I wonder what it cost to produce the Pro Am in its limited run...that full page ad in Tennis Magazine back then must have cost a pretty penny!
You have quite an impressive memory, Coach, as those full page ads were not around for very long, based on the result of my literature search at a local library.
I recently came across a >90% complete collection of World Tennis back-issues (1965 - 1978; missing only June 1973 - May 1974) at this library, and spent a whole day going through every issue page by page, mainly studying product ads and equipment reviews, while collecting a few hundred cell phone photos in the process (which was all I had time for). For someone who is interested in finding out the chronological order in which early metals and first generation graphites/composites appeared on the market, this was pure heaven!
Below are the three full page ads I found for the ProAm, which first appeared in February 1973 (while the racquet ostensibly became available in pro shops by March). Note the key selling point - the frame is made of aluminum forging for strength and durability, but aims only to "
duplicate the feel in wooden rackets":
While the ProAm was not cheap ($60 in 1973 was equivalent to over $300 in 2013 dollars), it's nevertheless only half of what a typical first generation graphite sold for a mere two years later. Machining these things out of forgings with adequate QC before the advent of CNC must have been quite an undertaking!
As for pros who were brave enough to play with this frame, I only found photo evidence of a single individual who took on the challenge - the inimitable Françoise Dürr! Somehow it seems appropriate that someone like Frankie would look at this strange beast and go: "Sure, why not, I'll play with it in an actual tournament!" I didn't have time to read this July 1974 article to see when these photos were taken, but it was around the time improvements were supposedly being made to the ProAm frame design to make it more playable.
Moreover, these ProAm ads reminded me a great deal of a series of ads that appeared a few years earlier, for a cast magnesium "Centurion" frame:
Back then too, the ads were released sequentially over several months, first in the form of an extremely crude pencil sketch (the "spikes" emanating from the throat region are meant to convey strong reflectance in the finish, I guess); then a wordless artsy portrait that's supposed to speak for itself; then a suggestive juxtaposition that might be considered borderline offensive today; and finally, some mean-girl condescension to round out the launch campaign. I don't know how many frames they sold thanks to these tactics, but probably not very many, as I've yet to come across a single "Centurion" in my foraging efforts over the past two years, whereas I've seen half a dozen ProAms during the same period.
The obvious familial resemblance between the Centurion and the ProAm made me look for possible ties between them. Circumstantial evidence points to the following sequence of events connecting the two over time:
November 6, 1967, a US patent application for a racquet made out of a single block of magnesium casting was filed by Thomas Galich. The application was continued in 1968 and 1969, presumably because Galich had the misfortune of running into a particularly tough patent examiner
November 22, 1967, Centurion Industries, Inc. was formed and registered with the state of California
October, 1969, the crude "Teaser" ad appeared in World Tennis
November, 1969, the artsy "Intrigue" ad followed
December, 1969, the "What The Finest(frame)?" ad stoked the curiosity some more. Over the next two months, this ad went on to occupy some prime real estate at the very front of the magazine, reaching page 11 in January 1970
March, 1970, the (unintentionally?) snooty "Final Insult" ad closed the loop by relying on the power of words again to address some questions that readers may have been asking themselves after seeing the earlier ads
March 4, 1971, the earlier patent application was abandoned; an updated application was submitted, which included additional "preferred embodiments", such as a frame machined out of aluminum forging, with new specifications
August 13, 1971, Professional Amateur Industries, Inc. was formed and registered with the state of California
November 7, 1972, patent 3,702,189 was issued to Galich. Success, finally!
February, 1973, first ProAm ad appeared in World Tennis. The listed company address was located in a newly minted Costa Mesa industrial park next to John Wayne Airport; ProAm was likely one of the first occupants in that building (in contrast, the Centurion address on Sunset Blvd was in an office tower)
March, 1973, following the Centurion campaign formula, a second ad was released
April, 1973, a third and possibly final full page ad appeared, which presumably remained active for several more months (unfortunately, this is where the missing issues volume began, so I was unable to ascertain how long the ad ran for)
May 10, 1974, Galich filed a new patent application, claiming to have improved the "playability" of his forged aluminum frame and eliminated vibrations through dimensional optimizations. Photos of Frankie competing with a ProAM could have been taken at that time
August 17, 1976, patent 3,975,017 was issued for the improved ProAm
No ProAm ad appeared again in World Tennis after 1973/4. The improved frames probably came too late, as good quality second generation metal frames were common by then, while first generation graphite/composites were already making an impact at the higher end of the market, the performance of which cannot be matched by the "improved" ProAm design. ProAm Industries, like Centurion Industries before it, quietly folded at some point after that.
In honor of Monty Python's pending reunion- Now for something completely different:
Perusing through these issues of World Tennis, one of the most repeated full page ads to be found over the years was that of Bonne Bell sun lotion, which made use of exactly two shots from a single photo session, month after month, year after year, showing a fetching Nicole Simpson look-alike and her lucky companion walking onto/off the court before/after a game.
My eyes were drawn to a photo in the "Tips on Tennis" section in one of the 1971 issues.
What's there in the background by the fence? A large dog? Why it's a friggin Cheetah!! :shock: What kind of posh degenerates would park a live cheetah on their tennis court? Do they train it to collect loose balls or attack trespassing commoners?
Curiously, the article made no mention of the cheetah at all, but did identify the model as "Betty Glenn, the Bonne Bell girl". Since this tip section uses mostly pros and celebrities as models, I believe Betty was "THE" Bonne Bell girl, and not just a random blonde with a nice tan. Note that she had abandoned wood and gone 'metal' with a Head Master for the shoot.
Of the thousands of pictures I looked at that day, this was by far the most startling of them all. Ms Glenn should be in her 60s now; it would be cool if someone who knows her can find out what the story was behind this shot; perhaps she was a real life Sheena?
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I believe the only way to get a T-series racket that is larger than your 2000 would be to find a TX-series frame. The oval cross-section of that TX series makes them VERY different from the 'original' T-2,3,4000s. The internal 'suspended' string system might be what you are feeling but you can count on the TX series as playing quite unlike your new/old stick.
