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What? You thought tennis balls were always yellow and always made of rubber? Well, prepare to have your mind blown by 5 fresh facts about tennis balls and their unique history!
- Gritty past: The original tennis balls were to be made of “good leather, well-stuffed with wool.” This was according to King Louis XI of France himself in 1480. Other variations included some made with puddy and human hair – yuck!
- It just isn’t the same: The famous yellow color was introduced in 1972 as “Optic Yellow” after researched showed it was the easiest color to be seen on color television sets. Before then most balls were colored white. Still want white tennis balls? Whitetennisballs.com has had them since 2007.
- Squeeze test doesn’t cut it: The official test for a balls bounciness is to drop it from 100 inches with a bounce between 53 and 58 inches.
- How luxurious: In 1926 a pressurized metal tube was announced that held tennis balls. It required a Churchkey to open.
- So many uses! Tennis balls are actually pretty difficult to recycle and most go to their 2nd life as anti-scuff devices on the bottom of chair legs. However, the balls from Wimbledon are used as homes for the endangered Eurasian harvest mouse. Other uses include covering it in vasoline and hanging it outside to deter bugs, cutting them open and hiding things in them, and 50 other great things as seen in this article.
