History Lesson: Pool Tables

1.) The game of pool progressed from a European lawn contest similar to croquet, played throughout the 15th century.

2.) When precisely the first pool table was constructed is unknown. The earliest proof of a pool table was acknowledged in 1470, during an inventory of the property of King Louis XI of France.

3.) The earliest pool tables were thought to have consisted of a stone bed, cloth covering and opening in the center to send the pool balls into.

4.) The first pool billiard room was built in England in 1765.

5.) The Church denounced the entertainment of pool as sinful, precarious and fraudulent; play was forbidden in France during the 15th century. In first American history, legislation were passed outlawing the game attributable to spiritual influences.

6.) During the generation of Thomas Jefferson, pool was banned in the state of Virginia. The sports ground on Thomas Jefferson's residence hid a discrete pool area.

7.) Pool table cloths have changed barely in more than 400 years. Wool remains the material of choice to this day, even though it occasionally is blended with nylon.

8.) Earlier pool tables featured even vertical walls for rails known as “banks” stemming from their resemblance to riverbeds. Their single task was to control the pool balls from falling off the table; however, pool manufacturers soon discovered that their pool balls could bounce off the table rails, so they started to knowingly aim for them. Thus, the "bank shot" was born.

9.) All the way through olden times, the diversion of pool bridged the chasm between upper and lower classes, as people of each social status were known to play.

10.) In later years, pool began to be considered as a sport. In 1873, it became the original sport to appoint a world championship.

11.) All the way through nearly all of the 1800’s, the chalk used on the brand new leather cue tips was carbonate of lime, better acknowledged as blackboard chalk. Most chalk used in our day is comprised of fine abrasives and does not contain a fragment of chalk.

12.) The declaration “cue” is derivative from the French queue, meaning tail. Before the cue stick was designed, billiards was played with a staff. The staff consisted of a bent timber (or metallic) head used to drive the ball forwards, attached to a narrow knob. Since the largeness of the club top made shots alongside the rail challenging, it was habitually turned around and the “tail” end was used. People finally realized this means was a lot more efficient, and the cue as a single device grew out of the mace’s tail.

13.) 1903 brought the earliest coin-operated pool table. The rate per competition was one penny!

14.) Until nearly 1920, American billiards was dominated by the carom games. Pool was a dull, or dying hobby. When the initial championship pool tournament was held in 1878, the winner, and the occurrence itself, all but went unnoticed.

15.) At times, including during the Civil War, billiard results received wider coverage than combat news. Masters were so popular that cigarette cards were issued featuring them.

16.) These days, pool and billiards is a well-known and prevalent activity, together for recreational players and competitors. Organizations such the APA and others put on yearly billiard tournaments and considerable billiards events are publicized and even air on major television stations. Pool halls exist across the country, from the smallest of towns to large metropolitan areas, and large numbers of people own pool tables in their houses.

Pool tables are so routine now that they are offered on-line and in several brick and mortar stores committed solely to pool tables.

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