First court built outside of U. S. in Nova Scotia

The court was constructed in Central Argyle, half an hour or so SSE of Yarmouth in Nova Scotia, on the property of the Ardnamurchan Club.

Ardnamurchan, named after the eponymous peninsular on the west coast of Scotland, is not a club in the traditional sense. During 1908-1909 many acres of land were purchased and a large shingled house built on waterfront property, solely for the purpose of being a summer gathering place for the Cox family, all originally from Philadelphia.

The incorporators of the Club included paddle tennis co-founder Fessenden Blanchard’s mother-in-law, Martha Cox Bryant, one of eight children.

Of course, with the Blanchard family as members, a paddle court was bound to follow and one was built in 1938, ten years after the sport’s invention.

The first court was very simple and the wires were not very good but still provided fun summer-time recreation. The court was improved later on but still built with local materials. It wasn’t until 1996 than the Club members voted to have a new court constructed professionally by a U.S. company.

The Ardnamurchan Club is still going strong with family members now numbering over 200 , and paddle tennis is still a popular part of their summer sports scene

Source: Molly Blanchard Ware, April, 2014

FMTC needs additional courts because of explosive popularity of paddle; land leased from Cranes to build the new courts

The explosive popularity of paddle, with the accompanying demand for more courts and for weekend and night play, led to some discussion in the late 1930s and the 1940s about the kind of club Fox Meadow should be.

Some long-term members who were also neighbors complained about the increase in activities and the noise. They urged the Club to remain small and low-key, with membership limited to numbers the existing small clubhouse could accommodate. Yet pressure to expand paddle facilities proved irresistible. The first step was to find a place to put more platforms.

The Club built additional courts on land it leased from the Crane heirs in 1938 for $150 a year. The site was a 40′ x 250′ strip of land running along the Club’s southern boundary. Although the Cranes had begun to sell parts of the estate, efforts to buy the property outright stalled.

This situation finally changed in 1943.

Source: Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983

APTA Report to Members – now up to 11 clubs

Report to Members, 1938

Manursing Island Club holds Men’s tournament

The event was held on December 10,1938 and was won by Sidney Wood and Don White.The tournament used a blind draw format as as Wood had never played he drew Fox Meadow ace Donald White who coached through to the winners circle. Wood had trouble serving early on but as the tournament progressed he developed a tricky twist serve which proved formidable!

Don White served as APTA President from 1942-1944.

Sidney Wood (1912-2009) became the only uncontested winner of a Wimbledon final. Wood’s opponent in the final of the 1931 championship at the All-England Club was U.S. Davis Cup teammate Frank Shields. Shields, however, was unable to play because of an ankle injury.

Wood had already made Wimbledon history four years earlier when at 15 he became the youngest male to ever play in the tournament. Dressed in white knickers, he lost in straight sets to French great Rene Lacoste.

Wood was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964

APTA asks Fox Meadow Tennis Club to host inter-club Scrambles

The Fox Meadow Tennis Club had been holding tennis Scrambles for several years when Ken Ward of Manursing suggested in 1938 that the recently formed American Paddle Tennis Association (APTA) hold an inter-club Scrambles. In paddle, this event came to be called the Jamboree and later the Jambles. Play was held at Fox Meadow, the only club with enough courts.

Strong social aspect at Fox Meadow

A busy day at Fox Meadow in the early 1940s. Platform tennis, hockey and skating keep members out of mischief.

In 1938, FMTC held a Memorial Day Carnival, complete with a Fox Meadow orchestra directed by Woodruff Johnson and made up of members: on piano, Johnson; on saxophone, Putnam Livingston; on guitar, Earle Gatchell; on banjo, Allison Scully; and on violin, Wardwell Proctor.

Two reasons were given for staging the carnival: to provide a good time for families and to raise money for a Club Improvement Fund. The carnival raised $333. That was Fox Meadow Tennis Club: fun, practical, and frugal. When something needed to be done, more often than not, members would do it themselves. Dues remained low because of members’ willingness to pitch in.

The master of ceremonies was Thorndike Deland, Sr. For a ten-cent admission charge one could also watch him perform magic tricks. The gypsy cranking a rented hurdy-gurdy was Club President John Van Norden. His tunes enlivened all the attractions a carnival should have: a fortune-teller, games of chance, a marionette show, and a shooting gallery where Jim Hynson proved deadly accurate with water pistols, dousing candles as fast as volunteers could relight them.

Source: Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983

National Championships

Singles now had been discontinued. Blanchard had always maintained doubles suited the game of platform tennis best. The APTA confirmed this and found a low level of interest in both men’s and women’s singles and decided to discontinue these events in 1938. Men’s singles was reinstated in 1980.

Fox Meadow teams swept the remaining three National events and Charley and Virginia O’Hearn won their third straight Mixed title and the fourth in a row for Charley. Only two other team have won more than three consecutive Mixed Nationals – Ronald and Elfie Carroll (1949-1952) and Hilary Hilton Marold and Doug Russell (1979-1982).

Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Paddle Tennis, 1944

Gates Sports Platform Company begins operations

The early court construction had been greatly helped by the efforts of Henry B Eaton who was working for a lumber company in NYC. In the late 1930’s, the lumber company was liquidated, but fortunately the work Eaton had done in providing an easy and convenient way for clubs and individuals to obtain platforms inspired one of the company’s employees, Joseph Russhon, to take over its platform tennis business and he continued operations as the Gates Sports Platform Company.

Thanks to Eaton and Russhon, the early development of the game received a considerable boost, and many platforms were set up. Some of these platforms were erected on top of tennis courts in the fall, and then taken down and stored in the spring. Later, clubs began to find it too expensive and hard on the platforms to put them down and take them up each year and permanent courts came to be the accepted practice.

Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959

Historical Factoid: Eaton was President of Fox Meadow Tennis Club in 1936. His wife, Jean Eaton, was the winner of the Women’s Doubles and Singles Nationals in 1935 (the inaugural tournaments) and the Women’s Doubles in 1936.

The appeal of the game

“You know,” said the guilty man enthusiastically, “paddle tennis is the only game I can play with my wife and still like it.”

“Scrambles” tournaments established

Considered by Blanchard as “one of the greatest steps forward in the history of platform tennis,” Ken Ward created the scrambles format and conducted them at Manursing Island Club. These scrambles tournaments were keys in increasing participation by balancing talents and introducing tournament play without the championship tensions and rivalries.

Ken Ward and John Stephenson presided over the draw. The entries were secretly classified into A and B players, and the names of each group put in a separate hat. No two players from the same hat or the same club could play together.

Ken Ward and Oz Moore discussed the draw. “I have the worst luck in these scrambles tournaments,” said Ken. “I never seem to draw anybody who is any good. Why, sometimes my partners haven’t ever seen a paddle. Of course, if I did get anyone that was any good, they’d all be suspicious.” “I’m the same way,” replied Oz. “I never get a good partner either. I’m always out of luck, too.” “Let’s compare notes,” suggested Ken. “Who did you draw last year?” “You!” said Oz.

Unless a player drew Charlie O’Hearn, Paul Hicks, or Cliff Sutter for a partner, he would not know for sure that he rated as a B player—and if he did draw one of those men, he was so pleased that he forgot the insult. The scramble format proved to be an excellent way to develop hidden talent and grow the game.

In the first scrambles tournament, Sidney B. Wood, Jr., a former Wimbledon champion, who had never played platform tennis until he entered that tournament, drew Donald White as a partner, one of the best players of the time. Sid picked up the game quickly. He and his partner were able to win against some of the stronger scrambled teams. This illustrated the affinity between the two sports.

Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959