COLLECTORS RESOURCES

Update #2 The First American Tennis Racket

By Randall Weiss
Two previous issues of the Journal of The Tennis Collectors of America had articles about The First American
Racket authored by Randy Crow. The first article appeared in the #11, Summer-Spring 2007 issue, making a
case for E.I. Horsman as possibly being the first American tennis racket maker, having manufactured rackets as
early as 1881.
Mr. Crow followed up with an Update article in the #12, Autumn 2007 issue that brought to our attention
research provided by TCA member Chris Elks, who had a copy of an E.I. Horsman Archery & Lawn Tennis
Catalog, dated to the spring of 1880, which offered five Horsman made rackets. In the article, Mr. Crow also
wrote about copies of ads that he received from TCA member Richard Hillway from the The American
Cricketer that TCA member Geoff Felder had shared with him. The article goes on to say, This information
really advanced the timeline! The following excerpt comes from the August 23, 1877 edition which reads F.
Clark, who has repaired and made bats for the Philadelphia Cricketers for many years, has turned out several very
good sets of implements for lawn tennis, which can be seen at the Germantown ground. This refers to the Cricket
Club of Philadelphia that was established in 1854 and is still in existence today as one of our most historic tennis
clubs.
Mr. Crows mention of the excerpt in the August 23, 1877 edition of the American Cricketer was misquoted. The
excerpt doesnt say F. Clark. It in fact says, E. Clarke.

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.

March 20, 1879 edition of The American Cricketer

Toward the end of the article, Mr. Crow asks, Are there any known examples of an F. Clark tennis racket? I
have never seen one in any of the collections that I have viewed nor can I find one in any of my auction catalogs.
While it is possible that there are a few examples of his work remaining, discovered or undiscovered, it is also
entirely possible that he did not use any marks to identify them as products of his shop.
There is now an answer to Mr. Crows question. Yes, in fact there are two known Clark lawn tennis rackets; one
is in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI and the other is in my possession. Both rackets have
the makers name impressed into the throat.
Upon inspection of two newly discovered Clark rackets, they both seem to show E. Clark on the throat (without
the e at the end of Clark most likely a typo in The American Cricketer 1877 excerpt). This means that both
E. Clark rackets were likely made as early as 1876 or as late as 1878 to early1879, just prior to the advertisement
in the March 20, 1879 issue that says F. Clark, Manufacturer of Lawn Tennis Goods. So, E. Clark started
making tennis rackets (and other sports and toy items) sometime before August of 1877. F. Clark, I believe, was
probably a relative and likely his youngest of three brothers, who took over the business sometime around 1878 or
1879 prior to the date that first advertisement appeared in The American Cricketer, which was in the March 20,
1879 edition.
Based on the quality of the impressed markings that seem, in my opinion to indicate E. Clark, some may
question whether the initial is, in fact, an E or an F. Upon close inspection, I believe theres an E on my
racket. Also, the picture of the Clark racket provided by the International Tennis Hall of Fame shows a first
initial that is slightly easier to make out, which seems to even more clearly indicate that it says E. Clark.
In my opinion, it is more than coincidence that both rackets seem to show an E. These observations coupled
with the fact that the Short Slips section of the August 23, 1877 edition of the American Cricketer says E.
Clarke strengthens that supposition. Still, my position on this cannot yet be considered an absolute fait accompli.
Other opinions are welcome.

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:

Please note the following:

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.