This article provides a detailed analysis of the Daguin postmarks used by nine towns in France from 1925 to 1958, a subject which has not previously been studied in depth. We emphasize our new philatelic discoveries regarding earliest dates of use, duration of use, postmark varieties, and mistakes in postmark application. The postcard illustrations help to tell the story of how these tennis-playing towns differed in their size, sophistication, climate, and culture. We chose to present the towns in the chronologic order in which they created a tennis Daguin. By focusing on one town at a time, the article provides the reader with an idea of the cultural significance of tennis in that town, in addition to the unique philatelic features of the Daguin postmarks in each town.
We show the location of the towns on a map of France, and include both a summary Table of Daguin sports postmarks and a Table of Daguin tennis postmarks outlining our philatelic research. Investigation in the French postal archives established that the Cannes Daguin is the world’s first tennis postmark. We also used original source material to tell the story of the classic match between Wills and Lenglen in Cannes, and the historic matches at the Lawn Tennis Club of Beaulieu.
The article is written in English and includes 15 full-size pages published in the Journal of Sports Philately, volume 59, number 4, Summer 2021. For further information, contact Mark Maestrone at markspi@prodigy.net