Lawn tennis kits began to be produced in the mid 1870's, after Major Walter Clopton Wingfield received a patent for a "New and Improved Court for Playing the Ancient Game of Tennis." He first called the game "Sphairistike," meaning "ball game" in Greek. After a while it became known as "sticky," then, finally, as "Lawn Tennis."
Tennis was often played by royalty or noblemen on hard, stone surfaces until the late 1850's, when rubber balls that bounced on grass were produced. These led to lawn tennis.
Lawn tennis kits by Major Wingfield came with a bag of plain rubber balls, four pear-shaped racquets, a triangular net, and a rule book containing six rules. The kit originally sold for five guineas.
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As the game evolved so did the equipment. Lawn tennis kits came with small-headed racquets that fit well into their boxes. Early lawn tennis racquets--the ones that came in the kits--had decorative bands around the neck. Larger heads began to replace smaller ones, and hard-surfaced, carefully-measured courts replaced portable courts of varying size.
Lawn tennis kits, though expensive, made the sport more accessible to the common person by allowing him to play on a soft surface. Lawn tennis led to the tennis we know and play today.
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