My friend Jen spotted the tennis racket over in the corner and asked if it was Margaret Court?
No, this random item is of another great lady in tennis,
Don't you just adore old wooden tennis rackets with their natural gut strings and soft worn leather wrapped handles.
I did tennis for such a brief time when I was about 9 years old but I was captivated by Evonne Goolagong....what a great name, I used to sing-song it over and over in my mind like it was a powerful hypnotic chant. It's the perfect rhythm for the sound of white Volley runners slapping the red dirt court on a warm up jog before a lesson. She was really successful in the 70's and 80's and some of her records still stand.
Evonne was on TV often and I admired her open friendly face and smiling white teeth, her brown skin and cute white tennis outfits. She was never without a smile and I thought she was charming.
It was not so much her tennis ability, but rather her grace and friendliness I aspired to.
A bit of trivia - The first laminated wooden tennis racket was made in Launceston at the Alexander Patent Racket Factory. Craig's father worked there before it closed down in 1961. They tried growing English ash at Hollybank (see this post for photos of our visit to Hollybank) but it failed to thrive.
And thus ends my story of a randomly un-packed possession, a childhood memory and it's six degrees of separation.
Game, set and match?
A wonderful story to go with the racket.. but my eye caught the chess set...Is there a story behind it...... Bill has one made from Soap Stone.. hugs pat :))
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! I reckon both rackets came out of the same factory, they look so similar. xo
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