Su mUmschl.Oct. 2022

Dunlop: The Red Dragon Fly c. 1936 

Photograph Dr. H. Kerling 

Updated: Nov. 2022 - File: Su.mUmschl.Oct.2022

Contents 

German Democratic Republic 

Germina 

VEB Sportgeräte 

Schmalkalden 

Polish Rackets 

Frema 

KrakSerw 

Norwegja 

Olmar 

Polsport 

Stomil 

Tenigal 

Wessa 

French Rackets 

Allo 

(Manufacture Française des Armes et Cycles) 

Williams & Co. 

Bagheera 

Prima 

Vèber, Pierre 

de Garsault racket 

English Rackets 

Ayres, F.H. Ltd. 

Baily & Co., Ltd 

Briggs, Walter, Ltd. 

Bussey Geo G. & Co. Ltd. 

Buchanan Ltd. 

Dunlop 

Gradidge & Sons 

Hedderly’s 

Hobbies Ltd. 

Holden, John, Ltd. 

Jaques, John & Son Ltd. 

Malings, Henry 

MCC Co. Ltd., Barrier Bat Works 

Rushworths’ Department 

Store 

Ramsbottom W. 

No Name Rackets 

Robert Rose 

Slazenger Ltd. 

Windett & Smith 

North American Rackets 

Aldila 

Blackburne Racquets Inc. 

Broadway Tennis Racket Mfg. Co. Inc. 

Bailey’s Boston 

Cayman 

Sports Company 

Chemold Corp. 

International Sporting Goods Corp. (Craven) 

Dayton 

Dura-Fiber 

Inova Inc. 

Ken-Wel 

Kent E. 

Magnan Corp., N.J. 

Nikonow 

Marketing Systems International (The Eagle Club) 

A. J. Reach & Co 

Midland Sporting Goods LLC 

Pro Group, Inc. 

Skyline Industries, Inc. 

Tensor Corp. 

Victor Sporting Goods Co. 

Wilson Sporting Goods Co. 

Australian Rackets 

Alexander (The) Patent Racket Company Ltd. 

Empire Racquet Company 

Spalding Australia 

Belgian Rackets 

Browning SA 

Ryckman A. Stringing Machine 

Snauwaert 

Rackets from Taiwan 

Plagiarism 

RoxPro International Corp. 

Parent Company: 

Sursun Enterprise Co., Ltd. 

Updated and revised 10 Nov. 2022 - Documents: Supplement Su mUmschl. Oct. 2022

This supplement is mainly based on contributions from 

fellow collectors, which were forwarded to me after the 

publication of the “Update 2010”. 

A big “thank you” to all of you! 

All references are made to the applicable pages in the “Book 

of Tennis Rackets” and to the pages in the “Update 2010”. 

Siegfried Kuebler 

Contributors: 

Bensen, Clark 

Bjorkman, Glenn A. 

Cade, Ronald B. 

Crow, Randy 

Distin, Peter 

Elks, Chris 

Farkash, Shay 

Hemingway, Peter 

Inderbitzin, Urs Peter 

Jaeger, Rolf 

Kaminski, Aleksander 

Kerling Dr., Heiner 

Lack, Rodney 

Laucke, Lars 

Markham, Nicole 

Römbke, Morten 

Schaelchli, Juerg 

Wehrmeister, Jens 

USA 

USA 

USA 

USA 

USA 

GB 

Israel 

USA 

Switzerland 

USA 

Polen 

Germany 

Australia 

Germany 

USA 

Germany 

Switzerland 

Germany 

© Copyright 2022 by Siegfried Kuebler – D 88662 Überlingen – Zur Grundel 18 – Germany

Book of Tennis Rackets 

Additional information to page 177: 

Germina 

VEB Sportgeräte 

Schmalkalden 

Stammbetrieb des VEB Kombinats. 

Spezialwerkstätten Klingenthal, 

Markneukirchen 

Former German Democratic Rep. 


Supplement 

Company: 

There is just not much information 

available on Germina, but one of its 

factories was most likely located in 

the former factory of O.F. Gandre in 

Liebenstein (please refer to page 173 

in the „Book“ ). Liebenstein is a town 

in the district of Arnstadt, Thuringia. 

Further to the southwest the town of 

Schmalkalden is located. 

Otto Gandre was born 29th of October 

1891 in the former hanseatic city of 

Stargard, then in the German province 

of Pomerania, now Poland. 

Most likely he was the founder of the 

O.F. Gandre Company in Liebenstein. 

There is a notice in the Internet 

reading (no date given): 

„Otto Gandre, private company, 

Liebenstein, factory for sporting 

goods, district of Arnstadt, was given 

back to the original owner by the 

Sowiet occupation forces. Signed: 

Major Kaschin.“ 

Germina: Advertisement, c. 1970 

Rackets of Gandre in collections: 

(already listed in the „Book“ and 

„Udate 2010“): 

Collection Kuebler: 

Titan, c. 1936 

Triumph Extra, c. 1936 

Superior Extra, c. 1938 

Special, c. 1939 

Tornado, c. 1950 

Collection Dr. Kerling: 

Gibson Girl, c. 1938 

Silkeborg, c. 1938 

New in the collection Kuebler: 

Attaché, c. 1952 

Laminated frame. Seven ply. Vulcan 

fibre insert and hickory. Reinforced 

shoulders. Shoulders painted white. 

Three bindings at each shoulder. One 

wrapping at shaft. Beech heart. Sycamore 

shingles. Leather wrapped 

handle. O.F. Gandre, IV 14, Gandre 

Racket, Handmade. Made in Germany. 

Adolf Hammig, of the Hammig 

Company once founded in the 1825 

in this region, suggested in 1990 that 

O.F. Gandre moved its operation to 

West Germany after the Soviet 

occupation. But the imprint Made in 

Germany on the Attaché was also 

used in the former German Democratic 

Republic (DDR). In West Germany the 

imprint Made in West Germany or 

Western Germany was preferred to 

draw a distinction between the two 

countries. The consumers took it for 

granted that the technology in the 

West was superior and the quality of 

the products better. 

Summary: 

Rackets O.F. Gandre: 

From about 1933 to 1940 from Liebenstein/Arnstadt, 

Germany. 

From about 1950 to 1955 from Liebenstein/Arnstadt, 

now German 

Democratic Republic. 

Spoli (Sportgeräte Liebenstein) in 

the German Democratic Republic. 

From about 1955 to 1980. 

Spoli used the names of Gandre rackets 

such as: 

Attaché, Tornado and probably 

others. 

Was Spoli a trade mark of Germina? 

Germina, Liebenstein, Kreis Arnstadt, 

German Democrtaic Republic. 

From about 1965 to 1989. 

Names of Gandre were used e.g. 

Gibson Girl, Attaché, Triumph Extra. 

Morten Römbke 

from Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein) 

provided some of the following 

material in 2009 shown on the next 

pages: 

4




Rackets manufactured: 

c. 1968: 

Attaché 

Forward 

Gibson Girl 

Hurrican 

Titan 

Tornado 

Triumph Extra 

Triumpf Perfekt 

c. 1970: 

Birgit, for children 

Dämon, with Hickory and Vulcan Fibre. 

(The same name was used by Willy 

Dorsch, Markneukirchen. Dorsch produced 

rackets until about 1960. Was 

Germina also a successor of Willy 

Dorsch?). 

Elite, with Hickory and Vulcan Fibre 

Hurrikan 

Junior, for juniors 

Meister 

Topspeed, with Hickory and Vulcan 

Fibre 

Twen 

White Star, with Hickory and Vulcan 

Fibre. (This name was also used by 

Kneissl for its skis and later for its 

rackets). 

Germina: Forward, c. 1968 

Germina: Twen, c. 1970 

5




Germina: Titan, c. 1968 Germina: Tornado, c. 1968 Germina: Hurrican, c. 1968 

6




Germina: Triumpf Perfekt, c. 1968 

Germina: Attache, c. 1968 

Germina: Gibson Girl, c. 1968 

7




Germina: Elite, c. 1970 

Laminated frame. Seven plies. 

Standard size. Raw hide or coloured 

wood insert. Reinforced shoulders. 

Shoulders painted white. Three 

bindings at each shoulder. Three 

wrappings at shaft. Beech heart. 

Sycamore shingles. Leather wrapped 

handle. On racket: Germina. 13,5. III. 

„Hickory und Fiber verstärkt“. 

Germina: Triumpf Extra, c. 1968 

8


Additional information to page 170 

and page 129 in the Update 2010: 

Frema 

Lodz 

Poland 

Most of the following material was 

provided by Aleksander Kaminski, 

Poland. 

Company: 

Established in the industrial city of 

Lodz probably in the 1920s. Many 

different rackets were produced in the 

1930s or even earlier. 

Frema was a Polish company and not 

an English one as suggested on page 

129 in the Update 2010. 

Kaminski writes to the author that 

Frema is not an usual name in Poland 

and does not mean anything. 

Is it an abbreviation for the first and 

last name of the founder or owner? 



Rackets in the Kuebler collection: 

Frema, laminated frame. Three plies. 

Concave. Raw hide or coloured wood 

insert. Two bindings at shoulder. Sycamore 

heart and shingles. Combed 

handle. Butt leather. Rounded shallow 

shaft. Trade Mark Frema. 

c. 1935 

Frema, laminated frame. 7 ply. Concave. 

Raw hide or coloured wood 

insert. Three bindings at shoulder. 

Sycamore heart and shingles. Leather 

wrapped handle. Butt leather. Rounded 

shallow shaft. Trade Mark Frema. 

c. 1936 

Rackets in Polish collections: 

Meteor, solid wood with a brass screw 

at the throat area. 

c. 1930 

K.T., laminated, shown on the heart 

section: Wylwornia Nr. 22 (translated 

„Factory No. 22). 

c. 1935 

Sokol, (translated Falcon), laminated. 

c. 1935 

Frema: Frema, c. 1935. 

Collection: A. Kaminski 

Frema: Frema, c. 1935. 

Collection: S. Kuebler 

9


New information: 

KrakSerw 

Krakow 

Poland 

Contributed by Aleksander Kaminski, 

Poland. 

Company: 

The name of the company is self-explanatory: 

the city of Krakow in the 

south of Poland and serw(v)ing a tennis 

ball. 

Rackets were made at the end of the 

1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. 



Remark of the author: the rackets 

shown below suggest a manufacturing 

date of 1980 to 1985. To my 

knowledge no rackets of extruded 

aluminium were produced in the Western 

part of Europe at a much later 

date. Why then in an Eastern country 

at the end of the 1980s? 


Krak Serw, extruded aluminium, frame 

natural colour, black heart of 

Nylon. 

c. 1982 

Krak Serw, extruded aluminium, frame 

anodized in gold colour, black 

heart of Nylon. 

c. 1983 

Krak Profi, extruded aluminium, midsize. 

c. 1983 

KrakSerw: Krak Serw, c. 1982 

KrakSerw: Logo 

KrakSerw: Krak Serw, c. 1983 

10



Norwegja 

Poland 


Poland. 

Company: 

No details available. 

Racket in the collection of A. Kaminski: 

Norwegja (eng. Norway) 

Norwegja is written in „old Polish“. 

After the language reform in 1927 the 

name is written with an i instead an j: 

„Norwegia“. Therefore the racket was 

most likely made in or prior to 1927. 

c. 1926/1927 



Olmar 

Wilno (Vilnius)? 

Capital of Lithuania. 

Before 1945 Wilno belonged to Poland. 

Aleksander Kaminski, however, 

presumes that the Olmar company 

was located in Lodz and produced its 

rackets there. 


Poland. 


Addis, laminated wood. 

c.1931 

Rivolia, laminated wood, convex. 

c. 1931 

Champion, laminated wood, stamped 

on handle: „Dom sportowy DINCES 

Wilno“ (translated: Shop for sporting 

goods DINCES Wilno). 

c. 1935 

Leading, laminated wood. 

c. 1935 


Olmar: Champion, c. 1935 

Norwegja, c. 1926/1927 

11




Olmar: Addis, c. 1930 


Polsport 

Zaklady Sprzetu Sportowego 

„Polsport“ (Eng.: Sports Equipment 

Company Polsport Ltd.) 

Ul. Wyzwolenia 59/61, Bielsko-Biala 

Poland 


Poland. 

Company: 

Polsport (Polish and Sport) was probably 

established in 1953. It produced 

a wide range of sport equipment including 

tennis rackets. It survived the 

collapse of communism and is still 

operating (2010). Its products are sold 

in more than 40 countries all over the 

world. 

The company employs over 100 people. 

The Logo of the company 

changed in the course of time. The 

different logos allow the collector to 

more accurately date the age of a racket 

in his collection. 


Gem, c. 1965 

Gem Tenis, c. 1965 

Junior, c. 1965 

Wenus, c. 1965 

Mars, c. 1970 

Szmaragd, c. 1970 

Diament, c. 1972 

Opal, c. 1972 

Set, c. 1972 

Szafir, c. 1972 

Topaz, c. 1972 

Gem, c. 1975 

Gem 02, c. 1975 

Nefryt, c. 1975 

Nefryt, Junior, black hesd, c. 1975 

Net 02, c. 1975 

Net 02 Junior, c. 1975 

Serw M, c. 1975 

Serw 02 M, c. 1975 

Serw 02 D, c. 1975 

Set 02, c. 1975 

Set, c. 1975 

12




Polsport: Gem, c. 1965 

Polsport: Gem Tenis, c. 1965 

Polsport: Wenus, c. 1965 

Polsport: Mars, c. 1970 

13




Polsport: Szmaragd, c. 1970 

Polsport: Szafir, c. 1972 Polsport: Diament, c. 1972 

14




Polsport: Set, c. 1972 

Polsport: Topaz, c. 1972 

Polsport: Serw M, c. 1975 

Polsport: Serw 02 M, c. 1975 

Polsport: Opal, c. 1972 

15




Polsport: Gem, c. 1975 

Polsport: Serw 02 D, c. 1975 

Polsport: Set 02, c. 1975 

Polsport: Set, c. 1975 

16




Polsport: Net 02, c. 1975 

Polsport: Gem 02, c. 1975 

Polsport: Net 02 Junior, c. 1975 

Polsport: Nefryt, c. 1975 

17



Stomil 

Zaklady Galanteryjne Przemyslu 

Gumowego „Stomil“ 

Ul. Drewnowska 35/37, Lodz 

Poland 

Short history of „Stomil“by Aleksander 

Kaminski, Poland. 

Company: 

The „Paragum Wyroby Gumowe 

Company“ (rubber products) was 

founded in Poznan, Poland, in 1928. 

It changed its name to „Fabryka Opon 

Samochodowych i Rowerowych 

Stomil“ in 1931. It produced tires for 

cars, trucks, aircrafts and bicycles. 

After WW II all rubber companies in 

Poland were consolidated under the 

roof of „Stomil“. One of those 

branches was „Zaklady Galanteryjne 

Przemyslu Gumowego Stomil“ 

(abbreviated Stomil-Galbut) in Lodz, 

which produced tennis balls – 

„Stomil“ and „Stomil Junior“ – and 

rackets in the 1970-1980s. This branch 

was liquidated in 1989, when Poland 

became a free country again. 

The company produced mainly metal 

rackets of aluminium in the early 

1980s except for the first one: the 

„Stomil Champion“ (c. 1974) which 

was made of laminated wood. It is 

possible that this racket was, 

however, made for Stomil by 

„Polsport“. 



Polonez, of extruded aluminium, red 

Nylon heart, No. 20726 shown on 

handle. Made by Stomil. 

c. 1980 

Polonez Masters, of extruded 

aluminium, red Nylon heart, No. 106 

shown on handle. Made by Stomil. 

c. 1980 

Polonez Masters, Junior, of extruded 

aluminium, red Nylon heart, Made by 

Stomil. 

c. 1980 

Grand Prix, oversice racket, of 

extruded aluminium, aluminium heart, 

No. 17616 - T4 shown on handle. 

Made by Stomil. 

c. 1982 

Racket in the Kuebler collection: 

Professional, Polonez, Frame made of 

extruded aluminium. Aluminium left 

natural. Standard size. Yoke screwed 

in. Yoke of Nylon. Red. Grommet 

strips. Foamed on handle leather wrapped. 

On racket: Professional, Polonez. 

Remark: This is a copy of the Head 

Professional. 

c. 1982 


Champion, name shown at the handle, 

laminated. 

c. 1974 

Champion, of extruded aluminium, 

brown Nylon heart, No. 24999 shown 

on handle. Made by Stomil. 

c. 1977 

Champion, ditto, No. 55396. 

c. 1977 

Champion, of extruded aluminium, 

yellow Nylon heart, No. 109 shown 

on handle. Made by Galbut-Stomil. 

c. 1978 

Champion Junior, of extruded 

aluminium, brown Nylon heart, No. 

106 shown on handle. Made by 

Galbut-Stomil. 

c. 1978 

Stomil: 

Polonez, c.1980. 

Collection : A. Kaminski 

18



Tenigal 

Pabianice (near Lodz) 

Poland. 



Wessa 

Lodz 

Poland. 



Poland. 

Racket in the collection of 

Aleksander Kaminski, Poland: 


Poland. 

Company: 

In the early years (1950s) the company 

used the name „WSS Lodz“. Later 

it changed it and its logo to „Wessa“. 

Racket in the collection of Aleksander 

Kaminski, Poland. 

WWS Lodz: 

Specjalna 

c. 1958 

Modziezowa, laminated. 

c. 1958 

Tenigal, frame of extruded aluminium, 

junior racket, estimated 1980. 

Wessa: 

Rys, laminated. 

c. 1960 

Wimbledon, grey, laminated. 

c. 1960 

Wimbledon, black, laminated. 

c. 1960 

Wessa Tenis, laminated. 

c. 1960 

Sokol, laminated. 

c. 1965 

Orion, laminated. 

c. 1965 

Wessa: Wimbledon, c. 1960 

Wessa: Logo, c. 1960 

Wessa: Wimbledon, c. 1960 

19




Wessa: Orion, c. 1965 Wessa: Modziezowa, c. 1958 

Wessa: Wessa Tenis, c. 1960 

20


New information to page 175 of 

the main book 

Garsault 

Demi Paume Raquette 

France 

This Demi Paume racket was rebuilt 

(in 1995) to the description 

given by Monsieur de Garsault 

in the year 1778. Booklet: „Die 

Kunst der Ball- und Raquettenmacher 

und vom Ballspiele“. 

Dimensions: Length of the head 

(hitting face 8 inches, width 5 

inches. The centerpiece of the 

handle is made of basswood 

(etancon) 15 inches. Frame 

made of ash 10 years old, second 

growth, stem cut just 

above the ground. Handle wrapped 

with white sheep leather, 

the main strings are made of 

cattle gut, the cross strings are 

thinner. They were not ground 

for an even diameter but left 

when drilled naturally. When 

stringing the cross strings were 

slung 360 degrees around the 

mains resulting in a rough side 

which is preferred for cutting 

the ball and a smooth side for 

straight and faster balls. 



21




22



Allo 

Manufacture Française des 

Armes et Cycles de St-Étienne 

Cours Fauriel 

F - 42100 Saint-Étienne 



Company: 

Which Frenchman does not recall this 

company‘s old catalgues with its fine 

line drawings showing its products 

thus generating dreams? 

The company was founded by Léon 

Lamaizière in 1893 to produce arms 

and bicyles. In 1985 a convention 

centre, shopping mall and a planetarium 

were erected on the former 

abandoned manufacturing site. 

Manufacture Française des Armes et Cycles de St-Étienne 

Power generating station for the company‘s factories, c. 1900 

Additional information to page 415 in 

the Book and page 223 in the Update 

2010: 

Williams & Co. 

1 et 3, Rue Caumartin 

Paris 

An advertisement promoting Williams 

tennis rackets appeared in Hebrew in 

the newspaper ‘Davar’ in 1930, then in 

Palestine. The clipping was 

discovered lately and send to me by 

Shay Farkash, Tel Aviv. General 

distributors were Chanosh and 

Malikian, Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa. 

Translation: courtesy Orley Maron, 

Tel Aviv 

Williams & Co., Tennis Rackets 

Driva 5 

This is the best racket. The frame is 

constructed of three layers through a 

special process that prevents the 

racket from warping and assures 

strength stability yet provides the 

needed flexibility. Each racket has 

special elements that provide 

strength. The racket is strung using 

the best strings that can be obtained. 

The main strings are of natural colour 

the cross strings are red. The handle 

has an excellent smooth finish. 

Driva 1 Auna 

The frame is constructed of three 

layers. Due to an innovative system 

the strings have been strung to their 

highest potential and thus the racket 

provides an immense acceleration to 

the ball. The racket is made of the 

best materials, its handle is 

particularly well designed. Many 

tennis champions across the world 

use this racket in competitions in 

France, America and Australia and 

even in the Davis Cup competition. 

Driva 

Popular with tennis players 

throughout the world, it is made of 

excellent materials, is well strung and 

its handle is well designed, ensuring 

success and satisfaction. On each 

racket there are three treblings made 

of white strings. 

Chanosh and Malikian, general 

distributers, Jerusalem, Jaffa and 

Haifa 

Note of author: 

... constructed of three layers. The 

center layer is probably made of ‘hide’. 

23



Bagheera 

Ciegeco S.A. 

F-75017 Paris 

France 

Distributor in the U.S.A.: 

Bagheera Tennis Rackets 

Linder Euro-Imports, Inc. 

5837 West Adams Blvd. 

Culver City, Calif. 90230 

Company: 

Bagheera (the black-toned Indian Leopard 

is an animal of fictional 

character) operated in the late 1970s. 

Now it is out of business. It made 

tennis rackets and racket covers. 


From a phamphlet of the company: 

„The Bagheera ›Professional‹ is a new 

graphite composite racket that means 

business! 

Sophisticated aerospace technology 

utilized. 

The advanced technology of the Bagheera 

rackets was developed by a 

Bordeaux aerospace engineering and 

manufacturing firm involved in the development 

of the futuristic French 

›Concorde‹ plane. After three years 

of extensive research and applying 

their highly skilled engineering and 

design techniques, they have created 

an uniquely superior racket for the serious 

player of today. 

By incorporating aerospace aluminium 

and ›full length‹ graphite fibers, 

plus epoxy, the Bagheera ›Professional‹ 

is an exceptionally rugged and 

playable racket. 

Graceful design combined with exceptional 

playability. 

The graceful design of the Bagheera 

rackets is scientifically designed and 

engineered to give the maximum of 

playability. Its precise balance offers 

the serious player an ideal ›feel‹ and 

flex. Also, the unique design of its 

›open‹ throat offers the minimum of 

air resistance. The Bagheera graphite 

composite has the power and 

strength of metal and the smoothness 

and resiliency of the finest wood rackets. 

Another exclusive feature that 

makes the Bagheera the racket of tomorrow, 

is its patented ventilated 

handle and grip. 

Once you have played the Bagheera 

›Professional‹, you are sure to share 

the pride they feel in producing this 

exceptionally superior racket. This is 

your chance to improve your profits 

and please your serious players.“ 


Additional information to page 220 of 

the Update 2010: 

Prima 

Contributed by Peter Distin, 2009. 

Racket in the collection of 

Peter Distin: 

Victory, two coloured heavy stringing. 

c. 1900 


~ 1978: 

Professional, aluminium, and graphite 

fibers. Open heart with a throat 

piece of Nylon. 

Vèber Modèle A 

Additional information to page 399 

and page 222 in the Update 2010: 

Vèber, Pierre 

7, Avenue Faidherbe 

Asnière/Seine 

France 

Contributed by Rodney Lack 2014. 

Company: 

„Selected frames for Racquets de 

Luxe“. 

On the racket ‚Titanic‘ it is printed: 

‚Cadre Vèber, Paris‘. 

The following rackets are listed in a 

catalogue from c. 1938 - 1950: 

Modèle A combed handle 

Modèle B combed handle 

Modèle SCf combed handle 

Modèle SQ combed handle 

Mod. SCdp depply grooved handle 

Modèle DL depply grooved handle 

Modèle NM checkered handle 

Modèle SCP checkered handle 

Modèle SC checkered handle 

24



Ayres, F.H. Ltd. 

Contributed by Rolf Jaeger and Chris 

Elks. 

Racket in the collection of Rolf 

Jaeger, Costa Mesa, Ca. 

F.H. Ayres Fellkoropalon, lopsided 

racket of solid ash, convex. 

c.1879-1883 



Fellow collector Chris Elks writes in 

a letter to Rolf Jaeger in 2009: 

This Ayres racket is a real „gem“... 

how about this for a small inscription? 

The „Fellkoropalon“ by F.H.Ayres, 

circa 1879. 

A superb early lawn tennis racket 

with a very pronounced lob and other 

features including a cork handle. 

(„Phello“ is the greek word for 

„cork“ – hence the name). In the 

middle of the wedge is a Registered 

Design Lozenge indicating that this 

design was registered on February 

27th 1879. (Only the earliest of rackets 

have this feature). 

Surprisingly for a racket of this period 

the string is in exceptionally 

good condition with original „heavy“ 

treblings to the top and bottom. 

Advertisement in the Evening Post, 

Rôrahi XXXII, Putanga 139, 27 Whiringa-â-nuku 1886. 

(Remark by S. Kuebler: Probably located in Wellington, 

New Zealand) 

The ‚Lozenge‘ mark used between 

1842 and 1883 to certify the patent 

of the models registered by the UK 

Patent Office allows the identification 

of day, month and year of their 

registration. 

1868 - 1883 

27 for the day 

Y for the year 1879 

G for the month of February 

25





Baily & Co., Ltd 

Glastonbury, Somerset 

England 

Contributed by Rodney Lack, 2015 

Company 

(from Grace’s Guide internet site) 

existed from c.1860 to 1979 

1929 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries 

Fair. Manufacturers of Sheepskin 

Rugs and Mats, Pellons, Rice, Socking 

and Tinplate Skins, Lapland and 

Perambulator Rugs. Skin Trimmings, 

Tennis Rackets, Hockey Sticks, Cricket 

Goods, football and Hockey 

Requisites, Boxing, Lacrosse and Driving 

Gloves. 

1947 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries 

Fair. Manufacturers of Quality 

Sports Equipment, Tennis, Badminton, 

Squash Racquets, Hockey Sticks, 

Cricket Leg Guards, Wicket keeping 

and Batting Gloves, Football Shin and 

Hockey Guards, Punch Balls, Mitts 

and Boxing Gloves. 

Racket offered at ebay Aug. 2015 

Tournament Model 

c. 1960 (estimated by Rodney Lack) 

F. H. Ayres: Fellkoropalon, c. 1879 - 1883 

Baily: Tournament Model c. 1960 

26



Briggs, Walter, Ltd. 

Contributed by Peter Distin, 2009: 

Racket in the collection of Peter Distin: 

Gem 

c. 1920 


Bussey Geo G. & Co. Ltd. 



Buchanan Ltd. 

Pall Mall 

Piccadilly, London 

England 

Contributed by Peter Inderbitzin, 

Switzerland, 2010: 

Racket in his collection: 

The Imperial, c. 1900 


Contributed by Peter Distin, 2009 


Tournament 2, carries a silver plate 

(hallmark 1882). The name EVIE is engraved 

as well as the date 1884. 

Therfore probably made in 1883. 

Buchanan: The Imperial, c. 1900 

27


Additional information 

to page 138: 

Dunlop 

Jens Wehrmeister 

(www.80s-tennis.com/ 

a highly recommended 

website on rackets) 

suggested to include 

the following photo of 

the 

“McEnroe Autograph 

Mid” 

in the chapter on 

Dunlop. 

He writes: 

„This racket is one of 

the last Midsize 

rackets made of 

laminated wood.“ 




the ”Book” and page 139 in the Update 

2010: 

Gradidge & Sons 

This racket is in the collection of Mr. 

Schaelchli, Switzerland, fellow 

collector. It has an unusual wedge. 

Gradridge referred to it as „the racket 

has the wedge hollowed out in order 

to increase the playing surface of the 

face“. 

Dunlop: 

McEnroe Autograph 

Mid, 

c. 1985 

Gradidge: probably the Champion, c. 

1900, with a wedge „hollowed out“. 

28


Hazell, Limited 

111-113, Mare Street 

Hackney, London E.8 

England 

Company: 

A carpenter by the name of Hazell 

founded the company. 

Hazell introduced the famous Streamline 

Tennis Rackets with three bars 

running from the handle to the racket 

head, the outer two ones tangentially 

to the head-oval. It is said that Hazell 

produced this racket at the request of 

H. W. (Bunny) Austin, who promoted 

it. This racket, however, was invented 

and patented in many countries by 

Frank W. Donisthorpe, (first patent 

filed December 17th 1935) the first 

tennis player who used an oversize 

racket at Wimbledon as early as 1921. 

(Please refer to the profile of inventors 

in the appendix of the ‘book’ for more 

information). The models offered were: 

Red Star, Blue Star, White Star. 

Shown are: Green Star, Red Star, White 

Star and Blue Star. 

and Green Star. 



29




30



Hedderly’s 

Athletic Outfitters, Etc. 

97 and 98, High Street and 

15, Turl Street 

Oxford 

Company: 



Rackets in collections: 

Mullocks, Specialist Auctioneers & 

Valuers 

Sporting Memorablia, 6th July 2011 

c. 1879: 

Lobsided racket, Hedderly, estimated 

£ 800-1200 

Rare and very early Hedderly tennis 

racket fitted with extremely thick heavy 

gut stringing (several vertical 

breaks) - period scored oval handle 

for extra grip - still retaining part of 

the leather banding to the head makers 

name stamped to both sides of 

the convex wedge together with three 

pinholes and the shadow of where a 

silver shield once existed hence a 

highly prized racket. 

ebay.co.uk 19 June 2011 

Invoice from Hedderly from 1899 

31




Hobbies Ltd. 

Dereham, Norfolk 

Company: 

Retailer & mail order toy & model suppliers. 

On the 2010 website of the 

company: „Hobbies have been supplying 

modelmakers since 1895 and we 

pride ourselves on our worldwide reputation 

for quality and service. 

However many customers still like to 

have a copy of our famous Hobbies 

Handbook to refer to when ordering. 

Our new Hobbies shop is now located 

at Raveningham, Norfolk.“ 


In a Christie‘s auction 25 June 2005: 

A Courtland racket manufactured by 

Hobbies of Dereham, Norfolk, 1920s, 

with piano wire strings and octagonal 

handle covered in linen grip 

(strings and paintword rusty). 

In the collection of Rodney Lack: 

Hobbies‘ Patent, frame of black steel 

tubing, wedge of steel, wood shingles 

for the handle, covered with linen. 

Strung with black piano wire. 

Remark of author: This design was 

probably inspired by the Dayton rackets, 

which had a huge success in 

the USA in the 1920s. 

c. 1924 



Hobbies‘ Patent, c. 1924 

In the collection of Peter 

Inderbitzin, Switzerland: 

Hobbies, c. 1925 

Steel frame with piano wire 

strings. String tension adjustable 

with a spring and a screw. 

An unusual very rare racket. 

32



Holden, John, Ltd. 

Racket in the collection of Urs Peter 

Inderbitzin: 

J. Holden, solid ash, concave wedge, 

shown on racket: 10 Upper Baker 

Street, London N.W. 

Estimated c. 1924 




Jaques, John & Son Ltd. 



The Invincible, similar to the Club on 

page 217. 

c. 1905-10 

J.Holden c. 1924 

33



the main Book: 

Lunn &Co. 

Horncastle 

41 Berniers Street, London 


Company: 

Lunn & Co. of Horncastle and 41 Berniers 

Street, London, were one of the 

earliest manufacturers of lawn tennis 

rackets. As well as making rackets, 

they manufactured presses, lawn tennis 

markers called "Captain Godfrey's 

marking pins" and game counters for 

rackets. 

Their Ventilated Holdfast racket was 

also manufactured by George Bussey 

and it is possible that they were taken 

over by Bussey's in the 1890's. 

The „Pasttime“ April 29th 1885 writes 

about the Ventilated Holdfast with a 

fluted handle. 

The make, quality, and general apearanceholds 

his own with any we have 

tried: not only giving ventilation , and 

consequent coolness to the hand but 

assisting the grip and giving every 

satisfaction. 

Rackets manufactured in 1885: 

Ventilated Holdfast 

Club, good qualiy 

Paragon, spendid Quality 

Duplex, suited for hot climates. It is 

made with Cane, bent inside the frame 

of the bat, and the union of the 

Ash and the Cane gives a combined 

strength and elasticity which cannot 

be exaggerated. 

34





Malings, Henry 


Inderbitzin: 

Henry Malings, solid ash, with a tilted 

head (lobsided), oval crosssection 

of handle. 

Estimated: c. 1880-84 


the Book of Tennis Rackets and to 

page 141 in the Update 2010 

MCC Co Ltd., Barrier Bat 

Works 

73 Tavistock Street 

Bedford 

Company: 

extract from 

www.bedfordshire.gov.uk 

„Did you know that there used to be a 

batworks in Bedford? The works was 

started by a Mr. A.E. Trimmings in c. 

1903 at 73, Tavistock Street and then 

taken over by the M.C.C. Bat Company 

c. 1908, closing in about 1970. If 

you would like to see a sample of its 

products, have a look at the Bedford 

Barrier Bat in the exhibition case in 

the Record Office lobby.“ 

Henry Malings c. 1880-84 

Frances St., Woolwich 

Next contributed by Peter Distin, 

2009: 


Delux, concave, wrapped shoulders. 

Five sets of twin strings. All wording 

on leather butt end „The world renowned“ 

set in trade mark crest. 

c. 1920 

Rodney Lack provided the following 

information (July 2015) including the 

color fotos of the two rackets Redwing 

and Varsal. His comment: 

„The more modern one is interesting 

with a completely square shaft no 

doubt in complete contrast to the 

round, contoured etc. out in the market 

place.“ 

He also provided me with information 

about a catalogue of MCC published 

in 1935: 

„The World of Sport - Summer 1935; 

M.C.C. Co. Ltd., Head Office & Works, 

Bedford, England“ illustrated catalogue 

of cricket, tennis and other 

summer sports requisites - various 

types of tennis rackets described and 

illustrated with details of manufacturing 

process etc., tools for stringers; 

court equipment (nets and posts); racket 

presses and accessories; tennis 

balls; umpire chairs; scoring books 

etc.; court markers; cricket bats; ma- 

MCC: Redwing, ‚new square stem 

model‘, Aerogrip (registered) handle, 

Model S, c. 1935 

35



Interior with female worker stringing tennis rackets 1948 

MCC: Redwing, c. 1935 

Man operating rounding machine for tennis rackets 1948 

MCC: Varsal c. 1928 

36



Rushworths’ Department 

Store 

Huddersfield 

England 

Company: 

The store was founded by Aquilla 

Thomas Rushworth (1849 - 1902) in 

Huddersfield in 1875. The 93 year history 

of this well known department 

store was described in a booklet by 

Gillian Rushworth with the title: „The 

Story of a Department Store.“ Accordingly 

it lasted until 1968. 

From the history of Huddersfield: 

„October 1960, Rushworth’s clock. 

A double faced electric clock, the first 

of its kind in this country, is installed 

above Rushworth’s Department store. 

The clock, which is visible from Westgate, 

Kirkgate, John William Street 

and New Street, has a three foot dial 

and continuous revolution.“ 


Inderbitzin: 

Queen, solid ash, convex wedge, fantail 

shaped handle. Longstreched 

face. Closely strung with 25 cross 

strings! 

Estimated: c. 1908 



Rushworth’s: Queen, c. 1908 

37



Ramsbottom W. 


Company: 

W. Ramsbottom has been a retailer in 

Liverpool. Please add to the list on 

page 624. P. Destin has in his possession 

a Slazenger Demon racket 

estimated at 1885/86, where the Ramsbottom 

name is engraved. 


No Name Rackets 

This racket is in the collection of Mr. 

Schaelchli, Switzerland, fellow 

collector. It has an unusual wedge 

with two indentations. Its name is 

„Paragon“ which symbolises perhaps 

„paragon of beauty“? In the database 

of the „Book“ only one racket is 

named Paragon. It was made by 

Thonet, but all rackets made by 

Thonet at that time had a 

„Fabrikmarke“ inscribed on them. The 

Paragon had the mark: *XVIV*. But 

there is not such a mark on this racket. 

Therfore probably British made. 

Unknown manufacturer, c. 1910 



Robert Rose 

Inventor 

72 Holyhead Road 

Birmingham 


Mullocks, Specialist Auctioneers & 

Valuers 

Sporting Memorablia, 6th July 2011 

Description: 

Rare and unlisted The Roco Pat steel 

and wooden combination tennis racket 

with steel wire strings - the ¾ 

length wooden handle with the makers 

inlaid brass disc stamped: The 

Roco, 72 Holyhead Road Birmingham 

and Pat no 225934 – and fitted with 

Bukta Pat rubber grip plus a net of 

original tennis balls. 

Estimate: 

£75 - £120 

Patents: 

Please add to English Patents 

page 487 and 488 in the main book: 

1924 

GB 225 934 

Date of application Sept. 12, 1923 

Publication date: Dec. 12, 1924 

Improvements in tennis racquets and 

the like 

Relates to tennis rackets and the like 

of the kind having strings of material 

other than gut and in which metal springs 

are placed between the strings 

and the frame, and consists in that 

the springs are of bridge-like form and 

are provided upon the exterior of the 

frame. As shown in Fig. 2, the strings 

5 pass through the frame 1 and over 

plate springs 3. The ends of the springs 

3 are turned backwardly and 

slotted for the passage of the strings. 

The frame 1 is preferably formed of 

solid drawn steel tube of triangular 

section. In cases where springs are 

provided at one end of the strings 

only, the springs may be of double 

formation as shown in Fig. 5. According 

to the Provisional Specification 

the springs may be replaced by blocks 

of rubber or by an auxiliary frame situated 

within the main frame and 

formed in four shaped pieces separated 

by coiled compression springs. 

Applicant: Robert Rose, Birmingham 


The Roco Pat c. 1924 

The name Roco could have been derived 

from the initials Rose and 

Company. 

Authors comment: 

This development of Robert Rose was 

probably inspired by the ›Dayton‹ rackets. 

Please consult page 121 in the 

main book. 

38



Slazenger Ltd. 

Jens Wehrmeister (www.80stennis.com/) 

suggested to include the 

following photo of the “Wimbledon” 

in the chapter on Slazenger. 

He writes in a letter to the author in 

2009: 

„This racket is one of the purest 

designs coming down to the 

essentials which reflect the noble 

character of the Wimbledon 

Tournament and its long tradition in 

its best way.“ 

Slazenger: Wimbledon, c. 1975 


Slazenger: Demon c. 1905 

The demon‘s head is very well to be 

recognised on this photo. 




Windett & Smith 

Bolton 

bats made in Brown Street, 

Company: 

Extract from the Bolton Evening 

News – 

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk 

„If a bat was a Windett and Smith, it 

was top quality. Indeed, there were 

players including the great Ernest 

Tyldesley, of Lancashire, who would 

use no other make, and it was one of 

these bats, in the powerful grip of 

George Geary, the Leicestershire allrounder, 

that made the winning hit for 

England when they once won the ashes 

in Australia! And that's a rare 

event in itself! 

Three generations of the Windett family 

made cricket bats in Bolton. 

Edgar Windett spent 60 years of his 

working life on that one task, followed 

by Harold E Windett, and then 

Edgar Windett. Don't ask me who the 

Smith was in the name Windett and 

Smith, because I have no idea. 

The works was in Brown Street, but 

the family also had a shop in 

Bradshawgate where, naturally, 

among other things, their own cricket 

bats were sold. The shop was called 

Windetts, established in the early 

1920s in premises which formerly 

housed the Horse and Groom public 

house. After it closed, it became a 

sports outfitters owned by Albert 

Ward. 

Unfortunately, the works closed during 

the early part of the Second 

World War owing to labour difficulties 

and shortage of raw materials, and 

Bolton lost one of its lesser known 

but most interesting crafts. 

Contributed by Peter Distin, 2009: 


Handicap, convex, wrapped shoulders 

with two twin strings. Emblem on 

throat showing an elephant with a 

castle on his back. 

c. 1910-15 

39



the ‚Book‘. 

Plagiarism 



S. Kuebler in 2012: 

Plagiarism is one of the easier ways 

to cash in on successful ideas of 

others. 

Foto details are presented for the Boris 

Becker fake racket mentioned in 

the ‚Book‘ on page 606. 

Was it made by the Fin Sports Ltd. in 

Taiwan? (a company with this name 

was registered in Aylesbury Bucks, 

England at least until 1990). Who marketed 

it? 

The name of Boris Becker was of 

course used without his permission 

neither to use my name. At the time 

the appearance of this fake racket on 

the open market was most embarrassing 

for me, since my royalty partner 

Wilson Sporting Goods Co. had the 

impression at first that I had deceited 

them. 

The patent nummer US 4 666 888 is 

printed on this racket. That number, 

however, refers to an acid(!) and was 

issued in 1987. It implies that the racket 

was made after this date. 

Wilson Profile 110 versus the Boris Becker fake racket 

Side view of the fake racket 

The fake racket 

The original Wilson Profile racket 

40




Two BBs for „Boris Becker“ 

The fake racket 

The original Wilson Profile racket 

Inside the flank of the Boris Becker 

fake racket is written: 

Designed and 

engineered 

by 

Boris Becker 

Sporting 

Good Co. 

in conjunction 

with 


of 

West Germany 

Inside the flank of the original 

Wilson Profile racket is written: 

Designed and 

engineered 

by 

Wilson 

Sporting 

Good Co. 

in conjunction 

with 


of 

West Germany 

41



the “Book” and the Update 2010, page 

294. 

RoxPro International Corp. 

342 Keelung Road, Sec. 1 

Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. 

Parent Company: 

Sursun Enterprise Co., Ltd. 


designed?) by his company. Jo Durie, 

a well known English female tennis 

player, used a SP.IN in the 1980s. 


Many more rackets are shown in the 

catalogue of 2006. Most of them are, 

however, clones of popular rackets of 

the leading companies (Head and Wilson) 

not worth mentioning. 

Lars Laucke, a professional stringer 

in Germany since c. 1995, gave the following 

account on the Rox Pro 

Company to the author in Sept. 2010. 

He was employed by the company in 

Germany from 1998 to 1999. He knew 

the founders of the company personally: 

Kuonan Tseng and 

his wife Jihe Tseng. 

Here is his condensed report: 

The Company: 

The company was founded by Kuonan 

Tseng (Kuni) and his wife Jihe 

Tseng (Judy) in the first half of the 

1970s. First the company produced 

OEM products. These are finished 

items, e.g. tennis rackets, made for 

other companies to market and distribute. 

Dunlop was one of its first and 

main customers. 

But soon Kuonan Tseng started to 

market an own line of rackets using 

MAX as his trade mark. Dunlop, 

however, was not amused by this 

name so close to its own trademarks 

„Maxply“ amd „Maxfli“ and asked 

Tseng, mechanical engineer by 

profession, to reconsider his choice. 

Tseng aggreed and created Rox or 

Rox Pro: “Rackets Of eXellence“ as 

his own trade mark. 

To my knowledge he was the first one 

who introduced the so called isometric 

headshape for rackets, which 

Yonnex claimed to have invented, 

however, at a much later date. Karol 

Kucera used such a racket of Rox – 

Model Sigma 5 – before he switched 

over to Yonex. 

In 1986 Tseng presented a racket with 

variable frame cross sections and a 

beam 20 to 25 mm wide, probably one 

of the first ones following the invention 

of the Widebody racket by 

Kuebler in 1984/85. 

Kuonan Tseng related to me that the 

rackets for SP.IN (page 373 in the 

Book of Tennis Rackets) were produced 

(and to a certain extent 

Jo Durie with her SP.IN racket 

The logo of Rox symbolises a tree 

with the sun rising in the background. 

It was designed by a brother of Tseng 

who lives in the USA. 

In the middle of 1990s the whole factory 

moved from Taiwan to the 

mainland China into the town of Sihui, 

not far from Guanzhou, with all 

its stock and machinery. Today (2010) 

no rackets are made anymore. The 

company became, however, an expert 

on bycycle frames made of graphite 

fibres. 


2006: 

Loop Tech, similar to the Space T1 but 

without the „spacers“, made following 

a suggestion of Lars Laucke. 

Catalogue cover 2006 

42




Rox: LoopTech 10.7.2006 

43




Glenn A. Bjorkman, long time president of the Victor Sports, Inc., famous tennis gut manufacturer, found some rare 

catologues and pamphlets in his files recently, which he contributed for this supplement. This contribution includes 

the following companies dealt with on the next pages: 

Aldila 


Cayman Sports Company 

Chemold 

Dura-Fiber 

Skyline 

Pro Group Inc.(Tony Trabert) 


the “Book”. 

Aldila 


„When we invented the first Graphite 

tennis racquet four years ago, we 

were alone. – As of today, 15 other 

companies have jumped into graphite 

with composite or ›me-too‹ 

racquets. All of them are trying to 

copy the original – Aldila.“ 

From a pamphlet of the company 

~ 1978. 

Cannon, 100 % continuous fiber Graphite. 

First one produced 1974, 

last one offered for sale ~ 1984? 

Gemini, more flexible shaft than the 

Cannon, extra power for women players. 

1978 

44




12 Fells Road 

Winchester, MA 01890 

Another address given: 

27 Congress Street 

Salem, MA 01970 

U.S.A. 



1995: 

DS 107 model 

(Sixth Prototype) 

c. 2000 - 2010: 

DS 96 

Comment by the author: 

The „Twin“, introduced by Intertennis 

in Germany in 1982, is very 

similar to the Blackburne. Please refer 

to the photo and description on 

page 216 in the „Book“. 


Company: 

MonoSkis & Tennis Racquets 

Website: 

http://www.blackburneds.com/html/ 

history.html 

„Story of the Blackburne Double 

Strung racquet: 

At last you can play with the Blackburne 

Double Strung racquet, which 

was hitherto outlawed by the International 

Tennis Federation for some 

ten years. This revolutionary racquet, 

invented and designed by Robin 

Blackburne, is now (1995) sanctioned 

by the International Tennis Federation 

and United States Tennis 

Association for play by amateurs and 

professionals in all tournaments and 

championships worldwide. 

The Blackburne is the only racquet in 

history that was declared originally 

illegal and then later declared legal. 

The DS 107 model was used by Roscoe 

Tanner. 

The Blackburne Double Strung Tennis 

Racquet with its innovative form 

of two independent string beds, delivers 

a number of important benefits 

that will improve the game of tennis 

players of all ability levels. Our tennis 

racquet virtually eliminates the 

frustrating ›frame shot‹ of all conventional 

racquets. The Blackburne 

Racquet incorporates a unique double-strung 

design where two sets of 

strings, or string beds lie on each side 

of the frame, thereby presenting a 

perfect plane of strings to the ball.“ 

45



Broadway Tennis Racket Mfg. 

Co. Inc. 

Dereham, Norfolk 

Rodney Lack provided the following 

fotos of the „Eldorado“ racket. 


Additional information to page 33 of 


Bailey’s Boston 

Contributed by Peter Distin, 2009 


Young America, concave, pearl 

shaped, leather trim at throat and butt, 

slim handle possibly a lady‘s racket, 

only 12 main and 15 cross strings. c. 

1885 


Broadway: Eldorado c. 1929 

46



Cayman 

Sports Company 

3000 Washtenaw Avenue 

3001 Plymouth Rd. 

Ann Arbor, Mi 48104 

U.S.A. 


From a Price list 1994: 

Pro Series: 

Exel Comp - 110 

Strike X - 95 

Pro Talis - 110 

Performance Series: 

Elite - 110 

Catalist - 100 

Recreational Series: 

Lotus -119 

Crossfire - 110 

The Edge - 106 

From a price list 1995: 

Pro Series: 

Pro Smash 

TNT 

Heat 95 

Excel Comp 

Strike X 

Pro-Talis 


Airlite 

Magic 

Elite 

Catalyst 

Recreational Series: 

Lotus 

Crossfire 

Edge 

Junior Performance Series: 

Jr. Pro 101 

Jr. Pro 201 

From a price list 1996: 

Pro Series: 

Energizer 

Terminator 

Pro Smash 

TNT 

Heat 95 

Excel Comp 

Strike X 

Pro-Talis 


Airlite 

Magic 

Elite 

Catalyst 

Recreational Series identical to 1995, 

as well as Junior Performance Series 



47


Addtional information to page 108: 

Chemold Corp. 

New address in 1974: 

58-30 Grand Avenue 

Maspeth, New York 11378 

U.S.A. 


The Sporting Goods Dealer/May, 

1974: 

Genesis, wooden racket with graphite 

fiber lamination. Retail price $ 150.- 



Chemold: Genesis, 1974 

48


Addtional information to page 44 in 

the Update 2010. 

Dayton Racquet Co. 

(originally named „The Dayton Steel 

Racquet Conpany“) 



Excerpt from „sportcrowtennis.com“ 

(09.10. 2022), first published April, 

2010 by Randy Crow. 

This company was founded as a subsidiary 

company of Talbott Industries 

in Dayton, Ohio, where they began 

manufacturing their steel racquets 

with wire strings in 1923. Louis Monday 

bought the company after WWII. 

The Dayton racquets basic design 

was based on the patents of tennis 

champion William A. Larned. He broke 

the tennis tradition by designing 

the first commercially successful metal 

tennis racquet. Daytons operation 

was quite small. In a 1966 interview, 

Louis stated that the plant had a crew 

of 17 employees and was producing 

‚a hundred or so‘ total racquets per 

day. 

Larned was awarded a patent for metal 

strings on July 18, 1922 and a 

second patent for his steel racquet 

design on April 17, 1923, which is the 

date displayed on all the early Dayton 

butt caps. By 1931, Dayton 

offered five different models of tennis 

racquets (Junior Pilot, Park 

Champion, Pilot, Holiday and Lone 

Eagle). The last rackets were made 

and sold by the end of 1995. Over 

the 72-year span about one million. 

Schools and clubs had found that the 

Dayton racquets held up well to heavy 

use and rarely broke a string, 

unlike the typical gut-strung racquets. 

Initially, in the 1920s, Dayton Racquets 

were distributed and sold 

through Spalding, Alex Taylor and 

Wright & Ditson outlets that often 

put their trademarks on the racquet 

along with the Dayton markings. 

One of my favorite Dayton racquets 

in my collection is the co-branded 

Wilson Indestructo model, which is 

an all-metal racquet with a cork wrapped 

handle that was manufactured 

from 1927-29 for exclusive sale by 

Wilson. 

By 1931, Dayton had established their 

own marketing channels and had 

abandoned co-branding their rackets 

Wilson Dayton Indestructo, as an example for the construction of all 

Dayton steel Rackets, 1927 to 1929 for exclusive sale by Wilson, a 

top of the line model, with a cork wrapped handle 

49


with other companies altogether. 

The racquet frames were made by heating 

stainless steel tubing and 

bending it into a racquet shape. They 

were then reheated to 1600 degrees 

Fahrenheit and dipped in oil to harden 

the steel. Finally, the racquets 

were put into a draw furnace to enhance 

flexibility and then sand 

blasted and painted. 



Randy Crow has devised three general 

rules of thumb for dating all 

Dayton racquets: 

1) If the butt cap has “Dayton Ohio” 

printed on it, it was made between 

1923 and 1934 

2) If the racquet has a logo of three 

stylized racquets on the throat, it was 

made after 1974 

3) If the plastic butt cap says “Arcanum 

O” and the throat doesn’t have 

the three-racquet logo, it dates from 

1934-1974. 

Cork wrapped handle 

Wilson Dayton Indestruc- 

50




Wilson Dayton Indestructo 

51



International Sporting Goods 

Corp. (Craven) 

Springfield, MA 

U.S.A. 

Rodney Lack provided some photos 

(Oct. 2012) showing an ununsual racket. 

It has the name Carvens Red 

Cloud and was made to E. J. Carven’s 

US Patent 1 663 039 discussed on 

page 539 in the „Book“. 

Mangan’s Speed Hawk and Wilson’s 

Evertite show the same construction 

and are listed in this Supplement. 

There is no indication on the racket 

which company made the Red Cloud. 

Maybe we can assume, that the inventor 

himself had it made somewhere to 

his patent and tried to market this racket 

on his own. 

Randy Crow was in a position to cast 

some more light on this matter. Extract 

from his article ‚Mechanical Tennis 



Carvens Red Cloud c. 1929 

52


Rackets‘ which he wrote a few years 

ago: 

A Craven ad in a 1930 Sporting 

Goods Journal states, „The Adjuster- 

Tite can be tuned to any pitch 

obtainable in a racket by a simple 

turn of the knob at the base of the 

handle.“ It goes on to say that „this 

ingenious racket has been endorsed 

by experts and has established it’s superiority 

over any other racket 

made.“ 

Craven founded the International 

Sporting Goods Corporation and 

built a plant in Springfield MA, to 

produce his racket employing the 

‚1928 open troat racket design‘ that 

all major racket companies began 

manufacturing that year. He added 

his Adjuster-Tite to the open throat 

and marketed 

Red Cloud 

Silver King and 

Black Hawk 

under the International Sporting 

Goods brand. 

Craven also licensed to Kent and 

Draper Maynard, as well. 


Mentioned before were Mangan’s 

Speed Hawk and Wilson’s Evertite. 

Kent produced the Silver King as stated 

in the Update 2010 on page 58. 

Please disregard the comment given 

in this section on the same page regarding 

not finding the patent in the 

US Patent data base. 



Dura-Fiber 

U.S.A. 


1975: 

Graphite, Retail $ 139.- 

XT, Retail $ 80.- 

Lite, Retail $ 65.- 

53


New information to page 108 of the 

Update 2010. 

Inova Inc. 

2825 Downing Circle 

Birmingham, Al 35242 


Inventor: Elie B. Kheir 

2825 Downing Cir., Birmingham, Ala. 

Please refer to Page 10 in the Update 

2010. 


1994: 

Inova Handler, S. Kuebler collection 

~ 2000: 

Inova Handler Arrow, David Cornwell 

collection 


Company: 

Excerpt of an article 

›Racket is a Wonder of Sience‹ 

by Janel Hutchinson 

(Scripps Howard News Service), 

published in 

Morning Star, section Star Watch, 

page 1, of Dec. 7, 1994. 

... »To the average person who 

doesn’t understand the science behind 

the racket, it looks like a shovel,« 

said Bou Kheir, the designer of the 

International Tennis Federation approved 

two-handled Handler ... 

... Most attractive might be the health 

benefits of the racket’s closed-loop 

handle and angled design. Bou Kheir, 

who has a bachelor’s and master’s 

degree in physics, said studies show 

both help prevent common tennis injuries, 

such as tennis elbow and back 

strains - which conventional rackets 

help cause ... 

Bou Kheir, a former Lebanese Davis 

Cup player, moved to the United States 

in 1972 ... 

The Handler, designed in 1991 and 

introduced in 1992 through Bou 

Kheir’s company, ›Inova‹, has allowed 

him to exel on the courts again at 

43, ranking in the top five of the Southeast 

men’s 35 age group for the past 

two years. 

The following flyer of Inova was contributed 

by David Cornwell, Mission 

Bay Auckland, New Zealand in 2011. 

Patents: 

US 5 183 260 

Application filed Jan. 31, 1992 

Patented Feb. 2, 1993 

Tennis Racket 

Abstract: A tennis racket with two 

handles angled from the racket 

head ... 

54




Inova: Handler, 1994 

55



the „Book“ 

Kent E. 

Pawtucket, Rhode Island and Seekonk, 

Mass. 

All catalogs: 

Courtesy Nicole Markham, Tennis 

Hall of Fame, Newport R.I. 

Company: 

Slogan: „Best Rackets used all over 

the World“. 

E. Kent appears in the catalogs until 

~ 1920 , thereafter Kent Estate and 

Kent Inc. from ~ 1928 until 1943. 

It is stated in the catalog from 1912: 

„I offer to the trade a superior line, 

the product of thirty years experience 

in racket making ...“ 

It may be concluded that E. Kent made 

its first rackets in 1882. 

Catalogue 1912 



This catalog, issued 1912, contains 

some interesting details. All frames 

were made 

„of second growth ash, straight and 

even grain, all are reinforced with persimmon 

and dogwood“. 

Persimmon is a very hard and strong 

wood. Sometimes it is referred to as 

„white ebony wood“ since its colour 

is yellowish-white. Golf clubs were 

formerly made of persimmon because 

of it outstanding properties. Both 

woods were also used for hammer 

handles. 

Guarantee 

... 30 days from the date of purchase 

of all rackets 13 oz. and over ... 

Please note that the guarantee covered 

only rackets with a weight of 13 

oz (368,5 grams) and over. That corresponds 

with the practice of 

European manufactures at that time. 


Can we conclude, that no lighter rackets 

were made by E. Kent in 1912 

the reason being that such rackets 

broke easier? 

Nineteen models were offered: 

Princeton with the highets price of 

$ 8.- 

Lakeview with the lowest of $ 2.- 

Princeton No. 1 

Yale No. 2 

Swarthmore No. 3 

President No. 4 

Premier No. 5 

Radnor No. 6 

University No. 7 

Country Club No. 8 

Expert No. 9 

Columbia No. 10 

Powelton No. 11 

Champion No. 12 

Lenow No. 13 

Hartford No. 14 

Ashby No. 15 

Springfield No. 16 

Harvard No. 17 

Lakeview No. 18 

Winsor No. 19 

convex 

convex 

convex 

convex 

concave 

concave 

convex 

convex 

convex 

convex 

concave 

convex 

convex 

concave 

convex 

convex 

convex 

convex 

convex 


56




E. Kent: 

Cyclonic c. 1927 

„230“ (top right) c. 1908 

Country Club c. 1925 

Top of the line: 

The Princeton No. 1 (1912) 

Shoulders reinforced with 

persimmon, white holly 

throat reinforced with black 

walnut and strung with 

highest grade English 

lamb’s gut. 

57




E. Kent Estate Racquet Models 

listed within various archival materials donated by Ruth Kent Hatch in 1986 and 1994 

(Compiled by Nicole Markham, Curator of Collections, September 25, 2015) 

Model Name Catalogue / Brochure /Advertisement Year Note 

Ace 1928, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1938 

Ambassador 1925(?), 1926(?), 1927, 1928, 1931,1932, 1934, 1938, 1939(?) 

Aristocrat 1925(7), 1927 

Ashby 1912, 1908 

Autograph 1940, 1941 

Beauty 1927, 1928 

Beekman 1925(?), 1926(7), 1927 

Blackhawk 1931 note that it is a „new Kent Model“ 

Black Knight 1934 

Blue Streak 1931, 1932 

Century 1940 ad states it is to celebrate the 100th anniversary ofthe company 

Challenge 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932 

Champion 1912, 1932, 1934 

Classic 1925(?) 

Collegian 1925(7), 1926(?), 1927, 1928, 1931,1932, 1934 

Collegiate 1931 

Columbia 1912, 1908 

Commodore 1940 

Conqueror 1934 

Country Club 1912, 1938, 1939(?), 1925 

Court 1940 

Court King 1932 

Crusader 1938, 1939(7), 1940, 1941 

Cup Defender 1934, 1938, 1939(7), 1940 

Cyclonic 1931, 1932, 1934, 1939(?), 1940, 1941 

Duchess 1925(7), 1926(?), 1927, 1928, 1931,1932, 1934 

Eagle 1928, 1929 

Expert 1912, 1934 

Falcon 1938, 1939(?) 

Finalist 1934, 1938, 1939(7), 1941 

Griffin 1928, 1931, 1934 

Hartford 1912 

Harvard 1912, 1925(?), 1926(?), 1927, 1928,1934, 1938, 1939(7), 1940, 1941 

International 1925(?), 1926(7), 1928 

Kenoak 1925(?), 1926(?), 1927, 1928 

Kent Master 1941 

Kent Special 1926(?) 

Lenox 1912, 1925(?), 1926(?), 1927, 1928, 1908 

La keview 1912 

Lightening 1928 

Maple Leaf 1925(7), 1927 

Mercury 1939(7), 1940 

Newport 1925(?), 1926(?), 1927, 1928, 1931,1934, 1938, 1939(?), 1940, 1941, 1908 

Olympic Driver 1925(?), 1926(7), 1927, 1928, 1929,1931, 1932, 1934 

Pacemaker 1934 

Paragon A 1925(7),1926(?) 

Paragon B 1925(7), 1926(?), 1927 

Powelton 1912, 1920(?) 

Premier 1912, 1925(?), 1926(?), 1927, 1940,1941 

President 1912, 1931, 1908, 1934 

Princeton 1912, 1908 

58


Prospect 1934 

Radnor 1912 

Royal 1931, 1932, 1930 

Silver Streak 1938 

Special 1926(?) 

Speedwood 1931, 1934 note that it is a „new Kent Model“ 

Speedwood A 1932, 1934 

Speedwood B 1932, 1934 

Speedwood C 1932, 1934 

Speedwood D 1932, 1934 

Springfield 1912, 1908 

Super Driver 1934, 1938, 1939(?), 1940 

Swarthmore 1912 

University 1912 

Wilding 1925(?), 1926(7), 1927, 1928, 1932 

Wimbledon 1941 



Courtesy: Nicole F. Markham 

Curator of Collections 

The Museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame 

(in italics added by author) 

Windsor 1912, 1925(?), 1926(?), 1927, 1928,1931, 1932, 1938, 1939(?), 1940, 1941, 1908,1934 

Wizard 1925(?) 

Yale 1912, 1908 

Kent: Powelton ~ 1920(?) 


59




Catalogue 1925 Catalogue 1926 




Catalogue 1928/9 

Catalogue 1928/9 

60



the „Mainbook“ 

Ken-Wel 

524 Catherine St in Utica, NY 

The Company: 

Condensed from Wikipedia (2021) 

Philip and Bert Kennedy introduced 

some innovative baseball gloves designs 

during the 1920's. The brothers 

were partners of Ken-Wel Sporting 

Goods, a company started by their 

older brother Dr. Morris Kennedy of 

Gloversville, NY. in 1919. However, it 

was Allen E. Kennedy,a former Dow 

Chemical employee, who would emerge 

as the company leader and sole 

owner. After the Great War the company 

moved to the glove and tannery 

capital of the world (Peabody MA). 

The Ken-Wel name had come from 

the Kennedy's last name and a partner 

named Wells, who pulled out of 

the venture before the company was 

started. The Kennedy brothers liked 

the name and kept it. 

In 1932 the company settled on 524 

Catherine St in Utica, NY and at its 

peak had 300 employees during World 

War II. Ken-Wel also manufactured or 

distributed, footballs,basketballs, 

soccer balls, skiis and ski suits and 

tennis rackets. It even briefly made 

fiberglass boats. 

In 1952 Allen sold his company to J. 

Lawrence Kennedy (no relationship) 

of Elmira. The new owner changed 

the Ken-Wel name to Kennedy Sports. 

In 1960 Kennedy Sports shut its 

doors. The building was torn down. 


In 2005 Akadema 

purchased the Ken-Wel 

trademark and re-released 

the once famous 

Lou Gehrig Glove, Dazzy 

Vance Glove and a vintage 

football helmet. 

Ken-Wel has also been 

the subject of a book: 

"The Rise and Fall of 

Ken-Wel", 

by Utica historian Scott 

Fiesthummel. Baseball 

glove enthusiasts still 

consider the Ken-Wel 

glove line one of the 

most sought after collectables. 

Authors Note: 

It is quite conceivable 

that the rackets of 

Ken-Wel were made by 

Wright & Ditson which 

became Spalding in 

1930 not having own 

manufacturing facilities 

to produce rackets. 

But also Narraganset 

Machine Co. could 

have been the manufacturer. 

It had a racket 

out with the name Sixty 

about 1930. At the 

same time Ken-Wel offered 

a racket with the 

name Sixty-Six. A coincidence? 


Ken-Wel: Five-Fifty 

Rackets offered 

1930‘s-40‘s: 

Champion 

Collegiate 

Black Beauty Duracket 

Five-Fifty 

Kenwood Driver 

Mercury 

Niagara 

Playrite 

Royal 

Six-sixty 

Three-thirty 

61



Magnan Corp., N.J. 

U.S.A. 


Inderbitzin: 

SpeedHawk, solid ash, open heart. 

Shown on racket: Adjustable balance 

and string tension. Patent 1 663 039. 

Made by N.J. Magnan Corporation, 

North Attleboro, Mass. U.S.A. 




Comment: 

It is always interesting to get hold of 

a racket, which is made according to 

a patent. The mentioned US Patent 

1 663 039 was applied for by E. J. Craven 

in 1927 and granted in 1928. It is 

shown and discussed on page 539 in 

the ‚Book‘. 

There are two holes in the steel rod. Two strings are led through 

these holes. By tightening the rod with a screw accessible through a 

hole in the handle the tension of four main strings can be adjusted to 

suit. On the rod A.T.R. ? PAT. is engraved (adjustable tension rod?). 

Magnan: SpeedHawk c. 1930 

62



Marketing Systems 

International 

(The Eagle Club) 

P.O.Box 296 

Goleta, California 93017 

U.S.A. 



the main book and page 73 in the Update 

2010: 

A. J. Reach & Co 

Contributed by Ronald B. Cade, 

Kill Devil Hills, NC, USA 


Company: 

Trade mark is an eagle surrounded by 

a white circle. 

Racket in the collection of R.B. Cade: 

Rival, solid ash frame, cedar handle 

c. 1900 

Rackets distributed: 

From the Mainliner Magazine 

1978: 

Black Eagle, standard size, closed 

throat, 100 % graphite fibers. 

Personalized engraving available of 

your initials on a special brass plate 

attached to the butt end of the racket. 

Reach: Rival 

Trade Mark: 

Reach, The Sign of Quality 

63



Midland Sporting Goods LLC 

1221 5th St. 

Pawnee, IL 62558 and Chatham, IL, 

U.S.A. 

Company: 

Midland Sporting Goods was owned 

and operated by Todd Johnson. The 

company was initially started to help 

transfer firearms at local ‚Ducks Unlimited‘ 

events and has grown to 

include ‚Illinois Concealed Carry‘ instruction. 

The company went into business with 

a tennis racket and acquired for this 

purpose patent rights for a die cast 

aluminum racket probably in 1970. 



Patent: 

1970: 

3 605 252 

Application filed Feb. 7, 1969 

Patented Sept. 20, 1971 

Method of forming a tennis racquet 

Abstract: ... the method of forming a 

tennis racquet structure comprising 

the steps of providing a die having a 

cavity corresponding to a tennis racquet 

frame configuration; introducing 

fused metal into the cavity; applying 

a preselected pressure to the metal in 

the cavity to density the metal to form 

a cast frame structure having stringing 

apertures denned by the dense 

cast metal .... 

Inventor: Samuel W. Landsman and 

Joseph A. Woltering, Chicago, Ill 

Assignors: to Midland Sporting 

Goods Company 

Problems with this design: 

Rackets made of die cast aluminum are 

not strong enough for play considering 

that the player hits accidentally 

the ground with the racket resulting 

in small cracks. 

Midland had the frame produced by 

the Hamilton Die Cast, Inc. and 

sought damages from this company 

since many rackets were returned broken. 

That was in November 1971. 

The problems could not be solved. 

Midland decided to withdraw all rackets 

from the market. - A short lived 

excursion into the racket business. 

Rackets distributed: 

1970/1971 

The Midland S.T.R. 

Frame made of die cast aluminum. 

Apertures for the strings were integrated. 

No holes had to be drilled. 

64


Additional information for the Book 

of Tennis Rackets and the Update 

2010. Paste under the letter N for 

Nikonow. 

Nikonow Racket 

Rackets made to this remarkable US 

Patent No. 1,539,019 of May 1925 and 

the drawings shown there were never 

made, distributed, or sold, to my 

knowledge, to the public. His ideas, 

were too revolutionary for the mid- 

20ties. Much later (80 years?) some 

of his ideas were realized in modern 

racket designs, when the physics of 

rackets when striking a ball were better 

understood, considering the 


moment of inertia in relation with the 

center of gravity. “Taking the impact 

of Nikonow's patent into account, I 

decided to rebuild two rackets in the 

year 2000 to get some photographs, 

which are shown here. In my patent 

application for the Resonanz Racket, 

the patent examiner in Munich 

thought that Nikonow's patent could 

be considered prior art. Showing him 

the rebuilt racket, he refrained from 

following through. 


65




Nikonow Racket rebuilt 

66


Additional information to Page 291 in 

the „Book“: 

Pro Group, Inc. 

99 Tremont St. 

Chattanooga, Tn. 37405 

USA 


April 1975: 

Tony Trabert C-6 

„The Tony Trabert C-6 Graphite-Racket 

is formed in one piece out of 

graphite“. 



Pro Group: Tony Trabert C-6, 1975 

67



Skyline Industries, Inc. 

4909 N.E. Parkway 

Fort Worth, Texas 76101 

U.S.A. 



Company: 

„The Graphite“ racket was marketed 

by WCT (World Championship Tennis), 

please consult page 411 in the 

„Book“. 

In an ad of ~ 1978 it is stated: 

„The Graphite‘s“ sleek profile and 

open throat design increases velocity 

with less effoert. It is the official 

Racquet of World Championship Tennis. 


~ 1978: 

The Graphite, by WCT 

Graphite Power Wrap 

In a techical description the following 

explanation is given: 

„What is Graphite? 

Graphite composite material, called 

„graphite“ is actually a family of materials 

reinforced with high strength 

graphite fibers. These long continuous 

graphite fibers are made from 

synthetic textiles which are drawn through 

high temperature furnaces that 

›burn off‹ everything except the carbon 

which, in the process, becomes a 

graphite fiber 1/10 the diameter of human 

hair. 

This ›burn off‹ carbonizing occurs 

with the fibers under tension, forcing 

the graphite molecules to align in one 

direction to produce fibers with remarkable 

strength and stiffness. The 

process is complex and in many ways 

resembles the production of synthetic 

diamond, another form of carbon. 

Graphite fibers may be cut into short 

lengths and injected into automated 

equipment to reinforce molded plastics. 

Cycling time is often less than 

ten seconds. The properties of this 

material are only slightly better than 

Skyline: Graphite Power Wrap, 

c. 1978 

the molded plastic that contain the fibers. 

The preferred manufacturing 

method, used by Skyline, is to use full 

length graphite fibers to reinforce the 

›wrapped laminate‹. Although much 

skilled labor is required and cure cycles 

are measured in hours, the 

strength of this ›wrapped laminate‹ 

material is four times that of steel or 

aluminum.“ 

68



the „Book“, some of it provided by 

Glenn A. Bjorkman, Oct. 2012. 

Tensor Corp. 

U.S.A. 

Rackets in collections 

or shown in ads: 

1968 - 1974: 

Tensor 1400, steel racket with welded 

in throat piece 

Tensor 1500, ditto 

Tensor Pro 150, ditto 

Tensor 1000 

Tensor 400 

Tournament A 500, aluminium, Nylon 

heart 

Tensor Lady Melbourne 460, aluminium, 

yellow heart of Nylon 

Lady Tensor A 600, aluminium, Nylon 

heart 

Pro-Steel S 800, special steel alloy 

Comment of the author: 

The first Tensor steel rackets, that 

were introduced 1968 or a little earlier, 

had a bridge of steel (throat) 

welded to the bent steel frame. This 

welded connection was a weak point, 

since it had a tendency to break. 



Top left: Tensor Pro 150, c. 1969 

Ads: The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, Aug 30, 1974 

Tensor Lady Melbourne 460, 

aluminium, yellow heart of Nylon 

c. 1974 

69



the „Book“ and page 85 in the „Update 

2010“. 

Contributed by Glenn A. Bjorkman, 

long time president of the Victor 

Sports, Inc., not to be confused with 

the following company. 

Source: Springfield Museums, 21 Edwards 

Street, Springfield, MA 01103, 

Cliff McCarthy, Archivist. 

Victor Sporting Goods Co. 

Springfield, Mass. 

USA 



Company: 

1905: „The Victor Sporting Goods 

company has its main factories at 27 

to 43 Lyman street, with its offices at 

the latter number, and is, as its name 

implies, engaged in the manu-facture 

and distribution of athletic and gymnastic 

goods. Its activities center 

largely around baseball, tennis, golf 

and football supplies, although a large 

business is also done each year in 

boxing gloves, striking bags and a 

general line of athlethic clothing of 

its own manufacture. 

The Victor Sporting Goods company 

sprang into existance in the spring of 

1897.“ From another source we learn, 

that it was founded in 1898 by Charles 

Whitney and Elroy L. Rogers. 

Elroy and his brother Burt were the 

two inventors at Victor Sporting 

Goods, and they specialized in creating 

catcher’s mitts. 

Until 1912: 

Springfield, 43 Lyman street 

1913 to 1917: 

Springfield, 88 Birnie Avenue 

Sales Office at that time: Chicago, 

19 W. Lake St. 

1918 to 1929: 

It became Wright & Ditson-Victor 

Co., Springfield, 88 Birnie Avenue 

1930: Absorbed by Spalding 


From a catalogue of the company 

1904: 

Victor Cane, cane handle, English 

gut, $ 8.00 

Victor Special, cedar handle, with 

gun stock scoring, $ 7.00 

Varsity, with hand turned oval handle, 

Oriental gut, $ 5.50 

From a catalogue 1904 of the Victor Sporting Goods Company 

Victor Tournament, checkered grip 

handle, Oriental gut, $ 5.00 

Victor Collegiate, cherry throat, checkered 

grip handle, Oriental gut, 

$ 4.00 

La Belle, American gut, $ 3.00 

The Comet, medium size, imported 

gut, $ 2.00 

The Club, medium size, domestic gut, 

$ 1.50 

The Lenox, strung with Japanese gut, 

$ 1.00 

The Victor ‚bat emblem‘ did apparently 

not change in the period 

from 1904 to 1916 

70




The picture of this huge factory was shown on a letterhead from 1916 


the „Book“: 

Wilson Sporting Goods Co. 

USA 

Rackets in the collection 

of Peter Hemingway, Sept. 28, 2012, 

USA 

Evertite, solid ash, open heart. Adjustable 

balance and string tension. 

Patent 1 663 039. 


Comment: 

The mentioned US Patent 1 663 039 

was applied for by E. J. Craven in 1927 

and granted in 1928. It is shown and 

discussed on page 539 in the ‚Book‘. 

Similar to the Magnan racket Speed- 

Hawk shown a few pages back. 

Wilson: Evertite, ca. 1930 

71


Wilson - Pro Staff 

Pete Sampras 

Often the question arises: 

Where was the Pro Staff made? This 

is of some importance, since Pete Sampras 

preferred the Pro Staff made in 

St Vincent. This Wilson factory was 

then closed in 1990 and manufacturing 

transferred to Taiwan and China. 

I was asked to consult the manufacture 

process for the first Profiles 

which were also made in St. Vincent 

in 1988. I noticed that the racket 

blanks coming of the dies (the Pro 


Staff as well as the Profile, had a lot 

of (air) voids, elaborate to fill with a 

two component compound and timeconsuming 

sanding afterwards), 

since the curing of the racket blank 

was not accomplished in a vacuum. 

But the workmen in St. Vincent had 

an idea. They pulverized glassbottles 

with a hammer. The glass powder, 

more sand than powder, they added 

to the black paint. The finish of the 

racket felt like sandpaper, and Sampras 

loved that feel. Frank Garrett, then 

chief of racket design at Wilson, told 


me: When the Pro Staff came from Taiwan 

it had a perfect smooth finish. We 

had to import a barrel of that St. Vincent 

paint for an additional spray 

coating for the Sampras rackets. This 

is another example how successful 

players stick to their used rackets not 

tolerating the smallest changes. 

From the table below we can determine 

where the Pro staff was made. In 

the 11th column from the left a threeletter 

code is shown, which is shown 

on the butt cap. i.e.: G*Q was made in 

St. Vincent. 

courtesy:US Warehouse 

72



the “Book” and page 91 in the Update 

2010. 

Alexander (The) 

Patent Racket Company 

Limited 

Launceston, Tasmania, Australia 

From an ad of the mid 1930s 

(provided by Rodney Lack): 

Australian Rackets 



the “Book” and page 105 in the 

Update 2010: 

Spalding Australia 




the Update 2010. 

Empire Racquet Company 

Australia 



73



the “Book”. 

Browning SA 

Belgium 

Glenn A. Bjorkman provided a 

catalogue of Browning dated 1984. 

The fotos shown are reproduced from 

this catalogue. 


Remark by the author: Browning was 

the first and probably the only 

company until today who designed a 

racket using ›honeycomb‹ material for 

reinforcement, which is extensively 

used in aircraft wings and frames. 


The honeycomb structure (aluminium?) can be 

easily detected in this cutaway picture (14). 

74


New: 

Ryckman A. 

La Panne 

Belgium 

Belgian Stringing Machine 


A. Ryckman, La Panne - Belgique - Made in Belgium - World 

Patents 

Stringing machine probably from the 1930s 

Note of author: 

When I was in Frankfurt in 1975, I had met an old man named 

Kose with wild uncombed white hairs, who used to string wooden 

rackets on a weird stringing machine. He proudly told me, 

that he was the only one who could string rackets with only one 

tie off visible knot (and not two as all other rackets possess). He 

kept his secret to himself, he would not share it with anyone. 

Mr. Kose, originally from Breslau, now Wroclaw in Poland, had 

been known for his excellent stringing of rackets in the Frankfurt 

area. His stringing machine was much more accurate than any 

other on the market, even compared to those of modern design 

electronically controlled of today. One weight on a threaded 

spindle could be turned and set to the desired tension for the 

strings in kilograms. No calibrating necessary ever. No doubt 

about his exceptional work once you have understood the system 

of this machine. However, the oversize rackets hit the market 

after 1975. They did not fit on his machine, too big. It broke his 

heart that he had to abandon his loved companion and set it 

aside. 

Frau Bräll, owner now and of the opinion that it was made around 

1910, sold me the machine. She still knew Mr. Kose who had died 

shortly after my visit. Gerhard Hammig, longtime business partner 

of me, also remembered him, this old extravagant character. 

Asked for his opinion about the machine, he immediately reckoned 

that it had been made in Belgium. He believed that it was 

made in the 1930s. This would fit with the following finding on 

the internet: 

Adrien Ryckman (born 1902) had invented a device to string tennis 

rackets. It is described in his patents (Belgium and US Patent) 

from 1936 and 1939. 

Full view of the machine with foot pedal 

(c. 1936 -1939) 

Weight on the mentioned spindle 

75


1939 

US Patent No. 2 146853 

Application filed July 6, 1937 

Issued Feb. 14, 1939 

Priority Belgian Patent filed July 11, 

1936 

Apparatus for stringing tennis rackets 

and the like 

Abbreviated claim: 

Apparatus with a rotatable supporting 

frame with a racket clamped to it, 

a tensioning devise and a guiding bar 

mounted above with a spindle supported 

by this bar during the 

threading of the string ... 

Inventor: Ryckman, Adrien in La Panne, 

Belgium 

Belgian Stringing Machine 


Pictures from operations manual 

Machine No. 109 

76



Snauwaert 

Please add pictures to Page 347: 

Speedshaft 

Laminated frame. Seven plies. Two 

bindings at shoulder. Large open 

heart. Shoulders painted white. On 

racket shown: Seko, hand-made. Modèle 

deposé. 

Remark: present of Kurt Klemmer, 

Snauwaert representative in Germany 

for a long time, to S. Kuebler. 

According to his knowledge it was 

the first one of this kind made by the 

company as early as 1939. 

A prototype. This design was 

introduced anew using the same name 

‚Speedshaft‘ probably in the early 

1950s. 




Snauwaert: Speedshaft c. 1939. 


Speedshaft 

Laminated frame. Seven plies. Two bindings at shoulder. Large open heart. 

Shoulders painted white. Handle not wrapped. 

Collection: Urs Peter Inderbitzin 

Snauwaert: Speedshaft c. 1953 

Frank H. Kovacs 2nd 

Personal Model 

Description and pictures courtesy 

Urs Peter Inderbitzin. 

77




Frank H. Kovacs, an American, had a second-place finish in the United States Pro Championship in 1950, losing to 

Pancho Segura in the finals. 

Please add to Page 351: 

Ergonom 2 

Urs Peter Inderbitzin provided a picture of the Ergonom 2 racket in his 

collection, which is mentioned in the ‚Book‘ in a table shown on page 351. It 

is most likely made of laminated wood reinforced with a layer of graphite 

fibres baked in a resin. 

Snauwaert: Ergonom 2, Graphite 1986/87 

78


Rodney Lack discovered on EBay an 

interesting Snauwaert racket (16 Oct, 

2012). The vendor supposes, that it 

was a demonstration racket, used on 

the court only for a short period of 

time. 

Racket sold: 

Jeanrot A-460, graphite fibres embedded 

in epoxy. A ‚three rod racket‘. 

c. 1989 

Winning bid: 

EUR 123.00 



Remark of the author: 

This racket was made to the US patent 

No. 4 746 119. 

Priority Jan. 24, 1985, France. 

Please refer to the „Book“ page 591. 

The head and the handle are pivotably 

connected. Vibration dampening 

material is disposed between the 

handle and the head and provision is 

made for locking the handle and the 

head in playing position. 

Inventor: Patrick Jeanrot, 51, Avenue 

Lucien Barraut, Champigny, 

France 

There seems to be a similarity with the 

Snauwaert Ellipse Touch, c. 1990, 

“Book” page 349 and 354. 

Snauwaert: Jeanrot A-460, c. 1990 

The Technort Company (page 282 in 

the “Book”) made also rackets – Mod. 

Stratos and Mod. B1 – to Jeanrots 

patent. They were introduced in 1988 

and were offered at a very high price 

(then DM 2500.-, which is inflation 

rate considered, about EUR 2500.- 

today (17. Oct. 2012). 

79



Prosser‘s Phenomenom c. 1928 Prosser‘s Rolls Royce c. 1934 

80

Su mUmschl.Oct. 2022

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