Traditional outdoor (most often) tennis has been around for a very long time, but what do you know about the history of table top tennis? Traditional ground contact tennis was very popular in Victorian England, and the game became a parlor game when it was brought inside, literally to the table top, around 1880.

The transition could be for several reasons. Perhaps the upper class Victorians wanted to enjoy this fine sport indoors when the weather got too bad to play outside. Perhaps they loved it so much that they wanted a less athletic, more social version to play inside at parties. Maybe they were just bored and feeling creative.

Whatever the reason, tennis came to the table top not in the way that we know it now. Today, table top tennis has official tables with certain dimensions and markings, specific nets made just for the sport, and paddles and balls that are regulation size and design (plus many that are not regulation but are just plain fun).

But in fact, the game was first played with very makeshift equipment. People would clear off a table large enough to have room to play, and this would be the playing surface. A dining room or parlor room table was probably lacquered with a slippery, shiny finish, adding extra challenge to the game. For the net, they would line up books from the shelf across the middle of the table. For paddles, they would remove the lid from a cigar box and hold it in their hand. And the ball? The ball would be, most commonly, the round end of a champagne cork (or sometimes a ball of string).

By 1901 the name “ping pong” had become trademarked by a sport and toy manufacturer, and high end (and also more affordable) equipment began being available for purchase.

Now in modern times, table top tennis is played on many at-home tables made specifically for the game. They are generally painted green with a white stripe down the vertical center. Handheld paddles are lined with a thin layer of rubber on both sides, and a lightweight, hollow plastic ball is used for the game. From its origin to today, the game has changed a lot, but it has certainly always been fun.