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Working Americans Vol. 10: Sports & Recreation

1914 Profile

Sally Waayne was lucky enough to have an enlightened father who helped her perfect her tennis game; her father even devised her own tennis court with a borrowed net and sticky tape.

Life at Home

  • Sally Waayne grew up in Zeeland, Michigan, as the only child of a single father.

  • Her father, Gordon, was a popular cigar maker in a community dominated by furniture manufacturing.

  • Her mother died shortly after Sally's birth, a horrible event that left Gordon devastated and unable to work for weeks.

  • His closest friends told him a man couldn't raise a girl and encouraged him to send Sally to his sister's house.

  • Possessing a keen mind and a long nurtured ability to do as he pleased, Gordon agreed he couldn't properly raise a girl, so he decided he would raise her as a boy.

  • Sally grew up loving baseball, especially the Chicago Cubs, hunting in the deep woods and playing lawn tennis.

  • Zeeland was a small, close-knit Dutch community, 20 miles from Grand Rapids, that still clung to its Old World language, customs and traditions.

  • Its community leaders were exceedingly proud of its work ethic, cultural roots and intentional isolation.

  • They resisted a national move to reduce the typical work week from 54 to 48 hours.

  • Zeeland was hardly the ideal environment for a girl who dressed like a boy, knew the vital statistics of base ball players Joe Tinker, Johnny Evans and Frank Chance, and could whip her peers—guys and gals—at tennis.

  • Religious leaders from the Dutch community formally took Gordon aside when Sally was eight years old and demanded conformity or banishment from services.

  • From that day on, Gordon and Sally faithfully spent Sundays perfecting her backhand, praying for the skills to score aces off first serves.

    Sally Waayne was raised a tomboy.

    WA10_p119_001.jpg

  • Because his cigars were of the highest quality, Gordon continued to prosper instead of being boycotted for his actions, and preachers could only grumble.

  • In high school Sally attracted the attention of the local newspaper.

  • She was 16 when the opportunity of a lifetime landed in her lap.

  • Three-time U.S. Open champion—and Sally's idol—Mary K. Browne was planning an exhibition in Grand Rapids, Michigan 20 miles away, and needed some area competition—preferably from local women and girls.

  • As a 5′2″ right-hander, Sally was the same height as Mary, who had dominated the U.S. Championships at Philadelphia, scoring triples, singles, doubles, and mixed titles in 1912, 1913 and 1914.

  • Now 23 years old, Mary was known for her aggressive play, and her tendency to play more like a “man” than a woman.

  • Trained by men players on the unyielding, fast surfaces of California's asphalt courts, she was always prepared, even eager, to settle matters quickly by sharp decisive volleying duels at the net.

  • Most of her female opponents preferred a long-volley, backcourt game that emphasized flawless play, not powerful serves and overhead smashes.

  • Mary had been tutored by her brother and father and nurtured by a California culture that accepted women's athletics.

  • In one of the most demanding days in tennis annals, Mary played 82 games while winning the 1912 singles, doubles and mixed finals all in the same afternoon, much of it in a downpour.

  • “The rain was coming down in torrents, and still we went on,” Mary had been quoted in the local paper as saying. “Our rackets were mushy and our clothes soaked.”

  • Sally had never been so excited in her life as when her father told her she was not only going to meet Mary K. Browne, she was going to play a match against the champion.

Life at Work

  • Sally Waayne could barely concentrate on school work once she learned she would be opposing Mary K. Browne in a tennis match.

  • Sally had never seen a champion play, but imagined it faster and sharper.

  • Mary was in the area to compete in the 1914 Western Lawn Tennis Championship at Lake Forest, Illinois, only a train ride away.

  • According to the tennis magazine articles, Mary unhesitatingly hit smashes from anywhere on the court and was known to chase down a lob while running backwards, only to crash it back across the net for an easy point.

  • Her opponents were amazed to see her so often crashing the net.

  • Most of her competitors were graduates of the backcourt school of tennis, where the player stood near the back line and volleyed endlessly until an advantage could be found.

  • Stroke for stroke, Mary was known for her sound fundamentals and for understanding the court technique; her returns were hard and accurate.

  • She didn't like to lose and she didn't like to play all the time.

  • To keep fresh, she intentionally skipped tournaments so that she would always be enthusiastic about the game she loved.

  • Everything Sally read about Mary Browne excited her even more.

  • Thanks to her dad, she, too, had developed an intimidating serve, a powerful forehand, an adequate backhand and a strong sense of where the ball would be returned.

  • Sally's style was said to be unmatched by anyone, except Mary Browne.

    Driving to play a match in Grand Rapids was Sally's first long car ride.

    WA10_p121_001.jpg

  • For weeks Sally practiced relentlessly, until blisters swelled her hands and feet.

  • When called to help fix supper, her plea was always the same, “Please, just one more serve.”

  • The day of the match was filled with firsts—her first long car ride, her first trip to Grand Rapids, and her first time to skip school (outside hunting season), and her first official tennis shoes.

  • When she fretted about being embarrassed, her dad reminded her that the 1913 Kentucky Derby winner, Donerail, was given a 92.5 to one chance of winning the $5,000 first prize.

  • At those odds, he said, he was eager to place a $2 wager on his girl.

  • The first serve was the hardest for Sally.

  • She rocketed a first ball shot to Mary Browne, then watched in amazement how easily it was returned.

  • For Mary, the exhibition match was a chance to promote women's tennis; for Sally the match was a dream come true.

  • For the first two sets Sally held her own, displaying a solid ground game combined with a passing shot that left the champion flatfooted.

  • The crowded roared to its feet, cheering for the 16-year-old local girl.

  • After that, every point was a fierce battle, and Sally had never played someone who dominated the net so completely.

  • After Mary graciously won the match, the two met at the net to exchange congratulations.

  • Mary looked Sally in the eye and said, “You remind me of myself. Congratulations on a good effort.”

Life in the Community: Zeeland, Michigan

  • Zeeland, Michigan, was settled in 1847 by a group of Dutch immigrants in search of religious freedom.

  • Wealthy landowner, Jannes Van De Luyster, sold all his holdings in the Netherlands in order to purchase the site of the original village, some 16,000 acres, and named the community after a province of the Netherlands.

  • Three ships made their way to Michigan, in 1847 carrying 457 immigrants.

  • The first building to be assembled was a church, followed closely by a school.

  • During the next 25 years, Zeeland acquired a sawmill, a wagon factory, blacksmith shops, grocery stores, and a post office.

    Zeeland's economy centered around furniture factories.

    WA10_p122_001.jpg

  • The village officially became a city in 1907 with a population of almost 3,000.

  • By that time Zeeland boasted a two-story brick kindergarten building and a two-story brick grade school.

  • The city's economy revolved around four furniture factories and one large manufacturing plant.

  • Building a public dance hall in the religiously strict community was prohibited.

  • Nearby Grand Rapids, which was also settled by the Dutch, became a major lumbering center and premier furniture manufacturing city, during the second half of the nineteenth century.

  • It earned the nickname “Furniture City.”

HISTORICAL SNAPSHOT 1914

  • The Federal League, baseball's third major league after the American and National Leagues, expanded to eight teams

  • Rookie baseball pitcher George “Babe” Ruth debuted with the Boston Red Sox

  • Movie premieres included The Perils of Pauline, The Exploits of Elaine, Home Sweet Home, and Kid Auto Races at Venice

  • Theodore W. Richards won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work in the determination of atomic weights

  • Thyroxin, the major thyroid hormone, was isolated by Edward Kendall at the Mayo Clinic

  • Yale University opened its Coliseum-sized “Bowl” large enough to seat 60,000

  • The New Republic magazine, passport photo requirements, non-skid tires, international figure skating tournaments, Kelvinator and The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) all made their first appearance

  • Pope Pius X condemned the tango as “new paganism”

  • Former President Theodore Roosevelt returned from South America with 1,500 bird and 500 mammal specimens and a claim that he had discovered a new river

  • Americans condemned the European war as “senseless” and “utterly without cause”

  • The writings of Margaret Sanger sparked renewed controversy about birth control and contraception

  • Chicago established the Censorship Board to remove movie scenes depicting beatings or dead bodies

  • Tuition, room and board at Harvard University cost $700 per year

  • Ford Motor Company produced 240,700 cars, nearly as many as all other companies combined

  • The outbreak of war in Europe spurred U.S. production of pasta, which had previously been imported

  • Popular songs included “St. Louis Blues,” “The Missouri Waltz,” “Play a Simple Melody,” “Fido Is a Hot Dog Now,” and “If You Don't Want My Peaches, You'd Better Stop Shaking My Tree”

  • In college football, five first team All Americans were from Harvard

  • New York was the nation's largest city with a population of 5.3 million, Chicago boasted 2.4 million, Philadelphia 1.7 million and Los Angeles 500,000

Selected Prices

Automobile, Rambler $1,800.00 Dominoes $0.33 Fire Insurance, per Year $6.27 Hotel Room, Boston, per Day $2.00 House, Seven Rooms, New Jersey $5,400.00 Ladies’ Home Journal, per Issue $0.10 Suitcase $4.95 Toupée $21.65 Vacuum Cleaner $35.00 Whiskey, Bottle $1.00

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"1914 Profile." Working Americans Vol. 10: Sports & Recreation, edited by Scott Derks, Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA10_0022.
APA 7th
1914 Profile. Working Americans Vol. 10: Sports & Recreation, In S. Derks (Ed.), Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA10_0022.
CMOS 17th
"1914 Profile." Working Americans Vol. 10: Sports & Recreation, Edited by Scott Derks. Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA10_0022.