Vintage Tennis Fridays - Wright & Ditson Tennis Shoes
My how times have changed...for the better I think (at least that's what my feet told me).
We dug up a page from the Wright & Ditson tennis catalog, circa early 1900s, that features the "Pettitt Match Shoe." Looks like a saddle shoe to me. They look like they have treads on them to help with traction on the grass, much lick the soles today.
It is named after Thomas Pettitt, the hall of famer, who
won the (world championship) title in a successful 1885 challenge to George Lambert, 7-sets-to-5, at King Henry VIII's old playpen, Hampton Court, outside of London. In an 1890 defense he turned back Charles Saunders, 7-5, at St. Stephens Green, Ireland, resigning the title later unbeaten. In the earliest pro lawn tennis tour, he and Irish pro champ George Kerr played a series of three well-attended matches in New England in 1889. Kerr, won at Boston, Springfield (MA), and Newport.
Ummm...did they say 7 sets to 5! In saddle shoes? Ouch.
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Posted by Bob Wallace at October 19, 2007 5:09 PM
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