Advertising and badminton's take off (1911–1926)

    In 1911 S.M. Massey’s book [1] is the first to detail the development of badminton, and include a number of advertisements for manufacturers and retailers of badminton equipment that delivers a precious image of the evolution of the equipment.
    After the creation of the Badminton Association, it took some time for inspiring authors who could describe the various aspects of the game and its development. It’s only at the start of the 20th century that a few serious books were published, very often by top English players. If in 1903, Muriel Lucas [2], one of the best lady players of the time, signs a chapter about badminton illustrated with excellent photos in F.G.Aflalo’s large compilation titled Sports of the World, badminton fanatics had to wait for Massey's [3] publication of Badminton in 1911, to discover advertisement in a book which was completely dedicated to that sport.
    It is all the more interesting since it is the first book to extensively deal with equipment, playing technique and tactics, competitions, and the development of the game in the British Isles and France [4]. For the subject matter of our paper, it includes a dozen advertisements placed at the start and at the end of the book. They are really interesting because they give us an idea of the game popularity and the illustrations help us to discover, a bit like in a museum, a rich choice of goods linked to badminton’s take off, the evolution of most of the equipment for the game...  So many remnants of ancient times [5] that today are not easy to find or admire.

    The adverts show pictures and other details which give us a good idea of the original design, the quality of those items, and the evolution of the technology of the time.
   Most of the goods advertised in those pages come in four groups: first sport publications, then manufacturers of trophies, of rackets, and wholesale and retail firms selling shuttlecocks and kits for the courts.
 

The All England Series and The Badminton Gazette
    Concerning sports publications, two pages are dedicated to books published by Massey’s editor, Bell & Sons, Ltd, in a collection named The All England Series (see Appendix 11). The large choice of sports presented shows the increasing importance of sport in Britain and even winter sports are included in the list of nearly thirty books that confirm the vital part of sport in the British society. None of those books is about badminton and Massey’s book compensate for that. So does the advertisement of The Badminton Gazette [6] which enjoys a full page. It is the official bulletin of the Badminton Association since 1907 and Massey was its first editor. It covers most of badminton news and gives a complete information about most tournaments, even the French Open [7], about champions of the time and the life of that young association.

Medals, Badges, Shields and Spoons
 

    In the second group of advertisements we only find one whole page for Elkington & Co, Ltd manufacturers of all sorts of trophies and prizes who also run retail shops in London and five of the major cities in England and Scotland (photo in Appendix 10). They produce and sell medals, cups, and other types of trophies which are rarely found in France. They also make silver spoons which are offered to organizers and players, and wooden shields with engraved metal plates which can be used several times for a long period as they can be passed from last year’s winner to the following year’s champion.

Shuttlecocks and Rackets
    Here is the most important group as it includes the essentials of the game equipment. Massey’s book is really interesting as regards that matter, because it is published at an important time for the evolution of the equipment for both shuttlecocks and rackets.

Source de l'image : Geoff Hinder, «Barrel Shuttlecocks»

    If the “barrel” type shuttlecock shown in the Gamages advertisement (see Appendix 8 and illustrations below) was most commonly used, its flight was far from being consistent and satisfying. In 1910 the organizers of the All England decided to officially approve for their championship the “straight” shuttlecock manufactured by F.H.Ayres, Ltd. Their advertisement has an ideal place in Massey’s book as it is the first you can see when you turn the cover (see Appendix 1). The reader can see that the feathers have two bands of cotton bindings one half way up the feather, and another one close to the cork base. The shape of the shuttle is quite clearly like the contemporary ones. About a score of years later the feathers will be reinforced by an extra cotton binding half an inch from the base. Among the three shuttlecocks advertised the Gamages one seems to be a variety of the “Barrel” type with rounded tipped feathers which look longer than the Prosser and Ayres shuttles which look very much like our modern birds. Their cork base is always white with a cross of two green leather ribbons (See the illustration above from a photo by Geoff Hinder, Secretary of the Badminton Museum).

    If there was a real need of evolution for the shuttlecock, it came mainly from the inconsistent length of the shots when clearing whereas the improvements wished for the rackets were totally different: The players were more concerned by the quality of the grip and strings not holding in their place and losing tension. Massey’s book advertisements are very interesting on that matter as they show a whole range of rackets built in accordance to the technology of the end of the 19th century with various solutions to better the equipment performances.

    However one racket is designed according to the “old fashion”, it is the model made by Jaques & Son [8], one of the most ancient English manufacturer of sports equipment. It is shown in the advertisement for Elvery & Co, an Irish chain store (see Appendix 5). If we compare it with the other rackets, two essential parts are going to change, the shape of the handle, and the stringing technique.

    First the Jaques & Son racket has a round handle whereas all the others have adopted an octogonal handle which gives a better grip when hitting the shuttle. A few years later, the reason of that new trend is confirmed and explained by Sir George Thomas in his book, The Art Of Badminton(1923): “You should choose a handle that fits comfortably into your hand, giving you a secure grip [...] I use a handle [...] with the facets parallel to the playing face of the racket only a trifle broader than those at the sides. The difference is just enough for me to feel it [...]. Many players, however, like it to be much more pronounced, giving the handle a comparatively flat shape [9].” It is clear that the round handle is no longer used, and that the octogonal one has become the choice of all the manufacturers.
 

    If for the evolution of the handles nearly all the racket makers of the time have chosen the same solution, it is totally different for the stringing. The Jaques racket is strung the usual way, a bit like today’s rackets, but it is most probable that the wooden frame and the strings used then could not stand the evolution of a game more and more demanding for the equipment and the strings must have moved and lost their tension quickly. The manufacturers tried to solve the same way as used by the tennis racket makers, a little before the 1900s, setting more strings at the centre of the racket.

    The two rackets shown in the advertisement for Prosser & Sons give a good example of the change in the stringing which became common around 1910 for badminton rackets. The stringing is denser in the centre, either, like in the Special, with bringing six mains much closer than usual, or like in the Superb, with doubling the mains around the two central ones.
 

    That new style of stringing with two double strings more or less close to the centre is the one we find most frequently in those advertisements, like Jefferies’s Ruby, and Sheffield’s A.D.P. [10] or Gamages’ Empress where the central mains are much closer.The other items are slightly different, maybe for technical reasons, but certainly also to mark their difference from the equipment made by rival manufacturers. It is surely the case of the most expensive one (15 shillings with a press), the G.A.T. by Slazengers’ which has three double mains placed symmetrically from the central main string. It is also the same for Gamages’ Club (the Referee Rged, whose advertisement insists on the “Double Centre strings and bound shoulders” and F.A.Davis Ltd ‘s Spartan with four double mains in the centre.
 

    The introduction of that style of stringing is the first important change in the racket construction since the middle of the 19th century when each lateral rolled around every main it crossed. A large majority of the rackets described, eight out of nine, show clearly that the new way of arranging pairs of vertical main strings has then become a common practice which will be in use for a long time. Some tennis rackets will still be strung that way in the 1950s, whereas that technique will disappear for badminton rackets just before World War II, a long duration before it is strictly forbidden by the new IBF rules edited in 1984.

Badminton Poles

     Good quality poles by T.H.Prosser & Sons are advertised. Though they do not have small wheels and guys, they really remind us of some of our current posts. It is the first time we see such a huge counterweight which makes this pole “self supporting”. Neither ropes nor pegs are required to fix them and keep them vertical !

    Poles used to be built on a wooden cross as a base with at least two firm guys tied to pegs driven into the ground to keep them perfectly vertical, and stable in spite of the strong tension of the net. That was convenient when the game was played on a lawn but not so adequate for playing indoors which was becoming more and more widespread. Moreover part of the stand was often protruding above the court and it exposed to a certain danger of injury.

    Some badminton historians think that the question of the pole stand was an explanation of the “hourglass” shaped court, also called “waist court”, which was conform to the official rules until December 1901 when the young Badminton Association voted to adopt rectangular shaped court (23 pros and 2 cons). The evolution of the shape of the court is developed in a very interesting article in Frédéric Baillette’s blog, “Terrains en sablier, cintrés, rectangulaires...”
 

   (See, below, the advert promoting brand new revolutionary posts in 1926.)
 

Silver Plate and Indoor Badminton Court
    There are two other advertisements which are not linked to badminton technical matters. However they are interesting because they suggest the standard of living in the social class where badminton has first developed. The whole page at the end of the book is about a sumptuous silver plated canteen of cutlery, sold by the Alexander Clark C° (It can be seen in Appendix 13): At that time that case will obviously only attract well-off customers. It confirms Julie Grall’s [11] analysis of the badminton pioneers’ activity in France: “the pastime is a sign of distinction, [...], an activity restricted to a few members of a social elite”.

    The advertisement for the Humphreys Ltd seems to confirm that idea as it offers the building of an indoor badminton or squash court. It is all the more surprising for today’s readers as an indoor court construction implies a cost which is much greater than the building of an outdoor tennis court, which remains a privilege of the wealthy upper classes.

   The attractive picture of a big chalet covering a court is unexpected and mind-boggling because it is aimed at very privileged customers (see Appendix 3). It will undoubtedly slow the development and popularization of badminton in France, in spite of J.Yeo-Thomas’s hopes in Massey’s chapter about the game in France: “the French , there is no doubt, are very keen on the game [...] because all kind of sports are hitting the headlines in France [12]”. History shows that all sports did not develop at the same pace, and that badminton fanatics had to be patient to see it become a popular sport there. Nevertheless, this book, with its abundant advertisements witnesses eloquently of the evolution of the equipment, shuttlecocks and rackets, which will be manufactured that way until the Second World War.
 

1926 : A Revolution in Badminton Posts !
    Fifteen years later we can find another interesting book for a similar reason: Badminton For Beginners, which was published in 1926 by Mrs R.C.Tragett, one of the top players of the first decade of the 20th Century, includes a dozen advertisements. Massey’s book and Mrs Tragett’s start the same way, with an Ayres advert in the verso of the front cover, and Slazengers’ appears in the next page.
    The Ayres shuttlecock which is still the All England official choice looks unchanged and its only competitor advertised is made by Slazengers’: both look very much the same as those for sale in 1911.

    Racket-wise, three new manufacturers – Lillywhites, Briggs and Hazell –, appear among the nine promoted in Mrs Tragett’s book but it is remarkable they all have taken up one of the new systems of stringing, strengthening the central strings with tighter mains, double strings or a mix of both just like we discovered in Massey’s Badminton!

    The most important novelty is the launch of the “revolutionary” Thornton posts presented as “a revolution in badminton posts, the only posts which allow the Net to be extended to the Regulation Height [...] without supports [...] or Holes in the Floor”. They are advertised as an unprecedented equipment because they do not need any guys or supports of any kind. If we have a good look at the poles seen in Massey’s book, they seemed to be able to avoid loose nets and did not interfere more with the players’ moves in the forecourt than the rests of Thornton’s posts. But their round base must have facilitated their moving around in the sports hall. (They remind us of the posts used for the High Jump competitions).

        Finally if we consider the equipment advertised in Mrs Tragett’s book we realize that, even if a few new manufacturers appear, there has been very little technical change for the construction of shuttlecocks and rackets since Massey’s book publication. After the improvements elaborated at the start of the 20th Century there will not be any impressive evolution for badminton equipment before the 2nd World War.
 

Acknoledgements
I would like to thank the following for their precious assistance:
Geoff Hinder who allowed me to use his fine photographs and gave me useful advice.
Pascal Bernon for giving precise details about the history of stringing and the evolution of the handle.
Frédéric Baillette who inspired me to write the article.

Useful website
The Badminton Museum

Appendix 1 : F. H. Ayres ↑
 

Appendix 2 : G.A.T. Badminton Racket ↑

Appendix 3 : Humphreys Ltd ↑
 

Appendix 4 : T. M. Prosser & Sons

Appendix 5 : J. W. Elvery & Co ↑
 

Appendix 6 : A. D. P. Badminton Racket

Appendix 7 : The Badminton Gazette

Appendix 8 : Gamages ↑
 

Appendix 9 : The « Spartan »

Appendix 10 : Elkington ↑
 

Appendix 11 : The All-England Series ↑
 

Appendix 12 : Jefferies & Co

Appendix 13 : The Alexander Clark Manufacturing Company ↑