Coca-Cola commissioned Robert Sticker to do an oil painting of a platform tennis scene at the home of the game – Fox Meadow Tennis Club.

Charles Millard, President of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York and a key supporter of the game, commissioned the painting¹.

Source: Paddle Talk, Vol. 2 No. 2 (December)

Who are the players?
“My guess is that Sticker drew the players from scrap art – several pictures that he patched together with his brush. He must have visited FMTC for he beautifully and accurately portrays the Club, snow, court, bleachers, and spectators. As to the players, I’ve always related to the guy hitting the overhead. I recognize the posture, the pants, the green socks and the sweater. But who knows. The other player in the foreground court sure looks like the back of Paul Sullivan’s grey head. And it makes sense that he would be there. Too bad Bob Brown isn’t on the other side of the net, because he was usually in that FMTC group. The guy with the hat looks like Dave Jennings. It doesn’t make sense that he would be there, but it’s his hat and it’s classic. The fourth guy in the forehand court has the posture and look of Paul Molloy. Trouble is the racquet is in the wrong hand. I think.”

Source: Robert R. Kingsbury (private communication)

Note 1: see article below

Robert Sticker (1922-2011) was equally adept in watercolor and oil and was a legend in the marine art field. Over the years, he created a compelling body of work. He was revered throughout the artistic community for the careful research behind each of his paintings to ensure historical accuracy. Sticker also had a unique ability to depict the drama of the human aspect of life at sea. Sticker grew up on Staten Island where watching the busy New York Harbor sparked his initial interest in the maritime world. Educated at Brooklyn College, he served in World War II as a Navy pilot, and as an executive in the oil industry before beginning five years of study under Frank J. Reilly at the Art Students League. Reilly was famous for his “24-head” problem, which demanded painting the same head over and over in 24 different kinds of light and shadow, and requiring the student to emerge from the exercise exhilarated and demanding more. Sticker began painting full time in 1963 and has painted a variety of themes from the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, whaling scenes and an extraordinary series of inland waterway steamboats.

Sticker has a strong following for his unique work, which can be found in many private and corporate collections, such as IBM, Dow. Union Carbide, and AT&T. He received an Award of Excellence at the 1991 Mystic International. He is a founding member of the American Society of Marine Artists.