Wimbledon 2015 Curator's Choice: An ice cream maker, jelly and blancmange and rackets

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

We bring you a Curator’s Choice special for Wimbledon 2015 with Anna Renton, of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum

“We have rackets that have been used for Real Tennis in the collection, but the oldest Lawn Tennis rackets are in the Sphairistiké box set which is on display in the museum.

Many Real Tennis or Rackets players wanted an outdoor pursuit that offered more exercise than croquet.

Major Walter Wingfield can be credited with popularising the game of Lawn Tennis in 1874, when he cleverly marketed a boxed set - containing rackets, all the items required to put up a net and a rule book.

He called the game ‘Sphairisitké or Lawn Tennis’.

This Victorian ice cream maker was called ‘The ‘Zero’ Messina Ice Cream Freezer’.

The large tin, mounted on an ornate cast iron base with a turning handle on top, is decorated with detailed instructions and a tennis garden party scene showing four people taking a break from the game, being served ice cream by a maid.

A packet of Messina ice cream powder would have been mixed according to the instructions and added to the centre compartment of the tin, crushed ice added to the outside compartment and then the handle turned for five minutes to produce the ice cream.

This high-glaze earthenware jelly or blancmange mould has a tennis design.

The mould features a foot on which it would have rested, on the kitchen table while the contents set before being turned out. It was manufactured in Stoke-on-Trent by Copeland, around 1910.”

• Find out how you could win a tennis ball, signed by Andy Murray and Fred Perry, for £1.

More museums to find out about sporting history in:

World Rugby Museum, Twickenham
There is nowhere in England more important to rugby union than Twickenham Stadium, where organisers describe their museum (and tours) as "the ultimate experience for the rugby enthusiast".

National Football Museum, Manchester
Exploring the cultural and social impact of the game, featuring iconic objects including the Jules Rimet trophy, the 1966 World Cup Final ball, and the shirt worn by Diego Maradona during the infamous 'Hand of God' goal in the 1986 World Cup.

Marylebone Cricket Club Museum, London
The oldest sports museum in the world, the MCC is housed at the most famous cricket ground in the world, Lord's.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art531372-wimbledon-2015-curator-choice-an-ice-cream-maker-jelly-and-blancmange-and-rackets