Court clothes get the chop
QUESTION Who was the first tennis player to wear shorts?
THIS landmark in fashion was achieved in the Wimbledon Championships of 1930 when Brame Hillyard became the first man not to play in white flannel trousers. Hillyard, then 54 and a stalwart of the game, was taking on an up-and-coming player by the name of Fred Perry, who dismissed the older man in straight sets (6-3, 6-4, 6-2).
Hillyard was the elder brother of George Hillyard, chairman of the All England Club, and Brame became a member of the club committee. In 1934, Perry won his first Wimbledon and Hillyard and the British public weren’t happy. Perry was a new breed of sportsman, with a dedicated training programme and a playing style that, perhaps, gave primacy to fitness above style. His fierce will to win just wasn’t British.
Perry later recalled the deeprooted snobbery on display at the All England Club after he’d thrashed Australian Jack Crawford in the final: ‘Out in the dressing room, I overheard the distinctive voice of Brame Hillyard, club committee man, talking to Crawford. “Congratulations”, said Hillyard. “This was one day when the best man didn’t win.” I couldn’t believe my ears.’
The man who popularised the wearing of shorts was Henry Wilfred ‘Bunny’ Austin.
Austin was British tennis royalty. An early pin-up, he was handsome and debonair, lived a celebrity lifestyle, played the game with style and, unlike Perry, was a glorious failure despite his prodigious talent.
In 1932, Austin sported a pair of white flannel shorts ‘cropped well above the knees’ in a competition at the Men’s National Tennis Championship in Forest Hills, Long Island.
Pictures of Austin wearing ‘ventilated pants’ were in all the major newspapers. He wore them on Centre Court at Wimbledon later that year, sparking a similar sensation in Britain. By the following year practically all male players wore shorts.
The first female tennis player to wear shorts was Suzanne Lenglen of France.
Lenglen was a controversial fashion trailblazer and first sported long shorts in 1933, stating: ‘Very soon every woman tennis player will be wearing shorts and the briefer the better.’
Peggy King, Tonbridge, Kent.
QUESTION What exactly is kosher salt?
KOSHER salt is called ‘kosher’ because of its traditional use in koshering, the process of removing blood from meat according to Jewish dietary guidelines; not because it is prepared according to Jewish dietary laws (although it can be used in kosher cooking).
Kosher salt typically has larger, coarser grains compared with table salt. It is usually made without any additives such as iodine or anti-caking agents, which can give it a purer taste.
Its larger grains make it ideal for applications such as seasoning meats, where it can be easily sprinkled over the surface to enhance flavour. One of the key benefits of kosher salt is its texture and the way it adheres to food surfaces, making it particularly useful for drawing out moisture from meats or vegetables.
While kosher salt is commonly used in Jewish cooking, it has become popular in mainstream culinary circles as well due to its unique texture and versatility.
Gladys Blanchard, Bury St Edmund’s, Suffolk.
QUESTION Did Hitler leave a will?
HITLER’S last will and testament was a short document signed on April 29, 1945, at 4am, the day before he took his own life. His executor was Martin Bormann and the will was witnessed by Bormann, Joseph Goebbels and Colonel Nicholaus von Below.
It began with an acknowledgement of his marriage, though he did not mention Eva Braun by name. He then left his belongings to the German people: ‘What I possess belongs… to the party, or, if this no longer exists, to the State. Should the State too be destroyed, no further decision on my part is necessary.’ He asked for his artworks to be displayed in a great ‘Fuhrermuseum’ in his hometown of Linz, Austria.
Hitler’s Testament goes on to explain: ‘I myself and my wife – in order to escape the disgrace of deposition or capitulation – choose death. It is our wish to be burnt immediately…’
He laid out plans for the Nazi Party, expelling Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring and removing him as his successor.
He also expelled Heinrich Himmler for attempting to negotiate peace with the Western Allies, and named Grossadmiral Karl Donitz as president and Goebbels as chancellor.