Wall Street Crash – October 1929; The Great Depression begins

 Surviving The Great Depression

The Great Depression also influenced the formative years of paddle. Money was short, and even those who were not suffering were reluctant to spend it. In paddle, gear was cheap, no particular clothes were needed, and a court could be built for as little as $400. It was a perfect game for lean times.

Lighting the court to extend the game

Early on, lighting was added to courts so play could continue during short winter days. Blanchard’s description of the first lighting system: “The best procedure is to set up 4 individual poles made of pipe, 2 along each side of the platform at distances of 8 to 14 feet from each corner (opinions vary as to the better of these distances). The pipes should have reflectors at the top with either 750 or 1000 watt bulbs on each, raised about 20 feet above the surface and suspended over the platform on a short arm at the top of the pipe. The lighting cost is not high and can be kept at a very low figure if you have a good amateur plumber and handy man among your friends. Jimmy Cogswell put up the lights at his court and we only needed expert help on the electrical switchboard.” Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Paddle Tennis, 1944

Andrew Wilson, Jr. elected FMTC President (1930-1932)

Scarsdale Inquirer April 10, 1931

The game breeds self esteem

A new notice appeared on the Old Army Athletes bulletin board on March 30, 1930. A Scarsdale banker suffering from excessive shyness and protruding ears had become a success in society and business as well as quite the ladies man as a result of playing the game. Frederick Allen, editor of Harper's magazine and poet laureate of the OAA, and his wife were the suspects.

The game starts to catch on

The Scarsdale Inquirer of December 11, 1931 carried the story with the headline: "Paddle Tennis for Grown-Ups Grows More and More Popular With This Community. Fame of Game Developed on Wooden Platforms by Two Local Residents Spreads to Other Parts of the Country"

First club court built at Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale, NY

Of the twenty-five or more families comprising the Old Army Athletes (O.A.A.) in 1928, five were members of Fox Meadow Tennis Club and one of them had built their own court. They urged the club to put in a paddle court so Fox Meadow could become a year round sports rendezvous. Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Paddle Tennis, 1944 Expanding into an untried sport in the midst of a national economic depression was risky. Gradually worn down by the arguments of its O.A.A. members, the Board of Directors of the Fox Meadow Tennis Club had a meeting on April 15, 1931, to make a crucial decision. Should they or should they not put up a platform tennis court? They represented a tennis club and some of the avid tennis-playing members didn't warm up a bit. Finally, a happy compromise was proposed on which the conservatives and the enthusiasts could agree. The club would put up a p[...]

Old Army Athletes bring their spirit to Fox Meadow

With the completion of the first paddle court, the Old Army Athletes joined Fox Meadow almost en masse and transferred their camaraderie and sense of fun to the Club. They formed the core of the new Paddle Committee (Cogswell, Gatchell, Blanchard and W. C. Harrison) and posted a notice on the Club bulletin board explaining the game in simple terms. Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1958, and Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club - The First Hundred Years, 1983 The informal quality of the games stems from these beginnings and the influence of the Great Depression. As paddle drew more people on frigid days Blanchard, an enthusiastic skater, conceived the idea of flooding the unused tennis courts for ice-skating. The unique ambience that still clings today to Fox Meadow evolved during winters of paddle and skating. It is captured in a frequently p[...]

Vassar builds first college court

Vassar President Henry MacCraken dropped by the Blanchard's unexpectedly in late 1931 “to find out about paddle tennis.” It was a necessary visit since an alumna had donated a court. The article headline in the New York Sun on October 24, 1931 read: “Paddle Tennis to Be Tried Out at Vassar.” At the end of a brief article about the game the Sun added, “Vassar is the first college to experiment with the new form of sport.” Unfortunately, the experiment was a failure, likely due to poor choices of court location and backstops, and the fact that there was only one court. Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959 Also see The game starts to catch on

The appeal of the game

Frederick Lewis Allen, Editor of Harper's Magazine, wrote the following letter on February 19, 1932 to a lady who had asked him what he thought of the game. The letter was written before the Evans invention had made taking balls off the backstop an assured success, before the sanding technique had practically eliminated slipping during a rain, and when the game was still largely confined to those who learned it on the Cogswell court. “I know of no other active game which can so readily be played outdoors at all seasons and in virtually all weathers. In Scarsdale we play it every week-end from October to May (and sometimes on week-day evenings by artificial light). Golf links and tennis courts may be out of commission; skating ponds may not be frozen over; there may be no skiing or coasting—yet Paddle Tennis goes right on. We play it when the thermometer is below freezing and the s[...]