bats (46) · The Art of the Table Tennis Bat (47) · From the Parlour to the Podium (48) · Highlights from the ITTF Archives De-

lights and Disappointments (49) · Follow the Bouncing Ball (50) · Invicta Table Tennis Team (51)

To subscribe contact the ITTF Head-quarters, Chemin de la Roche 11, 1020 Renens/Lausanne, Switzerland

email: [email protected]

T his issue marks the end of the third year of my reign as the Edi-

tor of this publication, having taken over from Gerald Gurney at the end of 2001. I am pleased to say that I still enjoy the challenge of producing this publication and am most grateful to the contributions from fellow mem-bers—without which it would be diffi-cult continue.

With this issue you will find a mem-bership form inviting you re-subscribe for the year 2005. I hope that you all will and I will also be looking out for additional members for our Society.

The subscription rate of GBP 10 re-mains unchanged for the tenth year and rates in EUR and USD have been calculated at their approxi-mately current exchange rates against GBP.

May I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year and may your collections be expanded!

Graham Trimming


I t is only the odd table tennis enthu-siast who has not heard of the

lawn tennis exploits of "Big Bill" Til-den, who, born in the United States in 1893, dominated the game for many years. At the age of 8 he won a tour-nament for under-13s, he was Wim-bledon champion in 1920, 1921, 1930, and he won the United States Open on no fewer than seven occa-sions—in 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1929. He was 37 when he won his last title at Wimble-don, but this in no way suggests that Tim Henman will be champion in 2011!

Few table tennis enthusiasts, how-ever, will know that Tilden professed to "have played Ping-Pong for years", adding, "It has a real fascination for me", a quotation which appears in his Introduction to Ping-Pong—The Game its Tactics and Laws by Corne-lius G. Schaad (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1930, $1).

The Introduction reads as follows (see inset—right):

Readers may well suspect that this—except for the final paragraph—was "ghosted" by Cornelius Schaad, and one may wonder just how keen a player of ping-pong Tilden really was; he may well have been merely pro-moting the book as a good turn for the author. Does anyone have any evidence for his claim? Perhaps he played in some tournaments—at least when he was in his teens before he became fully committed to tennis? But there is no reference to this in Frank Deford's biography of Tilden under the title (inevitably) of Big Bill Tilden.

The photograph from the book shows Tilden in a rather less than athletic pose (and dress), the photograph taken at Wimbledon by the important tennis photographer, Edwin Trim, is rather more appropriate. This, from my collection, is signed and worth at least £100, particularly as it is in the full version Wm. T. Tilden 2nd.

PS: Readers may be surprised that reference is made to Ping-Pong throughout the book; at the time, this was the Registered Trademark of Parker Brothers in the United States and the ruling body was The Ameri-can Ping-Pong Association.

Bill Tilden the Ping-Ponger By Gerald Gurney

Just a word about Ping-Pong for the unini-tiated. Ping-Pong is a particular form of indoor tennis. It is a game owned and developed by Parker Brothers, and its great growth has carried it into national importance. Let me state at once that Ping-Pong as a game has many of the best qualities of competitive athletics, far more than any of the smaller indoor games. The old myth that Ping-Pong hurts one's tennis is ridiculous and un-founded. There is no cause for fear on the score. All over the United States groups of Ping-Pong enthusiasts hold local championships.

The American Ping-Pong Association will aid in standardizing rules and equipment, help develop Ping-Pong clubs and en-courage tournaments, even striving in the not distant future to effect International Matches. In effect this organization will strive to do for Ping-Pong what the Golf and Tennis Associations have done for their games.

No game can succeed without organiza-tion, and The American Ping-Pong Asso-ciation should prove a tremendous asset to the game. Every group of Ping-Pong fans and players should welcome such a move. Join the organization and use with scrupulous care the equipment and rules adopted for play by The American Asso-ciation. I am a great believer in standard-

ized rules and equipment for any game that is played in any international, or even national sense.

This little book by Mr. Schaad is a valu-able manual to Ping-Pong for in it an ex-pert player tells why and how he plays the game and tells it in language that a novice can understand and profit by. One finds a clear exposition of stroke technique, tac-tics, grips and all the essentials of play told with the enthusiasm that is necessary to success.

I have played Ping-Pong for years! It has a real fascination for me. I find it has the same for many of my friends. Jackie Coogan is a keen enthusiast, Gloria Swanson plays regularly. Manual Alonso and Vincent Richards are excellent play-ers. One finds Ping-Pong enthusiasts in the world of art, theater, music, motion picture, medicine, law, as well as the great business world. Ping-Pong affords relaxation, exercise, and amusement in sound and sane proportions! I hope the American Ping-Pong Association suc-ceeds in its aims and that the next few years will see the growth in the game that it deserves.

FROM INTRODUCTION TO FIRST MANUAL

BY WILLIAM T. TILDEN, 2nd

(left): from the Cornelius Schaad book; (right): from Wimbledon


World Championships in Philately By Hans-Peter Trautmann and Winfried Engelbrecht Part 4

Part 4 of Hans-Peter Trautmann’s and Winfried Engelbrecht’s World Table Tennis Championships in philately. Part 1 in the issue 33 began the story in 1950, the year in which special postmarks were used for the first time.

1957 Stockholm, Sweden Event Winner(s) Country City

Men’s Singles: Toshiaki Tanaka Japan

Women’s Singles: Fujie Eguchi Japan

Men’s Team: Miyata, Ogimura, Tanaka, Tsunoda Japan

Women’s Team: Eguchi, Namba, Okawa, Watanabe Japan

Cancellation: Sweden Stockholm

In issue no. 32 the 1956 Championships in Tokyo were featured. Because of lack of space I omitted the Japanese mini-sheet of stamps created for the event. Hans-Peter and Winfried have asked me to include this in the current issue for the sake of completeness. Herewith, a reduced scan of the entire sheet and actual size detail of the top line of the sheet—GT.


1959 Dortmund, West Germany Event Winner(s) Country City

Men’s Singles: Jung Kuo-Tuan China

Women’s Singles: Kimiyo Matsuzaki Japan

Men’s Team: Hoshino, Murakami, Narita, Ogimura Japan

Women’s Team: Eguchi, Matsuzaki, Namba, Yamaizumi Japan

Stamps: China

Cancellations: China Beijing

West Germany Dortmund

Peking 30.8.59


Latest from Ebay www.ebay.com

One of the best sources of items to augment collections of any sort is the internet auction giant Ebay. He is a selection of some of the better items that have been traded on Ebay since the last issue of this journal. For this issue I have asked two of our members to write up the stories of their particular and impressive acquisitions. Features from Chuck Hoey and Russ Walker follow in the next two pages.

We start this month with a most unusual item, indeed it is certainly unique! These two cards were hand made by “Joe” and postmarked 1902. The caption is “The popular game of ping pong is indulged by Uncle and Auntie”. Perhaps these were sent to the afore-mentioned Uncle and Auntie and must have been gratefully received to have survived more than 100 years. They came from an album containing hundreds of cards. The ITTF Museum considered these to be such an important example of ping-pong defining social history that almost no price was too much to pay, and GBP 215 was required to secure them as a museum exhibit.

Below is a stereo view of a woman and child angel engaged in ping-pong. It dates from 1903 and surprisingly made only the modest price of USD 23.

This Bussey’s set has gained an additional pair of battle-dores at some stage of its life. Although not shown clearly in the photograph the net posts were the familiar Bussey style—painted gold and brown spiral pattern . A standard Bussey set, but it still attracted bids up to USD 260.

Above is an “Oxford & Cambridge” wooden boxed game of Whiff-Waff comprising two battledores (marked Excel-sior) and a pair of turned ivorine (the seller claimed them to be bone/ivory) net posts with ornate brass (one silver plated) clamps. Obviously, a rare example of the nor-mal Whiff-Waff set made with better quality materials. This item found its way from New Zealand into the col-lection of a Society member for the sum of USD 407.


Below is a souvenir sheet of table tennis stamps issued in China to commemorate the 1961 World Championships in Peking. This set fetched the very high price of USD 251. On the very same day a different seller sold the identical image on a postcard for the rather less remarkable price of USD 50.

I have noticed a trend in recent months towards higher prices being gained for post-war good quality items. There are collectors in the Far East who specialise in these items and the ITTF Museum is having to bid high to augment its presence in this market. Two of the four items depicted here ended up at the Museum, the other two to a collector in the Far East.

Pictured right is the “Ann Haydon” bat by Jaques, in mint condition and in its original box. Ann Haydon was the daughter of England international Adrian Haydon. She reached the final of the Women’s Singles in the 1957 World Championships and later found greater fame by winning Wimbledon in 1969 after having turned her atten-tion to the slower, outdoor game! This bat sold for GBP 140, quite a bit more than when new in the 1950/60s.

Another export to Asia was this Slazenger set which, despite only boasting two bats with cov-ers, a cheap net and three balls, still made the impressive price of GBP 101.

This little gem, a French Barna “racquette” in its original carton, found its way the ITTF Museum despite its seller proclaiming he would only sell inside France! Perhaps, the EUR 318 he re-ceived atoned for the extra effort he needed to effect its shipment to Switzerland!

The Museum also acquired this vintage Slazenger set from its owner in the USA for the price of USD 240. There are four bats, a net with simple metal posts, and a ball. Again, quite a high price for such an item but the bats seem to be in good enough condition to be worthy of a place in the sport’s global museum.


Invicta Table Tennis Team: 1903

A fter much suspense and a spirited auction on Ebay, I am pleased to report the acquisition of

a rather special piece of early Table Tennis history. Rather expensive at GBP 1,070, but I felt it impor-tant to ensure its future in a proper museum setting.

The photos show the treasure, a set of 4 painted bats mounted in a handsome old display cabinet with framed glass door, around a centre shield: IN-VICTA T.T.T. 1903. Each bat has a painted portrait of the Invicta Table Tennis team members; three are holding their bat in hand. Perhaps the chap without a bat was the non-playing captain!

On the verso of each bat the players are named:

J.C. Selby D.G. Keyne Haynes Rex Roberts

The lady’s bat has an additional inscription on the back: “INVICTA!” as in a rousing Go Team! cheer, vivid evidence that Table Tennis was a liberated game from the onset, with active participation by women.

The artwork is more in the folk genre than fine art, but this hardly dampens the importance and rarity of the display. The ITTF Museum now has seven original paintings showing actual players from the heyday of the new game sensation in the early 1900s.

I had been trying to find the time to visit our distin-guished colleague and longtime friend, Gerald Gur-ney, so this seemed the ideal opportunity. Off to England to claim the prize! Gerald and Joan’s fa-mous English hospitality was impeccable, and we had a marathon afternoon of carefully wrapping the cabinet.

Transporting it back to Switzerland was quite a chal-lenge, as it was much too large for carry-on bag-gage, yet I did not want this treasure to leave my hands. But this man on a mission was not to be deterred. Using my jacket draped over the cabinet, I avoided problems at the final check-in, then confi-dently boarded the plane and approached the chief flight attendant. Looking him squarely in the eyes I said in a hushed, serious tone that this was an im-portant piece for the museum and must be handled gently; stow it where the coats are hung. He practi-cally did a snap-to Yes Sir!

The ITTF Museum will be staging an extensive ex-hibit at the 2005 World Championships in Shanghai, where our exhibits, including this gem, will be en-joyed by hundreds of thousands of avid Table Ten-nis fans. Come join us!

The first of the special Ebay articles comes from Chuck Hoey, Curator, ITTF Museum. Chuck tells us the story of a unique find on Ebay and the problems associated with trans-porting it to Switzerland. See the front cover of this issue for the full photograph.

By Chuck Hoey


I had never heard of or seen an early (pre-1930) Asian TT set be-

fore, but always suspected some must exist. The recent Japanese set I acquired is the first early one I've seen. Perhaps there are others iso-lated in Asian countries that just haven't been offered commonly in the western collector market, but logic dictates that early ones would be rare. Although I've heard of an ac-count or two of a Japanese person bringing an English set into Japan during the 1902 fad, or sometime after, they were not sets that were actually made or sold in Japan. Al-though the game has been very popular in Japan for many years, in the 1920s that wasn't the case.

I believe my set could even be pre-1920 based on several factors. The box cover has a Japanese inscription on the upper part that I found out means "Pin Pon Seto" which is the same as Ping Pong set. It has a sim-ple 2-colour illustration of a paddle. The nam e on t he b o t t om "Matuzukaya" refers to an old and popular Japanese department store. The seller said that this set was found in the historic city of Shizuoka, Japan near the foot of Mt. Fuji.

The box itself just looks very old and aged, although in decent condition. The paddles are quite small, only 9.25 inches in length, and are made of solid wood, an indication of an

early date. They are stained brown, but not shellacked. They have nine holes drilled though the blade, each about an inch apart. That is a very unusual feature.

The set came with two different net assemblies. One long net and one short, but different styles. Both are very unusual in that they have con-necting sections that connect to both bases of the net posts, making it a free standing net. One has elegant styled and stained posts, the other are more plain. Both nets look very old and not unlike some that came in early 1900s sets I've seen. One has each joint knotted, but the other has a very fine mesh. Logic dictates that the original set only came with one net and post assembly, not two differ-ent types. One was probably added in later from a different set. The black balls are also very interesting, but may not be original. They are a bit larger than normal, about the

same size as a modern 40mm ball. I'm uncertain of the material they are made of, but it's not celluloid. They seem to have a seam in the centre where two halves could have been moulded together. They are very hard yet very light. They seem hol-low, but I'm not even sure of that. They don't have a good bounce, but could have lost some of their bounce over the years.

If any other collector has a similar set, or knows more about it, I would appreciate any information.

Russ’ Japanese Find The second special Ebay article come from Russ Walker who has kindly given some background about a very rare find—a vintage Japanese set. Many collectors, including the Editor, probably missed this on Ebay be-cause it was a “buy it now” item. Russ, seizing the opportunity, picked it up for a modest USD 75—GT.

By Russ Walker

What the seller said:

Old ping pong set originally sold by one of the world's oldest and most respected department store chains. The first Matuzukaya shop was originally opened in Nagoya, Japan in the year 1611 as a dry goods house. After nearly 400 years in business the humble store in Nagoya has grown to become one of the largest and most well known department stores in Japan. We know that the ping pong set offered with this listing came from Matuzukaya as this name is clearly printed in roman characters directly on the box. This game set appears to be rather old (we suspect early 20th century) and in-cludes many hand-made pieces; including decoratively-turned wooden spindles for net posts, solid wood paddles and several very unusual (and very heavy) hollow balls made of a hard material which we cannot identify. Three of the balls are similar in colour (black), size and weight though the fourth is very differ-ent from the others being much smaller and lighter (and red in colour). The set also in-cludes two nets, one being a bit smaller than the other. The nets are supported on spindles which in turn are fitted into heavy wooden bases. The bases are kept separate during use by another group of spindles which them-selves are connected by wooden joints. The set's two solid wood paddles have holes drilled in the paddle face in order to help them swing easier.

No. 35 The Table Tennis Collector No. 36 The Table Tennis Collector Page 10

What’s The Score?

E arly scoring devices are among the rarest and most difficult Ta-

ble Tennis/Ping Pong accessories to find. The ITTF Museum is fortunate to have acquired several excellent examples, as pictured on the accom-pany pages.

During the big craze for the new game in 1900-1903 there were mainly two popular scoring methods: Lawn Tennis scoring, with sets of 15-30-40-games, and 21-up; both meth-ods requiring a winning margin of 2.

Lawn Tennis scoring, an obvious choice since the game was tennis on a table, was specified in the earliest sets. Two examples of scoring de-vices using the Lawn Tennis method are the Premier Series Score Regis-ter with ivorine dials (above), and the Austrian scorer with movable clock-style hands. The Ping Pong Score-book called for underhand service and Lawn Tennis scoring.

The Jaques/Hamley scoresheet al-lowed for either Lawn Tennis scoring or 20-up games, but winners were determined by subtracting points lost from points won, then comparing ag-

gregates. This was unfair, as an un-defeated competitor could still be de-nied first prize if the point spread in the matches was too close.

The American Tournament Score Sheet pad has a movable clock hand that goes to 30. The American sys-tem of tournament play required each competitor to play all others, also known as the round-robin method.

Various scoring methods were prac-tised well into the 1920s, evidenced by minutes of the formation meeting of the ITTF in Berlin, 1926:

“In all countries it shall be legal to use the following forms of scoring: 21-up, 25-up, 31-up, 50-up, 100-up”. 100-point games!?

The 21-up scoring method was used for the first World/European Champi-onships in December of 1926. How-ever, the AGM minutes reveal a con-tinued interest in the Lawn Tennis method:

“Proposed by Czecho-Slovakia, sec-onded by Sweden; That Lawn Tennis scoring be used. This proposal se-cured a majority of support, but even-

tually the amendment of England to retain the 21-up scoring and experi-ment with Lawn Tennis scoring until the meeting of the Advisory Commit-tee in June, was agreed to unani-mously.”

At the 1928 World Championships in Stockholm both scoring methods were debated, and the vote was 7-2 in favour of 21-up, opposed by Den-mark and Czecho-Slovakia. Thus Table Tennis scoring finally became standardized, until the 11-point game change in 2000.

I will close with a reminder that use of images from the ITTF Museum re-quires permission and a clearly read-able credit adjacent to each such im-age used:

“Courtesy ITTF Museum www.ittf.com/museum“. For internet usage, the link must be clickable.

By Chuck Hoey, Curator, ITTF Museum

Rare boxed scoring device with ivorine dials, using the lawn tennis method. The only known example, 1902


Premier Series card, found in an Ayres Cavendish set Rare scoring device from a 1902 Austrian Ping Pong set

Clock scorer found in The New Table Tennis set, 1902

Very rare leather bound scorebook by F.Rathbun, 1902 Jaques Ping Pong Tournament Score Sheet, PP or Gossima

American Tournament Score Sheet pad with dial scorer Wall-mounted Scoreking device c.1930s, with 2 pull cords


Philatelic Pages These pages have been compiled by:

Anton Zwiebel Kerkweg 30

9439 PG WITTEVEEN The Netherlands

[email protected] Anton Zwiebel provides the last of his regular contribution about table tennis stamps, post-marks and other items of philatelic interest.

Cancellations Cancellation on the occa-sion of the 57th Italian TT Championships, held in Molfetta, 9-11 June 2004.

From Athens. During the Olym-pics this table tennis cancella-tion was put on mail from the venue.

Joola introduced a new red meter slogan, though now it is printed in blue.

Two cancellations from Shanghai. Pre-announcements for the 48th World Championships that will be held there in 2005. The dolphin with a racket is the Championship mascot, named “Yin Yin”.

From the city of Changsu (PR China) this cancellation. The text reads “Olympic Games from Athens to Beijing”. Table tennis is one of the twelve sports de-picted in the picto-grams.

Two cancellations from Jiao Zuo (PR China). On these two dates international under-17 challenge matches were held there. Cancellations were in red and black.

From Germany another blue red-meter. Sponsor Volkswagen an-nounces the German Open 2004 to be held in Leipzig from 11-14 Novem-ber 2004.

For their contributions and information my thanks go to Tang Gan Xian, Didier Andre, Gao Yi Bin, Hans-Peter Trautmann, Luciano de Castris, Marc Hatchadourian and Winfried Engelbrecht—AZ.

9-12.9.04 the 2004 China Panasonic Grand Prix held in the city of Wuxi, PR China. Handstamp in red from the venue.


Philatelic

Hungary issued this nicely coloured vignet on the occa-sion of the 47th European Youth Championships, August 2004 in Budapest. Here shown at 40%.

Another vignet from Hungary. For the occasion of an international ranking list tournament in Septem-ber 2003. Here shown at 30%.

From PR China came this very rare stamp where the tab is per-sonalized to promote the Volks-wagen 2003 Pro Tour Grand Fi-nals. These were held in Guang-zhou from 11 through 14th De-cember 2003.

This cancellation came from the same Volkswagen tournament. It was produced in both red and black.

My good friend and fellow-collector Didier Andre from France used this stamp to fill the free tab with a reproduction of a 1905 calendar picture from France Postes. Left: the stamp with tab at 100%, right: the tab alone at 200%. Very exclusive and not on the market.

Jos takes over As reported is the last issue, Anton is unfortunately not able to con-tinue with his work as the philately correspondent for The Table Ten-nis Collector. I (GT) would like to place on record my thanks and those of all other members for the contribution Anton has made dur-ing the past eleven issues. I am delighted that Anton has not left without providing us with his own replacement. From the next issue, the Philatelic Pages will be edited by:

Jos Zinkstok Neckarstraat 8 9406 VN Assen The Netherlands email: [email protected]

Jos will be assisted by Jan Nusteleyn. Both Jos and Jan are table tennis philatelists, friends for many years and live about 500 metres from each other.

The postal authorities of the city of Tanjin PR China pleased us collec-tors (and their financial results with it, of course) by issuing a series of 2 x 3 special cancels to honour the Chinese winners of gold medals at the Athens 2004 Olympics. Left row cancels in black, right row in red.

Top to bottom: 20.8.04 Women’s Doubles; 21.8.04 Men’s Doubles; 22.8.04 Women’s Singles.


Early Local Tournament Scene

"Ping Pong" is all the rage just now. Members of Parliament, to say noth-ing of humble Councillors and Guardians, indulge in the new pas-time, and find no end of delight and excitement in manipulating their bats and celluloid balls. In fact, no home is completely furnished unless it is provided with a table tennis outfit, and it is therefore no matter for sur-prise that 51 entries—10 ladies and 41 gentlemen—were received for the tournament arranged by the Leopold Institute Table Tennis Club at the Public Hall on Monday evening. The idea of such a tournament originated with Mr. J. Andrews, who was one of the prime movers in the formation of the Institute Club, and under his able management the novel competition proved such a great success that another similar one may confidently be anticipated. The only fault that could be urged against that of Mon-day evening was the length of time occupied in arriving at the section winners, but on another occasion it is suggested to obviate this by having six tables instead of four, and decid-ing the ladies' competitions in the afternoon, so as to give the gentle-men the use of all the tables in the evening. The committee who as-sisted Mr. Andrews were Messrs. E. Weaver-Adams, C. Godfrey, G.F. Gibbs and I.A. Howell, with Mr. G. Young as secretary. The proceeds are to be devoted towards purchas-ing new books for the library of the Institute, and it is therefore particu-larly gratifying to be able to state that there was a satisfactory attendance, and that the experiment was suc-cessful not only from a competitive

but also from a financial point of view. This was due in great measure to the generosity of Messrs. C. West, C. Godfrey, C. Rohde, J. Andrews and H. Porter, who contributed to the Prize Fund, and the kindness of Mr. G.P. Fisher and Mr. J. Andrews in saving expense by lending tables. There were four tables in all, the other two being the property of the Institute Club. One was devoted to the

LADIES COMPETITION,

in which the section winners were: A—Miss A.L. Butt 1, Miss F. Cantwell 2. B—Miss C.M. Butt 1, Miss Kirk 2. The final was won by Miss A.L. Butt, who was successful in every game, and secured a silver backed brush. Miss C.M. Butt obtained second prize—a crocodile-skin chatelaine bag—with 2 wins, and Miss F. Cantwell was third with 1 win, the third award being a silver button-hook. In the

GENTLEMEN'S COMPETITION

the section winners were as follows: C—Mr. H. Page (Eton), D—Mr. R.C. Turner (Langley), E—Mr. E.W. Head-ington (Slough), F—Mr. G.P. Hammond (Slough), G—Mr. J.D. Wells (Slough), H—Mr. H.W.T. Blanchett (Slough), I—Mr. J. Gregory (Cippenham), K—Mr. R. Hallam (Slough). The final resulted in a popular win for Mr. Bert Blanchett, of Slough, who did not meet with a sin-gles defeat all the evening, and in eleven wins secured no fewer than 220 points against 122 obtained by his opponents. His prize was a silver cigarette case. Mr. R.C. Turner, of Langley, took second place, a vine-gar and oil cruet, winning 10 games, and Mr. J.D. Wells, of Slough, who won 7, secured third award, a pearl handled knife. Two first and two third prizes were obtained by competitors using racquets manufactured by Mr. J. Andrews, of Slough.

There is nothing like contemporary reports to give us the flavour of what table tennis or ping-pong was like in its early days. Previous issues of the Collector have included excerpts from Table Tennis and Pastimes Pio-neer, published in early 1902, but there must be many other reports of events in other publications just waiting to be discovered. The following three pages contain reports of a few tournaments in the Editor’s local area of Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead. These were collected by many hours of scrutiny of the local newspapers in Slough and Maidenhead libraries. Does your area have a local history waiting to be discovered?

Slough, Windsor and Eton Observer : 15th February 1902

TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT AT THE PUBLIC HALL

AN OPEN AIR PING PONG TOURNAMENT Will be held in the

RECTORY GARDEN, SLOUGH (If wet in the Town Hall) Tuesday & Wednesday, July 15 & 16

In connection with the Bazaar There will be Three Events Open to all Comers

Event 1.—Gentlemen's Tournament, Entrance Fee, 6d. Event 2.—Ladies Tournament, Entrance Fee, 6d.

Event 3.—Tournament. Open to all Winners of Events nos. 1 & 2. Entrance Fee, 9d. Entries may be made on the Ground on either day at the time of play, and players will be divided into

sections of Eight as they arrive. Every winner of a Section will be entitled to select a Prize from one of the Stalls value 2s.

All players in Events 1 & 2 (except previous Winners), are eligible to compete again and again until they have won a Prize, on renewing Entrance Fee.

All winners of Sections are eligible to compete in Event 3 for Two handsome Prizes. The Tournament will be under the management of Mr. C. Godfrey, Mr. Andrews and Mr. Boyd Wickes.

If intending Competitors will send their Entries by Monday, July 14th, stating day and probable time of

arrival to Mr. Boyd Wickes, Elmside, Slough, it will facilitate arrangements

To commence promptly at 3 p.m. each day

Event 3, at 5.45 each evening Advertisement from the front cover of the

Slough Observer 12 July 1902


With a view to giving the local public an opportunity of making acquaint-ance with the game of ping-pong, or table tennis, and also with the object of benefiting the funds of the Mayor’s Poor Box, local enthusiasts of the game arranged for an open tourna-ment in the Town Hall, Maidenhead, on Thursday last. The preliminary arrangements were made and well-carried out by a good committee, the chairman of which was the Mayor (Mr. Councillor W. F. Good). The sec-retary was Mr. Ernest Blumfield, of High-street, and a better man for the position could not have been found. He took a very keen interest in the venture and worked hard for its suc-cess. For the tournament in question, three tables were erected in the hall, and were separated by seats for the accommodation of the public. The majority of the competitors hailed from Maidenhead, but several came from Windsor and Wycombe, where the game is largely played. Two open tournaments had been arranged, viz., a ladies’ section in the afternoon and a gentlemen’s in the evening. There were 13 entries for the competition for the fair sex and the large number of 70 for the gentlemen’s in the eve-ning. The afternoon’s play did not attract a large audience, but nearly all the ladies who had entered put in an appearance and played their games. The contest was viewed by, amongst others, the Mayor and Mayoress (Mr. Councillor W.F. Good and Mrs. Good), who showed a keen interest in the game. In the semi-final, Mrs. Parker and Miss Humphrey were drawn together, whilst Mrs. Padgett (of High Wycombe) drew a bye. A good exhibition was given by the two first-named, victory being secured by Miss Humphrey who beat Mrs. Parker by 30 points to 15. In the fi-nal, Miss Humphrey beat Mrs. Padgett, after a close and spirited game, by 30 points to 24. Both were applauded for their exhibition at the close. Other ladies who took part were: Miss Stonehill, Miss Florrie Ar-nold, Miss Mash, Miss Murray, and Miss Hewitt. The umpire for the

semi-final and final was Mr. G. Bry-ant. The prize, a leather hand-bag, was afterwards presented to Miss Humphrey by the Mayoress.

At 6.30, a large audience gathered to witness the gentlemen play, and those present included a large num-ber of ladies. Owing to the heavy entry, it was necessary to play off a number of rounds, many of which furnished some close games. Only a very few of those who had entered failed to put in an appearance. The semi-finals resulted as follows: 1st round, J.W. Webb beat H.P. Glass; Parker beat E. Cope; Bryant beat Humphrey; J. Padgett beat P. Telling. 2nd round, Bryant beat Telling and J.W. Webb beat Parker. The semi-finals produced play of a high order, and they were watched with close attention by all present. During an interval, a match was played between the Mayor and Mr. A.H. Brooking, and his Worship had to acknowledge defeat by 20 points to 12. For the third prize, Telling and Parker had to play off, and a good contest ended in a win for Parker, who throughout the competition played consistently well. The final took place on the top-table near the stage, and the players – Messrs. Bryant and Webb – were surrounded by an interested crowd. Mr. Percy Johns was the umpire. The final proved very exciting. Both players were repeatedly applauded for their good service and volleys. Webb, who hails from Windsor, proved too good for Bryant. Throughout he played very steadily and put in some smashing returns, which somewhat bewildered his op-ponent (Bryant). Webb finally se-cured first prize by the good margin of 30 points to 7. Both players were warmly applauded at the finish of the game. It had been arranged for the winner of the ladies’ tournament to play an exhibition game with the win-ner of the gentlemen’s tournament, but it was nearly eleven and Miss Humphrey had left. The prizes—all useful articles—were handed to the winners by the Mayoress, who was

heartily thanked for her kindness, on the proposition of Mr. H.A. Faulkner. The Mayor, in acknowledgement, congratulated the promoters of the tournament, and expressed his pleasure at seeing so many present. He added a word of congratulation to Mr. Webb, of Windsor, on having se-cured first prize, and said that if Maid-enhead players visited Windsor, he hoped they might prove successful. During the evening, Mr. J. Waugh Owens rendered some skilfully-played pianoforte selections, and Mr. W. Elliott Barrett, at short notice, sang in excellent style “The Bedonin Love Song” and “The Gauntlet”, for which he received loud applause. Mr. J.H. Manlove, too, gave a capital rendering of the song “Lucky Jim”. Between the semi-finals and final, the audience were favoured with a real treat—a recitation by Mr. Horace Nel-son, of Bray, entitled, “The progress of madness”, by C.M. Lewis (slightly modified). Mr. Nelson possesses exceptional elocutionary power. He has a strong and powerful voice, whilst his histrionic ability is of high order. His recitation, which was given with much dramatic power, was the “tit-bit” of the evening, and Mr. Nelson left the stage amid enthusias-tic applause from a large company.

The officials were: Umpires, Messrs. E.J. Spindler, E. Cope, A.E. Farndon, A.R. Silver, G. Bryant, P. Telling, E. Blumfield, W.E. Mackie, E. Beal, P. Johns, and W.H. Reed. Competitors’ Stewards: Messrs. A.E. Farndon and W, Baylis. Mr. J. Burnham rendered valuable assistance at the door and in other ways at both tournaments. He was assisted at the door by Mr. G.T. Braxton in the evening.

The Council Chamber was utilised as a refreshment-buffet, and was in the capable hands of Mr. Woodward, of “The Grapes”, Market Street, who generously offered half of his profits in aid of the effort. Ping-pong tables were kindly lent by Mr. E. Arnold (Saracen’s Head), Mr. C. Hyde (White Horse), and Messrs. J. Barley and E. Spindler.

Maidenhead Advertiser : 9th April 1902

PING-PONG AT MAIDENHEAD—TOURNAMENT AT THE TOWN HALL

Published by Graham Trimming on behalf of the Table Tennis Collectors’ Society, November 2004 17 Gwendale, Pinkneys Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 6SH, England Tel: +44 (0)1628 636978; email: [email protected] Web site: http://freespace.virgin.net/graham.trimming/TTCS/TTCSHome.htm © Graham Trimming—no part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior consent of the publisher.


The large hall at the Albert Institute on Wednesday was the resort of a considerable number of players of, and others interested in, the game of "Ping-Pong", or table tennis to give it its saner sounding title, the occasion being an open tournament promoted principally by the Committee of the Albert Institute Ping-Pong Club. The tournament was, we believe, the first "open" event of the kind held in the district, and the entrants, in addition to those from Windsor and Eton, in-cluded players from Slough and Maidenhead, while two ladies gal-lantly entered the lists to try their skill at this "girls' game" as it is called by those who decry it, against members of the sterner sex. Forty-three en-tries were received in all, and in view of the rather excessive time required to play a tournament on the American system, which is the one usually adopted, the Committee decided to try, as an experiment, the method usually pursued for lawn tennis tour-naments, billiard handicaps, and similar contests. So far as the merits of the two systems are concerned. opinion among the players at the end of the evening appeared to be di-vided, but at any rate the system re-sulted in a very exciting contest. Play commenced at half-past six, and among the early games, we noticed that both the lady players had to yield to the superior skill of their antago-nists. The most exciting game in the first and second rounds was that be-tween J.H. Webb (the ultimate win-ner) and R. Radnor, both playing in excellent form, but as has been the case in the final of the Albert Institute Handicap a couple of evenings be-fore, the former's steadiness ob-tained the mastery over the more brilliant and forcing play of his oppo-nent. In the third round a good game was seen between the brothers Willett, the younger eventually prov-

ing the better, while E. Boulton dis-posed of J. Wells' chance by sound steady play. The feature of the fourth round was a protracted game be-tween two "stonewallers" in S.E. Willett and H.W. Blanchett, winner of the recent Slough tournament, the latter proving victorious by 30 points to 28, while three points only proved the margin in favour of Webb, after a fast and interesting game against H.B. Brown. The semi-finals found H.L. Col lmann, G. W ickes, H.W . Blanchett, and J.H. Webb the com-petitors left to decide the destination of the honours and prizes, the results in this and the final round being de-cided by the best of two games, of 20 points, out of three. The tie between Wickes and Collmann produced some fast play, and the former proved his superiority by winning the first two games, but the difference between Blanchett and Webb was not so easily settled. The first game fell to Blanchett by one point after the score had been called 19 all, but by steady play and determination Webb carried off the next two, winning the tie. The final between Webb and Wickes proved very exciting, and once again the steady and sure style of the former proved too safe for the more varied strokes and forcing game adopted by his opponent. The spectators throughout the evening watched the games with great inter-est, and the points of the play, espe-cially as the competition approached its final and more exciting stages, were keenly appreciated, the ap-plause being both frequent and spon-taneous. At the conclusion of the final, the winners' names were an-nounced by Mr. G.P. Cartland, who had kept the scoring register in a most excellent and accurate manner, and the prizes were presented amid loud applause to the successful com-petitors by Mrs. J. Radnor.

Windsor & Eton Express : 15th March 1902

"PING-PONG" TOURNAMENT

For more from the 1902 era in the Slough area there is a 16-page magazine on the Editors’ website:

http://freespace.virgin.net/graham3.trimming/100 Years Ago Newsletter.pdf

Tournaments from further afield reported in The Table Tennis and Pastimes Pioneer

COLERAINE, IRELAND.—

Mr. Norman Stewart, of Coleraine, won the Championship for County Londonderry at the tournament held at Coleraine on February 18th, under the rules of the Ping Pong Associa-tion. The tournament was promoted by the Bann Rowing Club in connec-tion with the effort to have the club represented in the great international boat race at Cork in July nest for Lord O’Brien’s £200 cup.

1 March 1902

PARIS.—

The head-quarters of the Tennis Club de Paris, in the Boulevard Exelmans, was on February 10th the scene of what is believed to have been the first ping pong tournament held in Paris. Although the attendance of visitors was not as large as might have been expected, there were a good many entries for the tourna-ment, which resulted in some excel-lent play, and a victory for Melle. Yvonne de Pfeffels. The other lady winners of rounds were Melle. Marie Louise de Pfeffel and Melle. Masson. Among the party there were two or three of the best known exponents of tennis in Paris; notably Melles. De Pfeffel, Masson and Abbott. M.M. Plassard. See, H. Amy, Pilassant, and George Hetley.

BERLIN.—

A championship tournament was re-cently held under the auspices of the first ping pong club established in Berlin. The event naturally aroused great interest.

Both the above 15 March 1902

The 1902 publication reported on many tournaments and events from all over Great Britain and even fur-ther afield. A few examples follow.

The Journal of the Table Tennis Collectors’ Society · PDF fileThe Journal of the Table...

Documents

Transcript of The Journal of the Table Tennis Collectors’ Society · PDF fileThe Journal of the Table...