The 1870s

Dated items

1872

• 19 June 1872: Hand ball championship match for $1,000, Phil Casey and James Everett of Brooklyn v James O'Brien and William Foley of Chicago, first five games at Chicago on 19 June 1872 Source: Chicago Tribune (Chicago), 14 June 1872, p. 6, p. 6

1873

• 1873: The first printed code found: Ed. James's Manual of Sporting Rules (New York, 1873), pp. 76-77, 'Hand Ball Rules', 23 rules: 21 aces, a ball about two inches, an ace line 'supposed to be in the centre of the court', the foot allowed on a Source: Ed James, Manual of sporting rules (1873), p. 76
• 1873: A sporting publisher prints the code: Ed. James, Manual of Sporting Rules (New York, 1873), 'Hand Ball Rules', 23 rules (Hand Ball Rules (1873), H-111); reprinted by Chadwick 1884 and in Spalding's Hand Book of Sporting Rules 1886 (Hand Source: Ed James, Manual of sporting rules (1873), p. 76

1874

• 3 September 1874: McQuade's Racket and Hand Ball Court, 404 Madison Street, New York, where a rackets match was played; the Herald called it, as a racket court, 'the only place of the kind now in the city, and in fact the only one of any importance in the country' Source: The New York Herald (New York), 4 September 1874, p. 5, p. 5

1875

• 8 December 1875: Phil Casey tells the Herald how handball is played (21 aces, ace line about 30 ft from the front wall, three failed serves count out, ball 2 1/4 in) and lists the courts of Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Troy Source: The New York Herald (New York), 9 December 1875, p. 10, p. 10

1876

• 22 February 1876: New York handball and racket players elect a provisional committee (Metropolitan Committee) at McQuade's court to hold an international tournament and form a permanent national organization to supervise the game Source: The New York Herald (New York), 5 March 1876, p. 6, p. 6

What the record does not hold

• The record holds nothing for the 1870s under rulebook editions: no edition dated to the decade is listed.
• The record holds nothing for the 1870s under championship results: no result row is dated to the decade.
• The record holds nothing for 1870, 1871, 1877, 1878 and 1879: no fact, edition or championship is dated to those years.