Gerald - ITTF

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THE HE TABLE TABLE TENNIS ENNIS COLLECTOR OLLECTOR 28 Spring 2002 Editor: Graham Trimming 17 Gwendale, Pinkneys Green Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 6SH England Tel: +44 (0)1628 636978 email: graham.trimming@virgin.net From the Editor, Welcome to my first issue of The Table Tennis Collector and I hope you enjoy its contents. I have been overwhelmed by the messages of support and good luck that I have received from you and I thank you most sincerely for that. I am also pleased to say that I have received many contributions that I could not fit into the journal and also retain its 16-page format - I shall be pleased to include more of these in issues 29 and 30. This, of course, also means that I have not had to raid my own reservoir of items and have been able to retain them for a “rainy day”. My thanks to all those who submitted contributions and I hope those that have not yet had theirs included will understand. I have very interesting items from Keith Bowler, Hans-Peter Trautmann, Robin Radford, Winfried Engelbrecht, Rudolf Muller, Jean Devys and Gerald, as well as some cuttings about his table tennis museum from Bob Op de Beeck. Graham Trimming Who Is Graham? any of you will no doubt be M wondering who the new editor of this journal is. Does he have the credentials to follow in the steps of his illustrious predecessor Gerald Gurney? I cannot claim to have to same depth of expertise in the subject of table tennis history as Gerald has – in fact, much of what I have learnt has come from his own publications. What I can bring to the job is a certain amount of passion for the subject. I have been around in table tennis for about thirty years, having started playing in my local league in 1972 at the age of nineteen. A year later I formed Cippenham Table Tennis Club and have been its General Secretary ever since. I have also been Fixtures Secretary of the Slough & District Table Tennis League since 1975 and was its Chairman from 1981 until 2000. I am pleased to say that Cippenham TTC is now one of the biggest and best established clubs in England and was national Club of the Year in 1996 and 1997 and runner-up in 2001. It boasts 240 members and runs about 35 teams in various competitions. The highlight of my table tennis career came in October 1996 when the purpose-built Cippenham Table Tennis Centre was opened at a cost of £520,000. It is still (one of) the best centre(s) in the country. I still play the sport, mainly in the top division of the Slough League and represent that town in other competi- Acknowledgement Graham pictured with some of his acquisitions from the Terry Vance auction tions. I have also traveled, without any success, to World and European Veterans’ championships from 1994 to 1998 and have spectated at quite of few “professional” events around Europe as well. My passion for table tennis antiques came after seeing Gerald’s exhibition at the English Closed Championships early in 1992 and I immediately tried to start my own collection. I say “try” because I was not very successful at first and had to wait until late 1993 for any success. Since then I have amassed a sizeable collection of boxed sets, other equipment, books, prints, postcards and other paraphernalia. My collection was also bolstered by a visit to the Terry Vance auction in February 2001 when I bought a number of items for myself as well as for the English Table Tennis Association in its quest to start its own museum. I hope that you like the style of this journal. I have to say that I have little imagination and could never be a “proper” editor of a magazine. Some of the style is borrowed from The Tennis Collector and I am grateful to Gerald for having furnished me with copies of this. Although edited by Gerald that publication owes much to the layout and design of Bob Everitt. The editor has recently published a 16-page newsletter about the origins of table tennis in his local area. Entitled “The Table Tennis and Pastimes Pioneer— A Special Edition for the Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead Area” it features all the press cuttings from the newspapers from that area in the years 1901 to 1904. Graham has also used photographs of items and scans of original prints to illustrate the publication. Those of you with access to the internet can find a PDF copy (it is a large file that takes time to download) at the following address: http://freespace.virgin.net/g.trimming/100 Years Ago Newsletter.pdf Next issue - publication June 2002 - copy date 1 May 2002 No. 28 The Table Tennis Collector Page 2
Gerald Gurney-A Tribute s I have been asked by our new A Editor to pen a short piece about his predecessor, it would seem to be the perfect occasion on which to thank Gerald for his foresight in founding this magazine, and thus bringing together like-minded enthusiasts from many parts of the world. Many new friendships have been formed, with all members sharing in the wealth of historical knowledge that Gerald has brought to the publication over the subsequent 9 years. We all know Gerald as the proud possessor of one of the largest racket sports collections in the world (and I don't think there can be many auction houses or antique shops in the south east that don't know him!), but there is much more. The Table Tennis Collector is based on the largercirculation Tennis Collector, which Gerald continues to edit. This, together with exhibiting parts of his collection at events far and wide, and assisting TV companies with period pieces, takes up much of his time. It may not be generally known that Gerald is also a qualified lawn tennis, table tennis and squash coach, and was for many years heavily involved in English Schools Table Tennis. He also found time to write three books: Tennis, Squash and Badminton Bygones (1984) Table Tennis – The Early Years (1988) The Racket (1994) On a personal note, many thanks for the numerous offers of hospitality in order to spend time viewing (and photographing) his collection, only managed on one occasion (so far!). Alan Duke I am pleased to include tributes from Chuck Hoey, Alan Duke and Michael Thomson to Gerald for his vision and efforts on behalf of collectors during the last nine years. Many thanks to the afore-mentioned gentlemen and especially to Alan who also supplied the photographs. G erald, you have always been my Most Distinguished Colleague, ever since we first began our friendship by corr e s p o n d e n c e some 20 years ago. Thanks to you for introducing me to a very special world of Ping Pong past. It has been a unique G erald Gurney has been the doyen of the Table Tennis and Ping Pong Collectors’ World for well over twenty years. Indeed he was the Founder of it. My own interest developed in the 1970s when I put on several exhibitions of original Ping Pong Equipment and even Demonstration Matches using battledores and corks balls at Table Tennis Internationals in Scotland including the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in Edinburgh in 1979. I thought that I was alone in the field until 14 September 1981 Gerald wrote to say that a mutual friend, Martin Foulser of Stiga U.K., had mentioned to him that we shared a common interest. It soon became clear that Gerald’s collection and accumulation of information was far in advance of mine. He sent me a list of Table Tennis items he had at that time, a total of 53. Here is a copy of his Item No. 1. It shows his meticulous and scholarly approach which led to his later publications on the subject. As is seen, it was all written in his privilege to know you as a friend, colleague, editor, correspondent, and Founding Father. You have given invaluable help to all of us by sharing your knowledge, and our many years of exchanges have provided countless hours of fascinating pleasure. Chuck Hoey own inimitable handwriting. This has not changed and I am sure it never will. Gerald still deigns to use a word processor or even a typewriter to communicate with his friends and fellow collectors. But what has changed is his collection of table tennis artefacts. I very much doubt if he could now tell you how many items he has. He probably has instant recall of each and every one of them and he has used this accumulation of items to build up his knowledge of the origins and history of the game. All who read this will be indebted to Gerald not just for creating the field of Table Tennis Collecting (and for that matterRacketaniagenerally) but also, more specifically, for starting the Table Tennis Collectors’ Society and producing The Table Tennis Collector Journal for 9 years. Gerald, you have enriched the lives of all who shared your passion and we thank you for that. Michael Thomson No. 28 The Table Tennis Collector Page 3
Page 1: In n this issue… · Who is Graham
Page 5 and 6: No. 28 The Table Tennis Collector P
Page 7 and 8: Pottery and ceramics Here are three
Page 9 and 10: 9. Rare boxed set with cloth covere
Page 11 and 12: Table Tennis Variants Part 1 By Ger
Page 13 and 14: Republic Srpska issued a sheetlet f
Page 15 and 16: Nets and Edges Graham’s First Exh

Gerald - ITTF

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