First American Tennis Racket

The First American Racket
By Randall Weiss
There were two previous issues of the Journal of The Tennis Collectors of America about “The First American Racket” authored by Randy Crow. The first article appeared in the #11, Summer-Spring 2007 issue, making a case for E.I. Horsman as possibly being the first American tennis racket manufacturer, having manufactured rackets as early as 1881.

Mr. Crow followed up with an “Update” article in the #12, Autumn 2007 issue that brought to our attention that research provided by TCA member Chris Elks, who had a copy of an E.I. Horsman Archery & Lawn Tennis Catalog, dated to the spring of 1880, which offered five Horsman made rackets.

Mr. Crow proceeded to write about copies of ads that he received from TCA member Richard Hillway from the “The American Cricketer” that TCA member Geoff Felder had shared with him. The article goes on to say, “This information really advanced the timeline! The following excerpt comes from the August 23, 1877 edition which reads ‘F. Clark, who has repaired and made bats for the Philadelphia Cricketers for many years, has turned out several very good sets of implements for lawn tennis, which can be seen at the Germantown ground.’ This refers to the Cricket Club of Philadelphia that was established in 1854 and is still in existence today as one of our most historic tennis clubs.”

Mr. Crow’s mention of the excerpt in the August 23, 1877 edition of the American Cricketer was misquoted. The excerpt doesn’t say “F. Clark”. It in fact says, “E. Clarke”.

Upon inspection of the two Clark rackets, they both show E. Clark on the throat (without the “e” at the end of “Clark” – most likely a typo in the excerpt). This means that they were both probably made around 1877 or possibly in 1886 or in 1888 to early 1879, just prior to the advertisement in the March 20, 1879 issue that says “F. Clark, Manufacturer of Lawn Tennis Goods”. So, E. Clark started making tennis rackets (and other sports and toy items) before August of 1877. F. Clark, I believe, was probably a relative and likely his youngest of three brothers, who took over the business sometime around 1878 or 1879 prior to the date that the first advertisement appeared in the American Cricketer, which was in the March 20, 1879 edition.

Mr. Crow’s article continues, “Clark’s tennis business evidently grew from there, because the March 20, 1879 edition contains an ad for ‘F. Clark, Manufacturer of Lawn Tennis Goods of Every Description’ which was by then located on Haines Street in Germantown. The ad offers individual rackets and balls, as well as complete sets ranging from $25.00 to $45.00.” “Finally, in the June 15, 1882 issue of The American Cricketer there is another F. Clark ad announcing that he has established a branch office on East Chelton Avenue in Germantown for lawn tennis goods and it also mentions that ‘repairs promptly attended to.’ The date of the ad means that Clark successfully produced tennis rackets for at least five years during the infancy of lawn tennis in the United States.”

March 20, 1879 edition of The American Cricketer
Toward the end of the article, Mr. Crow asks, “Are there any known examples of an F. Clark tennis racket?” and “I have never seen one in any of the collections that I have viewed nor can I find one in any of my auction catalogs. While it is possible that there are a few examples of his work remaining, discovered or undiscovered, it is also entirely possible that he did not use any marks to identify them as products of his shop.”
There is now an answer to Mr. Crows’ question. Yes, in fact there are two known examples; one is in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI and the other is in my possession. Both rackets have the maker’s name impressed into the throat. But, stop the jeep! A few clarifications need to be made:

Upon inspection of the two Clark rackets, they both show “E. Clark” on the throat (without the “e” at the end of “Clark” – clearly a typo in the excerpt). This means that they were both likely made around 1877 or possibly in 1886 or as late as between 1878 and early 1879, just prior to the advertisement in the March 20, 1879 issue that says “F. Clark, Manufacturer of Lawn Tennis Goods”. Obviously, E. Clark started making tennis rackets (and other sports and toy items before August of 1877. F. Clark, I believe, was probably a relative and likely his youngest of three brothers, who took over the business sometime around 1878 or 1879, prior to the date that the advertisement appeared in the American Cricketer, March 20, 1879 edition.

So the question remains, who was E. Clark? After considerable research, the answer remains unclear, but at this point, my best guess points to the possibility that it was Edward White Clark, (b. 1828), oldest son of Enoch White Clark (b. 1800), a prominent banker and financier and grandfather of the International Tennis Hall of Fame tennis champions, Clarence Munroe Clark (b. 1859) and Joseph Sill Clark (b. 1861). Edward’s brother, Frank Hamilton Clark (b. 1844) was Enoch’s youngest son. Geoff Felder wrote to me expressing that he believes that Frank Hamilton Clark was the uncle of Joseph S and Clarence M. Clark.
I wrote to Nicole Markham, Curator of Collections at The International Tennis Hall of Fame to share what I found and this was her response:
“Thank you for sending this information as it helps fill in some gaps—and also raise a few more questions! I am sure my colleagues would agree (copied). Interestingly, we too have a similar racquet in our collection that was donated to the museum back in 1958 by Mr. Sewell Clark, a descendant of Joseph and Clarence Clark. He donated two racquets used by the brothers at Wimbledon in 1883. I am going to go back and reread the article in the TCA Journal and look into our reference files a bit more to see if I can uncover any additional information, which I will definitely share with you.”

It turns out that an E. Clark racket was donated to the Hall of Fame by decedents Joseph and Clarence Clark in 1957, but they apparently had no idea that “E. Clark” was the maker’s name, assuming it was probably the original racket owner’s name. If they connected the dots years later when the TCA Autumn issue came out, they would have known what they had!

In a subsequent email, Ms. Markham wrote, “The more I look at the stamp, I think you are right. It does look more like an “E” than an “F”. I may have to do an update to our artifact label.”
Ms. Markham sent the following two pictures of the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s E. Clark racket that is now displayed in a center showcase: [Not shown]

I also wrote to Alex Bartlett, Librarian/Archivist for the Germantown Historical Society to see what information he could dig up about F. Clark Manufacturing and about Frank Hamilton Clark. His research was most helpful in clarifying a few things as well as muddying the waters on others. He wrote:

“I checked and do not see [Frank] Clark’s obit in the local paper, which was the Germantown Guide at the time. However, given this negative result, I decided to check some later Philadelphia City Directories, and he is still listed! He is listed in the 1883 Directory as a manufacturer of “games” at 164 East Chelten as before. However, in the 1884 directory, his business is listed as “lawn tennis.” By 1888, he is listed as “Frank D. (not W. or H.) Clark, rackets, Haines n. Stenton Av.” Historically, this address was his home address. So these results are problematic. Even though he is listed as deceased at the end of 1882, his directory entry is still being updated/changed at least through 1888! Perhaps a son inherited the business when he died? This needs looking into. I’ll keep you posted. Definitely let Geoff Felder know that Frank D. Clark is specifically listed as the manufacturer and/or seller of rackets, as per the 1888 directory.”

“Frank D.”? I have reason to believe Mr. Bartlett’s theory that a son of Frank H. may have taken over the business in 1882, even though I could not find any records about his descendants. This is rather odd because the Clark family (from Enoch Clark lineage) was a very prominent and wealthy family and one would think all Clarks from that period would be chronicled in historic archives.

Records indicate that Frank Hamilton Clark died in 1882 in an insane asylum.

As Alex Bartlett reports, F. Clark Co., “Manufacturer of Games at East Chelton Avenue, continued until 1888 or beyond, based on the fact that the business was listed in some Philadelphia directories until at least 1888.”

Here are pictures of my E. Clark racket: [Shown above]

Please note the following:

• The trebling is rough and smooth on both sides of the racket, just like the one at the museum. Beautifully done, but evidently, E. Clark didn’t understand the purpose, which was to spin the racket and call “rough or smooth” to determine who serves.

• The “E” in E. Clark is hard to read because the bottom stroke on the “E” is not crisp. One could be convinced that it’s an “F” with an imperfection where the bottom stroke should be, but I’m 99 percent certain that it’s an “E” because the same issue exists on the E. Clark racket at the Tennis Hall of Fame – the bottom stroke is not very crisp, BUT it is much easier to read and I have no doubt, it’s an “E”. Also, keep in mind, the excerpt in the August 27, 1877 issue of The American Cricketer mentions “E. Clarke”.

• The handle is long and oval shaped with a cord meticulously wrapped around from top to bottom. Really nice touch!
Unfortunately there are still questions that need to be answered. It would be nice to be able to pin down exactly when the company changed over from “E. Clark Co.” to “F. Clark Co.” and to know for certain who E. Clark and F. Clark were. Also, “E. Clark” was in the business of making cricket bats, amongst other sports items before August of 1877, perhaps long before.

Is there additional information about this company out there? If anyone can provide answers to any of these questions, please let me know.