New Fad

November 25, 1939, Appleton Post-Crescent

Though the first badminton club was formed in 1878 in New York and became a weekend meeting place for its society leaders, badminton’s popularity boomed in the 1930s as educational institutions, YMCAs, and hundreds of newly formed clubs offered badminton instruction. As shown here, the craze even reached Menasha.  The popularity of badminton was also accented by its adoption by many movie stars, to include the likes of James Cagney, Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers, Joan Crawford, and Douglas Fairbanks.  By 1992, the sport had even achieved Olympic status.