Friday, June 29, 2012

Country tennis - a family event

Click on the picture above for more Sepia Saturday posts


A long way from Fort Lauderdale, Florida my tennis photos are from a small country town in Victoria, Australia, where tennis among other sports was a popular past time and a time for the family and community to get together.

Please click on the photos to enlarge them and to see them better.

1923/1924 Winiam Tennis Premiers

About 1930
Winiam tennis court with the school in the background
My Grandmother is behind and touching the net,  3rd from the right

1930
My Grandmother ready for tennis
She played competitive tennis until she was in her 50s

1934
The Pilgrim family often got together to play a friendly social tennis match
My grandmother is holding the box brownie (centre) which took many of the photos that you have been looking at in Sepia Saturday


My Mum in 1961

29 comments:

  1. You have to wonder how anyone played tennis in those long skirts. But at least the competitors had the same disadvantage. I'm glad you have so many fine photos of your family enjoying tennis.

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    1. Thanks Wendy. Now days the tennis players are quite fashionable. I wonder if they thought the same thing back then?

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  2. Those are some great tennis pics. Tennis seems to be so popular in Australia.
    My favorite Aussie was Pat Rafter. What a hunk he was and a great player as well.
    Nancy

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    1. Thanks Nancy. Aussies love their sport.

      Pat was great in the Bonds underwear adds too :)

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  3. Oh my goodness! What a great post ... I enjoyed seeing your family tennis pictures.

    Kathy M.

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    1. Thanks Kathy. I also have cricket and football (Aussie Rules) photos as sport was a big part of my grandmothers upbringing.

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  4. Fantastic pictures. Interesting to see how the fashions changed. I remember nearly fainting during a visit to the QLD museum when I spotted one of those wooden tennis racquets which I had used. A museum piece????!!!
    I'm thoroughly enjoying this series and am very jealous of your amazing photo collection :)

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    1. Thanks Fi. Don't you hate it when you go to a museum and your kids say "What's that?" and it something that you grew up with!

      I remember using the wooden tennis racquet and screwing on the press before it went back in the hallway cupboard. Kids these days have probably never even seen the presses.

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  5. Nice post, Sharon. Fascinating to see how fashions changed over the decades. Your mum really looks the part.

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    1. Thanks Martin. And now the Williams sisters have given a totally new fashion statement to tennis.

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  6. We had one of those wooden presses for years and of course wooden racquets. These days even my daughter's dogs have balls hit for them with a racquet of of a quality I could only dream about.
    What's happened to all the Aussie tennis players - there only seems to Leyton Hewitt left.
    You photos show a great family tradition, the sort we need to rekindle.

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    1. Lol. We still have Bernard Tomic and Sam Stosur but you are right the Aussies are having a bit of a lull in the tennis at the moment. Maybe all the young Aussies are too busy exercising their fingers on the computer rather than out playing sport?

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  7. It must have been very hot playing in the old tennis outfits.

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    1. It would have been dreadful. As it can be very hot in the Wimmera area during Summer.

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  8. These are great pictures. It's amazing how many of the contributors this week seem to have had a strong family connection to tennis. I don't think anyone in my family even had a racket.

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    1. Sport was very big in both sides of my family........well until we get to my generation!

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  9. Your grandmother looks ready for time in the sun in the 1930 photograph. Lovely photos, especially considering they're from a box camera. Your grandmother had a steady hand!

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    1. Gran had a very steady hand in her earlier years with the majority of her photos in perfect focus and composed really well. She sent many photos into newspapers and won prizes for her lifestyle photography. Unfortunately many of the photos taken by others of my grandmother are not as good.

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  10. These are lovely photos of your family! Thanks for sharing them!

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    1. Thanks Jana. I love old photos and I feel that my grandmother would be very proud to know other people are enjoying them today. My Uncle nearly threw the albums out but luckily my Aunty saved them.

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  11. What amazing photos and such a cool family! Very intersting, thanks for sharing!

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    1. That made me laugh Karen :) I don't know that my grandmothers family (or my mother) have ever been called "cool" before! lol

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  12. Well done, with perfect fit for this weekends theme.

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    1. Thanks Mike. As soon as I saw the tennis theme coming up, I knew I'd have alot of pics to choose between. A bit worried about the elephants though!

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  13. These are wonderful photos! What a treasure to have them

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    1. Yes, I am very lucky to have so many of my grandmothers photos and I never tire of looking through them.

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  14. Enjoyed seeing your family photos, especially the one of your grandmother holding the box camera. Great post that fits the theme to a "T".

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  15. Yes I really like the photos with the box brownie too, especially as I now have the camera. I have another photo of her holding the box brownie when she is younger. She has long plaits and it is alot clearer.

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  16. What an amazing tennis family you come from! No one in my family played. :-( Your grandmother seems like she was someone special. Great memories!

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