The history of ping pong paddles and the game itself dates back to the late 1800s. The paddles used in early ping pong were simply household objects, but they later developed into paddles made specifically for the game of ping pong. Over the past century or more, ping pong has evolved from a simple indoor recreational game into a competitive sport that's played throughout the world.
Origins
Also known as table tennis, ping pong began as an indoor version of lawn tennis, according to the University of Florida. In the late 1800s in England, Victorians used their dining tables as indoor tennis courts and various household objects as the net, rackets and balls. The earliest ping pong paddles were made from lids of empty cigar boxes. Balls made of cork were often used, says PongWorld.com. Sometimes, the Victorians used a rubber ball or a ball of string with a row of books set on the dining room table to serve as a net. At that time, the game had many different unofficial names, including flim-flam, gossima or gossamer, whiff whaf and table tennis, as well as ping pong.
Development
As ping pong gained popularity among the upper-middle class in England, the ping pong paddle was refined slightly using parchment paper affixed to a racket-like frame, notes the University of Florida. The first ping pong paddle designed specifically for the game was a vellum battledore dubbed the "banjo racket" that had a long handle and was up to 48 cm or about 19 inches long, according to PingPongPaddles.org. The second evolution was a hollow vellum battledore with a short handle. The ping pong paddle evolved into different types of plain wooden paddles, sandpaper-covered rackets and cork-faced paddles.
In 1903, a man named E.C. Goode introduced a ping pong paddle made from light wooden blades with pimpled rubber (ref 3). The pimpled-rubber rackets typically had canvas backing (ref 1). During the 1920s through 1950, the ping pong paddle developed into a wider paddle area but still with the pimpled-rubber surface (ref 1).
Significance
During the early 1950s, the waffle sponge racket was produced for ping pong, similar to the type of paddle used today. As ping pong became popular in Asian countries like Japan, Korea and China, the Japanese eventually introduced different versions of the paddle. Also during the 1950s, Japan produced a very small soft-sponge paddle. Another type of ping pong paddle--the crepe rubber racket--was introduced around the same time, but it wasn't popular because it offered poor control of the ball.
Modern Day
From the 1960s onward, the modern-day ping pong paddle developed from pimpled rubber sponge rackets of varying sizes to paddles with reverse rubber sponge surfaces. The game of ping pong has served as a unifying competition in notable points in history, mainly during the Cold War. A ping pong competition in China marked the first time Americans were allowed into the country since it became communist 22 years earlier. Today, ping pong is a worldwide recreational and competition sport. Ping pong or "table tennis" was even included in the Olympic Games beginning in the 1980s.
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