Topics in Chronicling America - Ping-Pong

"If you would be the proper thing, with progress keep along. Ah then I rede ye, learn to 'ping,' and also learn to 'pong', " wrote the Houston Daily Post (Houston, TX) in 1902. Between 1901 and 1903, America went crazy for the British past-time of "ping-pong," also known as table tennis. From articles on who was playing, how to play, how to build your own ping-pong table, and even the damage to one's health of too much play, the newspapers of the day covered every aspect of the fad. Read more about it!

Jump to: Sample Articles

Important Dates:

• 1901. The game of Ping-Pong spreads from England to the United States, becoming a "craze" for the next two years.

Suggested Search Terms:

• [Try the following terms in combination, proximity, or as phrases using Search Pages in Chronicling America.] ping pong, table tennis, craze, fad, daft.
• To narrow results search between 1901-1903.

Sample Articles from Chronicling America:

• "Table Tennis," The New York Tribune (New York, NY), December 23, 1900, Page 1, Image 29, col. 2.
• "Ping-Pong," The New York Tribune (New York, NY), January 5, 1902, Page 2, Image 26, col. 4.
• "The All-Absorbing Fad," The Houston Daily Post (Houston, TX), March 2, 1902, Page 2, Image 2, col. 1.
• "Ping-Pong," The St. Paul Globe (St. Paul, MN), April 6, 1902, Page 23, Image 23, col. 1.
• "Ping-Pong is a Craze," The Suburban Citizen (Washington, DC), May 3, 1902, Page 7, Image 7, col. 1.
• "Making a Ping-Pong Set at Home," The Sunday Washington Globe (Washington, DC), May 11, 1902, Page 2, Image 2, col. 3.
• "Summer Delights of Ping-Pong," The St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, MO), May 18, 1902, Page 4, Image 46, col. 3.
• "Daft on Ping-Pong," The St. Paul Globe (St. Paul, MN), May 25, 1902, Page 21, Image 21, col. 1.
• "The Ping-Pong Strain on the Eye Muscles," The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA), July 1, 1902, Page 13, Image 13, col. 1.
• "Ping-Pong is the Warm-Weather Diversion for Young St. Louis Society Matrons," The St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, MO), July 13, 1902, Page 3, Image 39, col. 1.
• "Tennis Lessons for Beginners," The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA), September 21, 1902, Page 11, Image 11, col. 1.