Durban - Jetty of the Royal Natal Yacht Club Prior to 1904. And René Lacoste.

            The Postcard

A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted in Durban on Saturday the 2nd. July 1904 to:

Mrs. Hunt,
Rosemead,
Rushey Green,
Catford,
London S.E.,
England.

There was no message, as the recipient's name and address stretched across the undivided back of the card.

Durban

Durban (Zulu: eThekwini, from itheku meaning "bay/lagoon") is the third most populous city in South Africa—after Johannesburg and Cape Town—and the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. 

Located on the east coast of South Africa, Durban is the busiest port in the country. 

René Lacoste

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, Saturday the 2nd. July 1904 marked the birth in Paris of René Lacoste.

Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed 'The Crocodile' because of the way he dealt with his opponents. He is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929.

Lacoste was one of The Four Musketeers, with Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, and Henri Cochet, French tennis stars who dominated the game in the late 1920's and early 1930's. 

René won seven Grand Slam singles titles at the French, American, and British championships, and was an eminent baseline player and tactician of the pre-war period. 

As a member of the French team, Lacoste won the Davis Cup in 1927 and 1928. Lacoste was the World No. 1 player for both 1926 and 1927.

In 1961, Lacoste created an innovation in racket technology by unveiling and patenting the first tubular steel tennis racket. At that time, wood rackets were the norm; the new version's strings were attached to the frame by a series of wires, which wrapped around the racket head. 

The steel-tube racket was stiffer, and imparted a greater force to the ball during a stroke. It was marketed in Europe under the Lacoste brand, but in the United States it was marketed by Wilson Sporting Goods. 

Pierre Darmon debuted the racket at Wimbledon in 1963, but it achieved critical acclaim and huge popularity as the Wilson T-2000, used by American tennis greats Billie Jean King and Jimmy Connors.

The Death of René Lacoste

René died at the age of 92 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France on the 12th. October 1996.

Taken on: April 28, 2021

Tags:

postcard

old

nostalgia

nostalgic

Durban

jetty

Royal

Natal

Yacht

Club

02/07/1904

1904

45DUR32

Mrs.

Hunt

Rosemead

Rushey

Green

Catford

London

England

undivided

back

South

Africa

René

Lacoste

tennis

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Sets appears in: • South Africa

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