Gossima
Gossima is a table tennis set that appeared in the 19th century . It is often referred to as a forerunner of today's table tennis.
The set consists of two rackets, which are more similar in shape to a tennis or badminton racket, and are covered with parchment. The ball is made of rubber or cork. This includes a 30 cm high net (today 15.25 cm).
The name Gossima was registered as a trademark on July 16, 1891 (number 157.615) by the English toy company John Jaques & Son, which still exists today (2010) in London. The first known advertisement was found in The Graphic magazine , December 3, 1892 issue. Here Gossima was referred to as a "new table tennis game ". One of the weaknesses of this game was the ball bouncing around unpredictably.
Individual evidence
Web links
- http://www.allabouttabletennis.com/who-invented-table-tennis.html (accessed November 17, 2010)
- http://www.gossima.info/ (accessed November 17, 2010)
- Gossima with listing of the rules, in The Table Tennis Collector, Issue 1, Pages 10 - 11 (English; PDF; 1.9 MB) (accessed August 15, 2013)