Back to TopCaption: Aerial view of the second court near Old Army Road in Scarsdale, New York (Oct. 1932). Ardsley Road is shown at bottom. The Cogswell house is at center. The Blanchard house is out of sight at upper left. As shown, only three sides of the original court were screened.
With the help of a rock wall and some fill, the original platform morphed to the current size of 60’ x 30’.
Even with the larger platform and uneven bounces from the wire, the players continued the practice of playing the balls from the wiring. By this time, the wiring height had reached 12’ and used a smaller one-inch mesh.
The Cogswell’s held a party right before the demolition of the first court that included dancing on the “doomed” old platform.
Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959
By December, there were eight platforms in Scarsdale alone and the first open tournament took place, with forty-two entries. The new, larger Cogswell platform and court were the venue for the finals. Earle Gatchell and Fessenden Blanchard, representing the Old Army Athletes, won an exciting final match, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, from Randolph Compton and James N. Hynson. "Paddled their way to victory on dry land," said The New York Times.
By the end of the year, more than twenty courts had been constructed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. These $500-$600 courts were initially popular on private estates. Later on, leading tennis clubs constructed their own courts.
Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Paddle Tennis, 1944, and Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959
Historical Factoid: Lois Proctor - shown above presenting the trophy to Blanchard and Gatchell - had taken quite a [...]
Back to TopFessenden S. Blanchard in His Favorite Spot - The Blanchard Box at Fox Meadow Tennis Club. Grace Pardoe beyond
Madeline (Madge) Childress Beck recalls that the Childresses had left Fox Meadow at one point for another club where the caliber of tennis play was higher, but "then came paddle, and our family rejoined. Paddle made the winters. It was absolutely wonderful. We spent happy, competitive winters and I looked forward to paddle in the winter more than to tennis."
Former Club President Oscar (Oz) Moore, adds, “Fess Blanchard was the Dean, the Headmaster, the President Emeritus, and the Spirit of Fox Meadow. The debt we all owe to Fess for inventing, improving, and promoting (along with Jimmy Cogswell) our wonderful game of paddle tennis is enormous.”
"What we had as a club was fun together with the family,” recalls another club member Marian Frohlicher. “Everyone was strapped for money and wanted some exercise and fun, so we made it a simple place where we got together and did [...]
Back to TopFox Meadows original sign-up system. Four paddles in a row and your foursome's ready to go.
The first court was slow in getting started.
A few neighboring enthusiasts occupied it a great deal of the time and, while players took turns, there were “owners of the house” on hand to give everybody a fabulous time and provide robes to keep the gallery warm.
The platform was raised above the somewhat uninviting bench provided for the spectators, and the clubhouse was as far away as the grounds permitted. Consequently, many club members were not encouraged to come down and wait their turn.
While this original platform was used considerably (see article below), the real success of the game at the club awaited the installation of the second and third platforms.
Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1958
Scarsdale Inquirer April 22, 1932
Over one hundred club members and their guests watched the finals match of the mixed doubles paddle-tennis tournament at the Fox Meadow Tennis Club.
Mrs. Rufus Brent and Clifford Couch defeated Mrs. Rolin Sawyer and Rufus Brent 9-7, 6-1, 6-8, 6-7, 6-4.
All four participants were excellent tennis players and the match was one of the finest examples of the game seen at that time.
Source: Scarsdale Inquirer April 21, 1933
Scarsdale Inquirer February 10, 1933
Both clubs and private estate owners usually built the first courts in accordance with plans and specifications provided by Cogswell and Blanchard—at first for nothing and later for a nominal fee.
Professor Eliot Dunlap Smith of Yale University assisted in early court improvements with Cogswell and Blanchard. Along with his personal experience playing, he consulted the Yale Department of Forestry for advice. In later years, Scarsdale architect Richard H. Tatlow also served as an advisor and worked in the American Paddle Tennis Association, the forerunner of the present day American Platform Tennis Association (APTA).
Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Paddle Tennis, 1944, and Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959
James N. Hyson was a Princeton tennis star and squash ace and captain of his college's 1920s championship basketball team.He was an excellent tennis player, winning two consecutive National Championships (1937-1938), and was instrumental in the construction of the first court at Fox Meadow in 1931.
Hynson won the club's Men's Singles six times - 1926-1929, 1933-1934, and 1936
During his tenure as President he helped oversee the addition of courts, and the building of a vibrant paddle community that lead to the club becoming known as “the home of platform tennis” and provided the momentum to expand the popularity of the game. For this later service he was among the first group of individuals inducted into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame in 1965 (see Hynson)
Scarsdale Inquirer March 31, 1933
Back to TopSnow shoveling is part of the fun. Fess Blanchard puts his daughter Molly to work!
FMTC's do-it-yourself spirit was never more in evidence than during the heyday of ice-skating, which began at FMTC in the 1930s.
Mole Ware recalled: "In the thirties and forties, for many young people and for two transplanted Bostonians—Fess Blanchard and Jimmy Cogswell—an important part of the Club's appeal in winter lay in action on the skating rink. In the thirties, the rink skirted the portable paddle courts. Later, in the forties, the skating area was expanded and the large Victrola brought down from the porch to stand on the ice by the tennis backstop. Strains of Viennese waltzes and German polkas wafted over the paddle courts while my father and Mr. Cogswell taught ice dancing to anyone brave enough to try."
Before the prevalence of indoor rinks with their ice-making equipment, readying an outdoor rink for skating was a labor of love, seemingly always done in the frigid [...]
Donald K. Evans of Fox Meadow solved the game's biggest problem, the unpredictable bounces off the backstops. Without a good solution the game had limited growth potential.
Evans devised a method to stretch a one-inch wire mesh from top to bottom inside, but not touching, the uprights surrounding the court. With adjustable tension bars, the Evans Backstop yielded a uniform bounce when a ball hit any of the four screens, and it became standard on all new courts. The future of the game was assured.
This new backstop was first erected—with the aid of John G. MacKenty—during the winter of 1934-35 on the second Cogswell court.
Don Evans
Back to TopText from the original charter of the American Paddle Tennis Association. The charter was signed in November 1934.
Manursing Island Club of Rye, New York, was an early adopter of the game after a somewhat skeptical committee of two came to Scarsdale to try out the sport at the court on Old Army Road. After trying out the game, the discussion changed from whether to put in a court to how many. They made a decision to install two courts and two additional ones shortly after. Not long after, Manursing member John C. (Jack) Ten Eyck Jr., took the initiative in founding the American Platform Tennis Association (APTA)— first called the American Paddle Tennis Association. Initial members came from Fox Meadow, Manursing and Greenwich Field Clubs.
Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959
In November 1934, Ten Eyck called the inaugural meeting of the APTA in his office in New York City. Representatives of three clubs that had been pioneers in the establishment of platf[...]
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