In 1874 Major Walter Clopton Wingfield introduced his fellow Brits to the game that was to become lawn tennis. What Bud Collins describes in the video clip as "modern tennis." Notice how Collins describes the first court in the the clip. Think of the shape of an old coke bottle. I've always thought this was funny, as Coke was surely invented and branded around the same time period in Atlanta, Georgia. Your parents will know that the shape of a Coke bottle is iconic, and as famous as its lettering that your familiar with. Maybe its a 'Victorian' time period thing, it seems like it.
He had the court layout & its necessities patented and called the game, "Sphairistike," a Greek word referring to an ancient ball game. He believed such "Greek" branding was going to appeal to educated friends like himself, as they would have the leisure time to play the game. The necessities came in a box containing a net and posts, four bats (latter called racquets), balls
, a mallet and a line brush. Enjoy the video clip, and remember the French origins of tennis described in a previous post.
