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For more than four centuries, from the 1500s to the early 1900s, tennis racquets were made from solid pieces of wood . It was a tradition that seemed unbreakable — until industrial innovation, much like in the automotive world, paved the way for something new. Earlier attempts had been made to build racquets using layered wood, similar to the bentwood furniture techniques pioneered by Thonet. However, these early efforts failed because the glues available at the time could no

Wilson Sporting Goods has origins as unexpected as they are unique. Before it became a powerhouse in the world of tennis, baseball, and golf, Wilson was part of the Sulzberger & Sons Company , a Chicago-based meat producer. In 1914 , the company established the Ashland Manufacturing Company , repurposing animal by-products for a surprising new purpose: sporting goods. In 1915, it was renamed Wilson & Co. , but the sporting goods division became Thomas E. Wilson & Co. in 1916