Mechanical figure:Playing Ping Pong

Table tennis began in Britain in the 1880s as an after-dinner parlor game. The first players used books or cigar box lids as paddles, a champagne cork for a ball, and a "net" made of row of books sitting on their spines at the center of the table. As the game grew in popularity, several manufacturers offered sets of paddles, nets, balls, and rule books under many different names including Gossima, Table Tennis, Whiff Whaff, Parlour Tennis, Indoor Tennis, Pom-Pom, Netto, Royal Game and Tennis de Salon. When manufacturers replaced a game ball made of cork or rubber with a celluloid ball, it made an unique sound against the paddle and the table top: Ping Pong became the game's popular name.