Did the Paddle Ball Paddles Used to be More Substantial?

I have a paddle ball paddle that I purchased at a convenient market about 15 years ago. Its about 9 3/4 inches long, and about 4 1/2 inches wide at its widest point. its about 1/8 of an inch thick, and is very light. weighing only 1 and 1/4 ounces. It used to have a rubber ball attached by a string, but I removed that.
I remember my second grade teacher had one of those paddles, and the temper to employ it when a student incurred her wrath. But her paddle seemed more substantial than the one I own. Is this just because I was so much smaller then, or do they make them thinner and of a lighter wood than they used to? A combination of the two factors maybe?

I think they became lighter. Many remakes of old toys are of lesser quality. Back in the day a paddle ball game was expected to last, now it's expected to be tossed out.

My, uh-hm, mother had one, I have no recollection of where it came from, that I think was about 3/8 of an inch thick. It was definitely more substantial than the ones they have today. It was red. This would have been in the very late forties.

I think the difference is that back in the day they were made with more wood and today they are low quality press board - or at least the ones I've seen recently were press board or thin plywood.

I spent a few minutes to do a bit of research to back up my memories. All I did was a google image search for paddle ball and clicked on the various ones that looked different.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1192020

That's a wooden paddle ball game produced in the 1950s. See how solid it is? Perfect for delivering a good smacking, except that ball and string might get in the way.

https://www.retroplanet.com/PROD/24864.html

Here is a "retro version" of the paddle ball. Click on the side view and you can see it's layered press board.

https://www.amazon.com/Schylling-PBG-Paddle-Ball-Game/dp/B000MVE52Q/ref=pd_bxgy_21_im g_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000MVE52Q&pd_rd_r=4a484da6-fabf-11e8-abd2-cdd24367c782&pd _rd_w=CwPT6&pd_rd_wg=8BTVh&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=13PGC BCNP7QTZVDJ3CBK&psc=1&refRID=13PGCBCNP7QTZVDJ3CBK

- a modern one sold on Amazon. They are plywood, and look as if one good whack would crack or otherwise break them.

I do like that they have the printed statement "It's Fun" which says it all.
I think the one we had as kids was made of thin red plastic, quite hard and brittle, so it really wouldn't have lasted long when used for hitting things other than the rubber ball

The ones I remember as a kid were made by the Fli-Back Company in High Point, NC. They were the ones that everybody's mom and all the elementary school teachers had. It had a photo of cowboy on a bucking horse. Once they did a promotion with Dr. Pepper where if you bought a 6-pack you got a free paddle ball. These paddles had Dr. Pepper written on them. My fourth grade teacher had one of those and was always threatening us students with "a taste of Dr. Pepper" if we didn't behave. They were not very severe and would probably not have been that all that effective on anybody but grade school kids. They could produce a nasty little sting if enough licks were given on a bare bottom to have a cumulative effect. But, of ccourse, that was never done in school although I did see a girl in the second grade go over the teacher's knee, have her dress pulled up and get about a dozen across the seat of her panties. But the other 99.9% of the time they were used on the seat of the pants and mostly always on boys. But they could still do a fair amount of justice to a bare bottom in the hands of an irate mom. However, the ones I saw in latter years did seem to be a lot more flimsy and much less sturdy as they seemed to have been made from much lighter, softer wood than the ones I remember from my youth...like this one
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/58/45/68/584568a544fae2afb35fdf1aea1b1236.jpg

Thanks for the 411 from all of you. John, you reminded me the one my second grade teacher had also said Fli-Back, and had the picture of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco on it. My 6th grade teacher also had one, but she kept it her desk drawer, not on top of the desk like my 2nd grade teacher. My 6th grade teacher only got her paddle out once that school year, but didn't use it. I was thankful for that, because it was me she threatened to spank. Would you believe that was for something I didn't do? ( My homework! )

Seems like everything is made cheaper today. I remember those paddles being made of wood and pretty substantial. Could it be that long ago the manufacturer knew the paddles might be used for disciplining naughty youngsters in addition to use as a game? Certainly was a nice size and shape for a bared bottom.

I'm lucky enough to have one of the famous 'Cracker Barrel' paddles - so-called because they were sold in the Cracker Barrel stores, though they were made by a company called BC. Nominally they were for playing paddle-ball, but I suspect most of them found more frequent use playing paddle-bottom....

It's a wonderfully sturdy implement, made of 7-ply beechwood, but still quite thin and light - about 1/3" thick. Packs one hell of a sting. I don't think they're made any more - but if you can pick one up second-hand, grab it!