Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The First American Tennis Racket
The First American Tennis Racket
Mr. Crows article continues, Clarks 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.
Apparently, E. Clark started making tennis rackets (and other sports and toy items) sometime before August of
1877. F. Clark, I believe, was likely a relative and his youngest brother, who took over the business sometime
around 1878 or 1879, prior to the date that the first paid advertisement appeared in the American Cricketer.
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). Edwards brother, Frank
Hamilton Clark (b. 1844) was Enochs youngest son. Geoff Felder wrote to me expressing that he believes that
Frank Hamilton Clark was the uncle of brothers 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 raises 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.
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 a F. I may have to do an update to our artifact label.
So, even though a Clark-made racket, along with another racket, both previously owned by Joseph and Clarence
Clark, were donated to the International Tennis Hall of Fame by decedents of the Clark brothers, the museum was
unaware of the fact that E. Clark was actually the makers name. Naturally, it was assumed that E. Clark was
the name of the owner because it was, in fact, owned by one of the Clark brothers. If they connected the dots
years later, after the #12 TCA Autumn 2007 issue came out, they would have figured out what they had! Both
rackets are now beautifully displayed in their own showcase at the museum.
Nicole Markham sent the following two pictures of the International Tennis Hall of Fames Clark racket:
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 (before I knew there was an E. Clark company) and about Frank
Hamilton Clark. His research was most helpful in clarifying a few things and muddied the waters on others. He
wrote:
I checked and do not see [Frank] Clarks 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. Ill 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. Bartletts theory that a son of Frank Hamilton Clark may have taken
over the business in 1882, even though I could not find any records about his descendants.
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:
The trebling is rough and smooth on both sides of the racket, just like the one at the International Tennis
Hall of Fame museum. Beautifully done, but evidently, E. Clark didnt understand the purpose, which
was to spin the racket and call rough or smooth to see which side faces up when it falls to the ground, in
order 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 its an F with an imperfection where the bottom stroke should be, but for the reasons I
mentioned earlier, I believe it says E. Clark. The same issue exists on the E. Clark racket in the Tennis
Hall of Fame the bottom stroke is not very crisp, but it is even easier to make out, and likely an E.
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 business changed over from E. Clark Co. to F. Clark Co. and to know for certain who E. Clark was
and who Frank H. Clark and Frank D Clark were. Also, E. Clark was in the business of making cricket bats and
other related 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.