Parlour Tennis Bats 1875 - Roots of Table Tennis
- Berlin Tennis Gallery
- Dec 21, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 1
Parlour tennis bats were flat paddles with a thin wooden core and a taut vellum surface stretched over the face. Handles were short, straight, and smoothly finished to fit comfortably in one hand. The striking surface was round or slightly oval, providing a clear and even contact with the ball. The vellum covering gave a dry and distinct sound when hit and was valued for its firm rebound.
Parlour tennis, also called table tennis or whiff-whaff, developed in Victorian England as an indoor pastime. The game appeared around 1870 as an adaptation of lawn tennis for domestic settings. It was played on large tables using improvised equipment. Books or rows of candlesticks often served as nets, and balls were made from cork, rubber, or tightly wound cloth. Early bats were sometimes constructed from cigar box lids or thin sheets of wood covered with vellum or parchment. The game spread rapidly through social clubs, parlors, and schools, where it was appreciated for its accessibility and small space requirements.
By the mid-1870s, commercial manufacturers in London and Paris began to produce dedicated parlour tennis sets. Advertisements in sporting catalogues of the period mention boxed pairs of bats, cork balls, and folding nets. The rules varied but generally followed the scoring system of lawn tennis in miniature. The game was regarded as suitable for both men and women and became a fixture in middle-class homes during the winter months.
The French version, known as tennis de salon, appeared in parallel and used similar equipment. Illustrations from the 1880s show players striking a ball across a table using parchment-covered paddles. These early indoor tennis games established the principles later formalized in table tennis.
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About the Author:
Andreas Fixemer
Berlin Tennis Gallery
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