The History of Tennis at Fortnum's

Tennis Anyone?

Our archivist Dr Tanner explores Fortnum’s relationship with lawn tennis, which is more intimate than you might imagine, stretching beyond simply supplying hampers filled with strawberries and champagne.

When Fortnum's decided to expand in the 1900s, so that it would no longer be solely a food and drink emporium, it opened a sports shoe shop in Jermyn Street. It came as a surprise to journalists, one of whom declared “What an extraordinary place in which to buy footgear”.

By the early Twenties, Fortnum’s had relocated the shop to 169 Piccadilly, and it was the place to buy your sports requirements

A few years ago, I had an enquiry from a gentleman who owned a patented Fortnum’s tennis racquet, circa 1910. The fish tail and flat top enabled the racquet to be used to measure the net. The flat top was placed on the court, with the racquet upright, and another similar racquet was placed sideways on, in the fish tail, and the total height came to 3 feet, the correct net height. This racquet is 26.5 inches long, and 9.5 inches, at its widest. The weight of the racquet is stamped on the handle - 15.5 oz: nearly the weight of a bag of sugar.

By the early Twenties, Fortnum’s had relocated the shop to 169 Piccadilly, and it was the place to buy your sports requirements.

The inter-war period was arguably the heyday of amateur lawn tennis. It was a time when the offspring of the upper and middle classes did not necessarily feel the need to find paid employment (think Bertie Wooster), and sport was an acceptable – if not essential – means of keeping fit, socialising, and spending their time. The tennis club was at the heart of this, and no self-respecting country squire was without his own tennis court for the use of weekend guests.

In the winter of 1923 (two years before the rebuilding of the shop was commenced), Fortnum’s entered into a contract with En-Tout-Cas, a firm that laid tennis courts. The company had been founded by George Whiteside Hillyard (1864-1943), the secretary of the All England Club at Wimbledon from 1907 until 1925. In his position as Club Secretary, he introduced royalty to the game of tennis and it was through him that the Duke of York (later George VI) played at Wimbledon.

Sport was an acceptable – if not essential – means of keeping fit, socialising, and spending the time

With a brickyard owner named Claude Brown, Hillyard developed an all-weather court, constructed from crushed bricks for the court surface. It sounds painful, but perhaps one had to experience it in order to appreciate it. The first was laid out at his home, and was called en-tout-cas (literally "in all cases"), which became the name of the company manufacturing it. The business boomed, and they laid nine of the courts at the All England Club when Wimbledon moved to its present site in 1922.

The agreement with En-Tout-Cas gave Fortnum’s a percentage of the profits for new courts laid in London and the Home Counties. Its London office moved to the Piccadilly building, and two years later, Hillyard resigned from the All England Club, and took up a post as sports advisor to Fortnum & Mason.

In 1927, the Fortnum’s MD, Colonel Charles Wyld, joined him as a director of En Tout Cas. The connexion was hugely profitable, and prompted Fortnum’s to design and patent own-brand tennis footwear, and tennis clothes, with great success. It meant that the name of Fortnum & Mason was associated in the mind of the public with some of the most famous players of the age.

Some of the other staff on the 3^rd Floor at Fortnum’s were not unknown to the sporting public. Basil Foster, was renowned as a championship golfer, county cricketer, squash rackets player – and had competed at Wimbledon. He was also a matinee idol on the West End stage, so Fortnum’s was rather clever in engaging him in the department, given his appeal to a wide variety of customers.

High Fashion came to the Sports Department once the building was opened in 1931, mostly designed in-house by the buyer, Winifred Mawdsley. The practicality of some of the tennis outfits was questionable, but might indicate that how one looked on the court was more important than how one played.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Fortnum & Mason’s tennis credentials were unquestioned, and ensured that the rich and fashionable sought out exclusive clothes, shoes and equipment from Piccadilly – along with the strawberries and cream, it goes without saying.

During the Second World War, customers had arguably more important things to do other than play tennis, and many courts were churned up and transformed into vegetable plots. In 1946, En-Tous-Cas was engaged in post-War recovery business, but seeking names for its waiting list.

In 1949, Fortnum’s ended its association with the company, as footwear and clothes for more serious pursuits became our focus, but it’s rather wonderful to think of the central role Fortnum’s played in the sporting lives of all those Bright Young Things, and the pin-ups of the tennis world.