Since the U.S. Open tennis championship is ending this weekend, here’s a CDV from the relatively early days of the sport. The family isn’t identified, but the photo was taken by Samuel Whitbread of Havant, Hampshire.
Tennis and tea in Hampshire, England
Tokens of Companionship 
What a civilized picture! The poor dog looks exhausted though. I wonder if dogs took to tennis balls immediately.
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The girl in white seems to be perched on a stool or camp chair. I wouldn’t think that would be very comfortable.
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I think those are probably Badminton racquets, not Tennis racquets, as the handles are too long for tennis.
The photo probably dates from the late 1880s. I found this blog post that gives some info about his studio: http://photo-sleuth.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/working-at-big-house.html
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That’s a terrific blog that I hadn’t seen, and I love the photo of the maids with the tools of their trade. About the racquets, you may well be right. I’ll have to look for examples of early tennis racquets. What do you think about the log bench? Were those popular at a particular time? Thank you for the comment and the link!
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At a guess, I’d say the log bench is probably bent willow (or another type of wood whose limbs can be manipulated easily) and these have always been popular in England in certain parts of the country (rural areas) so dating it from that might be difficult. Also, in the olden days they were usually made by local people. It’s possible if there is a certain style attributed to a local craftsperson, that it could be found.
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I’ve looked at some early examples of racquets. The teardrop shape was characteristic of lawn tennis racquets, and handles were relatively long. In badminton the head was a different shape and slightly smaller in proportion to the handle. That said, there seems to have been quite a lot of variation, so it’s hard to say for certain.
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Interesting to know, thanks!
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Nice image, and interesting to see another of Whitbread’s photographs. Thanks for directing me here.
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Thank you, you’re my first visitor from New Zealand! I really hope you can get your images back up, one way or another.
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Yes, I hope so too. We shall see what happens to Rootsweb. If they don’t ever return I’ll have to find a way to reload them all, but it’s a huge task, so I’m putting it off while I still think there’s a chance.
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It makes sense to wait. Are you inclined to do more blogging, or have you moved on to other projects?
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I will do more blogging eventually, although I must admit that other projects have taken priority in the last two or three years. In particular, I wrote and self-published a book about my Camino experience in 2013, and photography also takes upo a substantial amount of my free time. http://brettpayne.nz/ However, I still do a lot of photohistorical research, I just haven’t found the time to blog about it – I should!
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Glad to know about your newer blog, Brett! (It’s not linked to your Gravatar profile.) Your photography looks wonderful. I look forward to seeing what you have up already, and to following along on future adventures.
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Thank you.
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I don’t know very much about the history of tennis. Do you think this is a commemorative photograph taken very much off the court? Or would they rally have played wearing This Much clothing?! I’m not a terribly good player but I’m afraid I’d never manage at all if I had all of these skirts and long sleeves to contend with. Your old photographs are such a wonderful glimpse into another way and time. 😊
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I think they’re right next to the court! There’s a chalk line at lower left (next to the dog’s nose) which looks like a sideline. It would be tricky playing in all those clothes–and hot–but anything less would be indecent! 😉
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Oh you’re right! I see the line now 😉
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