I guess I am the "Get off my lawn!" guy....

[eze123]

Haha, that's hilarious, it's almost literally the OP

"The ball skids like an ashtray when you hit it," Crane says. "It's not supposed to skid, it's supposed to roll. These plastic balls are pretty. They don't ever chip, they don't ever break, they hold their color forever—and they're the worst balls ever made. The old mud balls were far superior. With the smaller table and the bigger pockets, any meatball can throw a run of 100 at me. I don't worry about guys like Joe Balsis or Steve Mizerak or Luther Lassiter. I know I'll win and lose my share against them. But one of these guys who can't play at all will suddenly come to the table and run a hundred—against me"

 

[ChrisinNC]

I started playing pool at the end of the real felt era. If you went 3 rails after a shot it meant you actually had a stroke. There were no jump cues, if you jumped, it was with your shooting cue. I don't remember break cues being a thing either. Where I played 7 footers did not exist. 8 footers were the norm and you went to a real pool hall (rare) to find a 9 footer.
Gambling was also the norm, on basically every game, even if it was small stakes or just a beer.
Now, someone who has played for two months, has a carbon fiber shaft, playing on 860 Simonis, on a 7 footer can tap balls around and run tables.
Am I wrong?

In my opinion, even the naturally gifted young players still have to pay their dues and put in at least a couple thousand hours at the table (2-3 years of playing daily) before they are running racks. If they claim they’ve only been playing a year or less, they are lying!

 

[ShootingArts]

Once again, it seems to go back to what you came up on. If you grew up on eight and nine footers, then the seven footers are toys. (I am really surprised that the "oversized" cue balls on early barboxes did not kill pool.)

I like the improvements in cues, felt, and balls. The biggest improvement, however, is in rails. Time was "dead" rails were common as hen's teeth -- one had to learn which rails were dependable and which ones were not. Constant adjustment was required not just table to table, but rail to rail. We are not completely there yet, but from table to table one finds consistency in rails much more often now.

Rails will never be consistent as long as we have heating and air ducts and tables near doors. However, no denying they are much more consistent now than many I played on back in the time many long for. It seemed a lot of tables were put in around the time of WWII and never received any TLC since they were new. It took real courage just to put a bridge hand down on that cloth that seemed to be culturing some major undiscovered life forms! I thought pasteboard beer coasters under legs were the brass plated nuts for leveling too. I noticed a table seemed too tall sometimes only to find beer coasters under all four legs.

Those oversized cue balls took some getting used to. If I remember rightly some were a full eighth inch bigger than the object balls. Always thought they were the reason for the saying "draw for show follow for dough." They went through clusters like a wrecking ball! With the nearest bar table less than two miles from home and the nearest pool hall more like ten miles and in town traffic besides a lot of my game was built around how the cue balls played on those old tables. I never did but there was definite value to toting your own cue ball back then. Some asked, some just snuck their cue ball in.

 

[boogieman]

Here's some pics, I just recently I found out my union hall has an old table. I went there on my day off and spend 45 minutes brushing the crap off of it, as well as lint rollering it the next day. Random dirt, dust, glitter, Christmas ornament fragments, as well as some blue hard candy under a rail. The table is a literal time capsule, no one plays on it since all the sticks are missing tips and there were only 10 random balls. It's a 9' Brunswick 1976 model (produced from I think 1972-1978 or so). Old style cloth, and surprisingly it's damn near level. You can find a slight roll if you're really looking for it but it doesn't effect play. It's been at least 10 years since I've seen the old style cloth, bars might have similar, but it's still "better" than the old stuff. Had a few felt balls come up when cleaning, don't see that anymore. It's a damn fine table. The rails play perfectly, more billiard table like than pool table like on the old 3 rail test. I used the permarack template I bought to put some doughnuts on it for racking as the rack there was a really terrible flexible triangle. I plan on re-tipping the cues for more practice with some homemade milk dud tips, a great opportunity to practice my skills and improve the old girl.

I donated a set of aramith premier balls that came with my table. I'm super stoked. Locally, you can't find anything but 7' Valley tables. I have an 8.5' Olhausen that's pimped out with 860hr cloth, but there's just something about this old girl. I plan on trying some 14:1, Equal Offense, and One Pocket on it. My wife and I played 8 ball and it's a real treat to play on. It's a little rough, if it were my personal table, I'd refinish the rails as they are mahogony, but I'm just thankful to be able to enjoy the table. It's a trip down memory lane. Imagine the luck in finding this, totally free to play, a block from where I work, and less than 2 miles from where I live.

 

[Geosnookery]

Overall I much prefer playing today than 50 years ago. Much cleaner conditions. Way less alcohol consumption and a more upscale demographics. Half of one of our league is female ...nurses, teachers, etc.

As for equipment. Biggest difference in Canada is consistency. Just about all tables play well, decent cloth, rails, etc. I don’t really notice a table brand in a pool hall or sports bar.

I collect pool balls. I’ve measured balls in my lab and even the least expensive ball sets today are consistent in size, weight, etc to hundreds ( if not thousands) of a gram or millimeter. Machines are self adjusting. Even the best quality ball set from 50 years ago has much more variation within it...they were made by workers that needed to be very much artisans.

 

[whiteoak]

I started playing pool at the end of the real felt era. If you went 3 rails after a shot it meant you actually had a stroke. There were no jump cues, if you jumped, it was with your shooting cue. I don't remember break cues being a thing either. Where I played 7 footers did not exist. 8 footers were the norm and you went to a real pool hall (rare) to find a 9 footer.
Gambling was also the norm, on basically every game, even if it was small stakes or just a beer.
Now, someone who has played for two months, has a carbon fiber shaft, playing on 860 Simonis, on a 7 footer can tap balls around and run tables.
Am I wrong?

I certainly wouldn't say you are wrong because I am certain you could beat me like a drum but would like to offer a different perspective .I live 1 and a 1/2 hours from a place with 9 ft tables.At home we only have room for a 7 ft table but had it set up with fast rails and tight pockets and Simonis cloth. Its the best I can do. I started playing in the early 2000's but had to take a 16 yr break for personal reasons.I don't gamble for personal reasons as well but don't mind other folks doing so. I will never even reach shortstop level but its fun trying and here in the Southeast most tournaments are actually on bar boxes and am not talking about bar tournaments but actual pool rooms. AZ is a place that makes me feel welcome and that makes me feel part of a community. Please don't take this as argumentative,just a different situation. Respectfully,Mike S.

 

[pt109]

Haha, that's hilarious, it's almost literally the OP

"The ball skids like an ashtray when you hit it," Crane says. "It's not supposed to skid, it's supposed to roll. These plastic balls are pretty. They don't ever chip, they don't ever break, they hold their color forever—and they're the worst balls ever made. The old mud balls were far superior. With the smaller table and the bigger pockets, any meatball can throw a run of 100 at me. I don't worry about guys like Joe Balsis or Steve Mizerak or Luther Lassiter. I know I'll win and lose my share against them. But one of these guys who can't play at all will suddenly come to the table and run a hundred—against me"

Ha, that certainly does sound like a ‘get off my lawn’ from the Deacon...those balls were definitely inferior and deader.
They weren’t nearly as round and where the stripes or numbers were, a spherical micrometer would jump.
You could do a mud rack just by aligning the stripes or number so they were touching.
Plus, the new balls were livelier, so Irving’s cues were probably the wrong tools.
...13 mm ivory ferrules were on their way out.

 

[Biloxi Boy]

And speaking of improvements, I overlooked the smallest element of our sport, perhaps the most expanded, if not the most improved -- cue tips. What did we do, go from four to forty or what?

And while I am at it, who can begin to describe the improvements in pool cues from 1975 to 2000?
Just replacing a house cue with a good production was a first step and then things just exploded.
Incredible advantages to users, but everyone had one. lol. So much the better for our sport.

 

[pt109]

I started playing pool at the end of the real felt era. If you went 3 rails after a shot it meant you actually had a stroke. There were no jump cues, if you jumped, it was with your shooting cue. I don't remember break cues being a thing either. Where I played 7 footers did not exist. 8 footers were the norm and you went to a real pool hall (rare) to find a 9 footer.
Gambling was also the norm, on basically every game, even if it was small stakes or just a beer.
Now, someone who has played for two months, has a carbon fiber shaft, playing on 860 Simonis, on a 7 footer can tap balls around and run tables.
Am I wrong?

Here’s a video of Frank Taberski...long before your time...they didn’t play on cheap horse blankets that you seem so fond of. Notice how easily the pack opens when he does the Chinese pool act...

 

[alstl]

Irving Crane was complaining in 1979 that the game was too easy because in his day they played on ten foot tables, with small pockets, an oval ivory cue ball, and clay object balls that could barely roll downhill. And today people sometimes play sober!

The Frail Gray Man with the Strong Pool Cue

Irving Crane, who is one of the best straight pocket billiards players in the world, could be the now slightly aged prototype of the original 97-pound

vault.si.com

On the topic of Irving Crane most people on this forum are aware he sold Cadillacs as his primary job. I was under the mistaken impression he was working for family members who owned the dealership. In part II of the Mort Luby interview he explains he was selling insurance for Mutual of Omaha and when he sold insurance to the sales staff at the Cadillac dealership the sales manager was so impressed which his skill as a salesman he offered him a job.

Crane interview with Mort Luby part ll

Crane runs 150 and out . 1966 US Open Sherman House Hotel, Chicago. Irving Crane/Joe Balsis parts 1 thru 7 1 hr and 5 sec. Http://www.yo...

vintagevideoirvingcrane.blogspot.com

 

[garczar]

Here’s a video of Frank Taberski...long before your time...they didn’t play on cheap horse blankets that you seem so fond of. Notice how easily the pack opens when he does the Chinese pool act...

Simonis was available in those days. The slow-era was post WW2 due to the fact that Simonis' factory got bombed and had to re-build. First time i played on Simonis was sometime in the mid-late 80's. The old nappy stuff disappeared pretty quick when Simonis re-entered the States.

 

[Gman***]

I think one has to put ones self in the opportunity of playing pool period . And when you get there , play to win . I sound philosophical but putting all the advancements in the sport and combine them all together and it’s still the same game ! At the end of the day !