Pre-1935 Tennis Racket Trademarks for Chicago Based Companies
First Published April, 2022
I lived in the Chicago area for 18 years, during which time I hunted for tennis rackets in the 150 plus communities that comprise the Chicago metropolitan area. While I discovered many great rackets during my time in Chicago, I also learned a lot about the Chicago based companies that made and sold the rackets.
Today, between the mobility of the American population and the internet, a Chicago racket can now be found anywhere in the U.S. Racket collectors should find the following company thumbnails, which also help illustrate Chicago’s contributions to the early growth of tennis in the U.S., helpful in identifying the wood rackets of Chicago racket makers and retailers.
A.G. Spalding & Bros.
A.G. Spalding & Bros
While they used many marks over the years, the one that I am asked about most frequently is the Indian profile in a circle shown here. This is the mark Spalding used for their “B quality” rackets that they sold to be remarketed by retailers. Sometimes “A.G. Spalding” was stamped on the side of the handle, but usually not.
Wilson Sporting Goods
Wilson Sporting Goods
Over time, it seems that every major racket maker supplied rackets to other makers and private brand retailers. Whenever you find a racket that has “Duco Permanent High Polish Finish” on the handle, no matter what the other marks on the racket say, it was made by Wilson.
Sears Roebuck & Company
Sears Roebuck & Company
The earliest Sears branded racket they sold was a circa 1910 convex wedge model that has “Harvard” in script on the wedge and usually says “Made Exclusively for Sears Roebuck & Co” on the handle, but not always.
In the 1920’s Sears branded itself as the “World’s Largest Store” and used the “WLS” acronym on its rackets, as well as for a radio station they founded in 1924. Sometimes the mark had the “SR Co.” circles attached, but that is not common. Wright & Ditson, whose name you can sometimes find on the side of the handle, made many of the WLS rackets
As is more well known, Sears also had rackets and tennis balls made under the “JC. Higgins” trademark for decades until 1962 when J.C. Higgins marked products were replaced by a new “Ted Williams” line of endorsed sporting goods. Interestingly, unlike Ted Williams who was famous in his own right, J.C. Higgins was simply a bookkeeper at the Sears corporate headquarters in Chicago.
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
Aaron Montgomery Ward founded what became the world’s first mail order catalog in 1872 and went on to build the tallest building in Chicago for his anchor department store in the early 1900’s. Wards offered mail order sporting goods throughout its history until they finally closed in 2001.
Their earliest rackets that were made for them were marked “Marathon”, which was a sporting goods line that used the logo shown here usually without any accompanying company marking. By the 1960’s their tennis rackets and balls were sold under the “Hawthorne” mark and often were also marked “Sold exclusively by Montgomery Ward”.
Walgreens
Walgreens
Walgreens was founded in Chicago in 1901 and from the 1930’s into the 1950’s, they marketed a “Golden Crown” line of tennis rackets that had a logo of two rackets crossed on a crest, as well as Golden Crown tennis balls. The most sought-after Golden Crown tennis item is the circa 1945 twelve ball can pictured here.
The Fair
The Fair Department Store
In 1897, this store was located in a brand new twelve story building in downtown Chicago with 3,800 employees. They were one of the first discount department stores in the nation and retailed their rackets under the “Fairview” brand name.
Von Lengerke & Antoine
Von Lengerke & Antoine
What is a Chicago history article without mentioning Al Capone? “VL&A”, as they were known, was a large downtown sporting goods store that was founded in 1891. In the 1920’s Capone and Bugs Moran had essentially divided Chicago into two territories. VL&A was located on Capone’s turf and, consequently, sold guns to members of his gang.
Two of the Thompson submachine guns used in the famous “St. Valentines Day Massacre” were traced back to VL&A, which led to falling sales and eventually being bought out by Abercrombie & Fitch in 1938.
Most of the rackets they sold had the original makers marks with their “VL&A” trademark on the wedge or stamped on the handle. If you come across a “VL&D” mark, it is from the affiliated Van Lengerke & Detmold sporting goods store in New York City.
If you stop and think about it, the case could be made that Chicago, with its early national catalogers like Spalding, Montgomery Ward and Sears, was the city most responsible for the nationwide expansion of the game to every corner of the U.S. Beginning as far back as the early 1890’s, virtually every American could now purchase tennis equipment, not just big city residents with access to local sporting goods stores.
Good Collecting.