The northern hemisphere summer of 1933 was almost perfect for the man tennis fans called Gentleman Jack.
At just 25 years old, Jack Crawford won the men’s singles final at Roland Garros in early June, then won Wimbledon a month later, before finishing second in the US Open final in September.
Earlier this year, Crawford also won the Australian Open, defeating American Keith Gledhill in the final in four sets.
Until then, this was the closest he had ever come to winning a Grand Slam and it was achieved with a very special racket in his right hand.
Called Cressy Wizard, the flat top racket was manufactured by the famous Alexander Patent Racket Company of Launceston.
The Alexander Cressy Wizard racquet, owned by Crawford, with its unique flat top design. (Provided: Fairfax Corporation, National Library)
Special design
The Wizard was known as a flat top racket because it was primarily oval in shape with a square top edge. The design had been decided personally between Crawford and Bill Sheehan, Alexander’s enterprising business manager, a few years earlier.
Although not the first example of its type, Alexander was the first to introduce the flat top design to Australia, according to local historian Christopher “Gus” Green who wrote a book about the company called What A Racket!
“That was the power they were able to put into people’s heads,” he said.
“Initially they flattened the head too much, so they had to find the right balance.
“If you notice today, most racquets still have a very pronounced width at the head.”
Christopher “Gus” Green with one of the 1933 Crawford racquets, in front of the old Alexander factory. (ABC Northern Tasmania: Andre Leslie)
Two years after Crawford’s triumphs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, five flat-topped Alexander racquet models were available to the public: Cressy Wizard, Defender, Hurricane, Fearless and Dauntless.
Handmade with care
Although the rackets turned heads, the Alexander factory in Launceston remained a relatively modest setting. The typical sawtooth factory was covered by a thin corrugated iron roof, and workers huddled around the radiators during their winter breaks.
Almost all production in the factory, including the accelerated bending of racket frames, was done by hand and one of the most important staff positions was racket stringers.
Alexander’s racquet manufacturing methods have barely changed in 30 years. (Provided: State Library of Tasmania)
John Ellis’ father, Bert, began working at Alexander in 1927 as a stringer. Bert’s brother, William Allan Ellis (known as Bonny), designed all of the racket logos, and another brother, Jack, also worked at the factory.
With Bert known throughout Tasmania as the fastest racquet stringer in the state, Mr Ellis is pretty sure Crawford’s world-famous batch of 1933 racquets was strung by his father.
“I remember different conversations we had,” said Mr Ellis, from Breadalbane, south of Launceston.
“He was a guy who was pretty proud of his exploits with racquet stringing.”
By 1927, the Alexander factory was producing approximately 750 rackets per week. With time, production increased and the company also started manufacturing cricket bats and golf clubs.
The Cressy Wizard racket was one of Alexander’s most popular models. (ABC Northern Tasmania: Andre Leslie)
Play a losing game
By the late 1930s, demand for Alexander’s wooden tennis rackets had grown so much that the company planted 21,600 English ash trees in nearby Hollybank in an effort to source the wood locally.
Alexander North led the project, stating that the area chosen to grow the trees was “ideal” and predicted that the trees would reach “gigantic proportions”. But it didn’t happen that way.
Mr Green is on Alexander’s former Hollybank ash plantation, north-east of Launceston. (Provided: Gus Green)
By 1943 it was clear that the timber at the Hollybank site was unusable. This was just one of many lapses in judgment by the company’s management, following the early glory days and success of Jack Crawford on the field.
“The plant heritage was not suitable for our climatic conditions,” says Rod Groom, a local tennis enthusiast, who now restores old Alexander rackets for collectors.
“(It was)… a long, long time before they started growing.
“They wanted to have production like we do with the fast-growing pine forests, so they could get wood immediately.”
What the future holds
Historian Gus Green claims that wasteful real estate developments, as well as a refusal to adopt modern production methods and materials, also played a role in the company’s demise.
Unsuccessful negotiations with sports giant Spalding regarding the takeover of the factory took place, but Alexander was ultimately forced to close its doors in 1961 and the company went into liquidation.
Much of the Alexander Factory building still stands today and is still used as a police community and youth club.
The Alexander Factory is today used as a gym and can be rented for children’s birthday parties. (ABC Northern Tasmania: Andre Leslie)
Mr Green would like the heritage-listed building to become a tennis museum at some point, should the site become available in the future.
“The other day I walked through the old factory with a guest,” he said.
“The fabric of the office is still the same, it’s the same layout.
“I see a great future in the site, but it takes time for things to work out.”
In 1933, Crawford won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. (Provided: Fairfax Corporation, National Library)
For now, a small display of old Alexander rackets and memorabilia in the lobby is all that serves as a reminder of the building’s important role in Australian sporting history.
In the middle of the wooden display case, constructed partly from Hollybank ash, sits one of Crawford’s Cressy Wizard racquets from his memorable year, 1933.
On the handle it says, in faded letters, “World’s Record Breaker”.
