rejuvenated
Carole Lombard's fondness for tennis is well-known, but I have no idea whether she ever played table tennis, a version of the lawn sport created in Victorian England as an after-dinner parlor game. It gradually gained popularity in the States, and there's a scene showing characters playing the sport in the 1927 Colleen Moore comedy "Her Wild Oat." (She's at right below; second from left is 14-year-old Loretta Young.)
Hard to believe nearly 50 years have passed since table tennis helped China break decades of isolation from the West ("ping-pong diplomacy," as we called it).
Anyway, a Lombard photo with table tennis ties has been unearthed, but she's not shown playing the game. In fact, she's not even holding a paddle. The actor with that honor is frequent Carole co-star Fred MacMurray:
We discover from the other side that it ran in the October 1936 issue of an unnamed magazine:
We also know the photo is from the estate of beloved casting director Marvin Paige, whom we've written of before (https://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/760271.html). And now, it can be yours.
The pic is up for auction at eBay. It's in good condition, and bids open at $24.95; the auction closes at 11:29 p.m. (Eastern) Sunday. You can learn more, and place a bid, by visiting https://www.ebay.com/itm/CAROLE-LOMBARD-FRED-MACMURRAY-Vintage-1936-CANDID-Set-Paramount-Pictures-Photo/332575624009?hash=item4d6f0d4b49:g:ulcAAOSw9NBajg6v.
