Tennis / Vintage Equipment - Lot 216

Tennis / Vintage Equipment DAYTON STEEL RACQUET COMPANY, Dayton (Ohio, United States). Metal tennis racket, circa 1930 Thin frame made of red and black lacquered steel, flaring into a Y-shape at the throat; steel-wire strings with red reinforcements at the head and throat; wooden handle with a metal ferrule. Cap marked “…cquet Co. Inc. / Patented Pend. / Dayton, O. U.S.A.” Invented in 1922 by former American champion William Larned, the Dayton was one of the first metal rackets. It promised never to warp or break, and to render obsolete the press in which wooden rackets were then stored. Jean Borotra himself tried it out in Melbourne in 1928 Length: 68 cm; head size: 36.5 x 22 cm (traces of oxidation, worn lacquer, damaged cap)