Squash racquets came to the States from England in 1882 and was first played at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH. The game arrived at the Maryland Club in 1928, seventy years after the founding of the Club and at a point midway between the two world wars.
One must realize that in 1858 when the Club was first organized it was a meeting place for gentlemen, and I do mean “gentlemen” in every sense of the word. Those old fellows literally basked in an ambiance of beautiful oriental rugs, dark paneling, the finest food in Baltimore, perhaps the best supply of oysters and terrapin in the whole area, generous drinks, pure white Irish linen, sparkling crystal, sterling silver, (even some gold place settings), priceless historical and sporting prints and paintings, Havana cigars, and a privacy that was almost sacred. The idea of ladies on the premises was not even a dream. As a matter of fact, when I first joined the Club I can remember an old friend telling me that the day he was elected a member his father resigned. Way back then some fathers felt that having a son in one’s club was a definite invasion of that very special privacy! So you can well imagine that the idea of having young squash players actually as members of the Club did not come easily.
The four wooden singles courts that were built in 1928 are still very much in use today. The courts, the galleries, the luncheon lounge (with the many championship boards listing the winners of the Club, State and National tournaments), the locker rooms, the shower facilities, and a small weight and workout area, all of this was built for a total cost of $75,000.00, and they got a $48,000.00 mortgage from the bank at 4½ percent!
Writing at the time, Carroll Dulaney noted humorously in his News Post column: “Time was when a gentlemen who measured less than 50 inches around the equator had some difficulty in joining the Maryland Club. It was not impossible, of course, but it devolved upon him to show that his leanness was hereditary, that his father and his grandfather before him had been cast in the same sylph-like mold. But we are living in a new and different age. Today the Club places marked emphasis upon its squash courts to keep you fit and your weight down. As a plain Baltimorean with an eye for beauty, I welcome the change. Soon the new Maryland Clubber will be as different from the old model-T as the dainty chorus girl of today differs from her grandmother of Billy Watson’s Beef Trust.”
Between 1921 and 1927 Lawrence Bailliere pretty much dominated the State singles championships and the next year when things got going at the Maryland Club he was still very much in evidence. Other names of that era were Frank Symington, Bill Cooney, Vernon Cook and John Bibby. Bill Lamblé did not join the Club until fairly late in his illustrious career, but his many State and Club Championships in both singles and doubles certainly merit calling those the Lamblé years. Prominent Club players of that time were Frank Gould, Alexander Harvey, and I even won a few myself. Next came the Lacy years with Jim Lacy gaining many singles titles in all sorts of tournaments and with his brother Joe (they were both left-handers) made up the top team in the Baltimore area for a long time. The only other “years” accolade goes to Sandy Martin who is perhaps the best doubles player the Club has ever produced. Sandy compiled an excellent doubles record at the National level and also has a long string of State and Club singles and doubles wins to his credit. A.C. Hubbard and Jervis Finney are two other elder players who have piled up a lot of wins. This article is supposed to be historic in content and so I do sincerely apologize to the many, many fine, tough, young players who dominate the game today and who still keep the Maryland Club on top of the local squash scene.
In the old days we used to play the Naval Academy on a fairly regular basis, and, believe it or not, we usually won most of our team matches, but those guys stayed at the same age year after year and somehow or other we always seemed to be a year older! That competition has not been too active of late, but I feel strongly that our current young troops could easily start us off on another winning streak.
In 1969 Eddie Sheaffer was our first full-time professional and was a constant source of improvement to our games.
In 1965, thanks to the efforts of Rufus Williams, we got a really great doubles court and right now today we are starting work on two more singles courts (one with a glass back wall) and a second doubles court. In the beginning, the squash program worked its way up to approximately 50 season ticket holders. Today we have over 265. By the end of 1987 we will have 6 singles and 2 doubles courts, a whole bunch of older players, a lot in between, and most of all a real crowd of young, tough ones who will carry Maryland Club squash well into the 21st Century.
The Club can take great pride in its illustrious past, the retention of its fine old traditions and its firm adaptability to current times. The ladies now grace our Club with charm and respect and surely make it a finer place. The old gentlemen still play cards on their book-lined library room and the members’ bar remains a most exclusive sanctuary. At the same time, on our extremely active squash courts, a new breed of nautilus-minded gentlemen athletes guarantee the future of our Club for many generations to come.