Illustration shows the effect of the recent craze for playing ping pong, business partners neglect their work, ladies' clubs turn away from their normal leisure pursuits, infants are pitted against one another, elderly couples put years of wedded bliss on the line, and domestic servants refuse to give up the dining table, so they, like everyone else, can play ping pong. Includes humorous verse by Edwin L. Sabin.
The sport originated in Victorian England, where it was played among the upper-class as an after-dinner parlour game. It has been suggested that makeshift versions of the game were developed by British military officers in India around the 1860s or 1870s, who brought it back with them. A row of books stood up along the center of the table as a net, two more books served as rackets and were used to continuously hit a golf-ball.
The name "ping-pong" was in wide use before British manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd trademarked it in 1901. The name "ping-pong" then came to describe the game played using the rather expensive Jaques's equipment, with other manufacturers calling it table tennis. A similar situation arose in the United States, where Jaques sold the rights to the "ping-pong" name to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers then enforced its trademark for the term in the 1920s, making the various associations change their names to "table tennis" instead of the more common, but trademarked, term. ~ Wikipedia
"Ping-Pong is the Warm-Weather Diversion for Young St. Louis Society Matrons"The St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, MO), July 13, 1902, Page 39, Image 39, col. 1-7.
"The Ping-Pong Strain on the Eye Muscles"The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA), July 1, 1902, Page 13, Image 13, col. 1-3.
Header image
Title: Crazy
Contributor Names: Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937, artist
Sabin, Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand), 1870-1952.
Created / Published: N.Y. : J. Ottmann Lith. Co., Puck Bldg., 1902 May 28.
Journal: Illus. in: Puck, v. 51, no. 1317 (1902 May 28), centerfold.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010652003