Joe Hood's trick shot book, COPIED....

hunger strike

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Joe Hood's trick shot book is an early book with a lot of classic trick shots. It was reprinted in modern times by a very unselfish billiard historian who, knowing him, lost money just to get the history out there. But before that, Hood's book contents were copied almost exactly TWICE. Brunswick included the book's contents, apparently with Hood's consent because it included Hood's advice on the straight pool break, a game invented after Hood's book had been published. I have that Brunswick book, it is called pocket billiard shots, rules and records... I am on the road so I am paraphrasing the title. It may be shots, records, and rules. Anyway, although the book is undated the last records in it are from 1918. So we can safely assume it was printed in late 1918 or early 1919. The book was also copied by one Billy Eggert, who on his cover purported to be the midwest's best player for around a decade. But it appears that he simply copied Hood's material. I had always assumed he was copying Hood's book until I saw the cover on ebay recently. Eggert's book is dated 1919. So he very well may have not considered this copyrighted material, and he may have been totally unaware that he was actually copying Hood's book. Very interesting, huh? Here is the book auction link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230674102340
 

Ed Wiggins

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Original Cover

Here's a shot of the original cover.
Around 1905.
 

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hunger strike

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
"Exposed!"

Now that I think about it, Eggert must have known that he was copying Hood's work, as he uses the word Exposed as well and the title has a similar style....none of that was in the BBC book. Is your copy one of Ursitti's reprints? He needs to be in the hall of fame for all he has done and all that the info that he has shared so selflessly.
 

Ed Wiggins

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The Cover

Is your copy one of Ursitti's reprints? He needs to be in the hall of fame for all he has done and all that the info that he has shared so selflessly.

Somewhere on the web I found reference to a very large collection of international billiard books. It had pictures of all the covers; the Joe Hood was one of them. I copied a few, but I can't find the site address anymore.

There's some more here, courtesy of "Fast Larry" Grindinger
http://www.poolchat.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4315

It looks like you have to register to view the cover.

EW
 

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Joe Hood's trick shot book is an early book with a lot of classic trick shots. It was reprinted in modern times by a very unselfish billiard historian who, knowing him, lost money just to get the history out there. But before that, Hood's book contents were copied almost exactly TWICE. Brunswick included the book's contents, apparently with Hood's consent because it included Hood's advice on the straight pool break, a game invented after Hood's book had been published. I have that Brunswick book, it is called pocket billiard shots, rules and records... I am on the road so I am paraphrasing the title. It may be shots, records, and rules. Anyway, although the book is undated the last records in it are from 1918. So we can safely assume it was printed in late 1918 or early 1919. The book was also copied by one Billy Eggert, who on his cover purported to be the midwest's best player for around a decade. But it appears that he simply copied Hood's material. I had always assumed he was copying Hood's book until I saw the cover on ebay recently. Eggert's book is dated 1919. So he very well may have not considered this copyrighted material, and he may have been totally unaware that he was actually copying Hood's book. Very interesting, huh? Here is the book auction link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230674102340

If I copy it again , can I get in the Hall of Fame?
 

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Now that I think about it, Eggert must have known that he was copying Hood's work, as he uses the word Exposed as well and the title has a similar style....none of that was in the BBC book. Is your copy one of Ursitti's reprints? He needs to be in the hall of fame for all he has done and all that the info that he has shared so selflessly.

If I copy it again , can I get in the Hall of Fame?
Mr. Ursitti may be a candidate for the Hall of Fame but it shouldn't be for copying someone elses work.
Some people think copying or reproducing rare items is ok, the people who spent money and time and effort buying the real items are not as ecstatic.
My vision of the future is that anything of value will be copied multiple times and eventually no one will know the real items from the fakes, sort of like the Balabushkas and Szambotis that need to be authenticated.
I question why, if all you want, is to inform people , why you need to actually reprint the books and then sell them?
Why not make a downloadable file and let them read it and look at it on their computer? {Dr Dave comes to mind} he's selling, but he also makes it available for free if you want or have to to spend the time copying it.
I think it was great of Mr. Ursitti to share his collection with people, but unlike you , as soon as I see that someone is selling something, it no longer seems selfless to me?
 

Ed Wiggins

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
November BD

Joe Hood is featured in a Mike Shamos article in the November Billiards Digest.

EW
 

hunger strike

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Contributions

I was trying to say something positive about an incredible person. I did this in an incomplete way so let me be specific. Charles Ursitti deserves recognition not just for his unselfishness that has undoubtedly de-valued his own immense collection through reproducing it. Mainly he deserves accolades for his research, the extent of which is staggering. Look at his website and try to disagree. Almost every number for every inning for every player for every tournament has been fact-checked among every possible source, not just the first one found. Errors have been corrected, data has been verified. Yes, some of the reproduced material has been sold to recoup a small portion of the overall cash outlay for such projects. I don't want to get into a big discussion about this here, but there have been multiple collectors involved in reproducing books, pictures, and posters. These were money-losing projects. I myself have been somewhat selfish about having my collection reproduced because like you I have a significant investment that I would like to recoup some day when and if I have to sell. I understand your feelings on this, but not the apparent ill-will toward my posting. I was trying to say something positive about someone who deserves it. I know plenty of true but negative things I could say about various people, but I would rather say positive on here. Please go to the website and see what I am talking about before you get upset with me for saying something good. Here is something negative I can say, and it is about myself. I have been selfish about my things being reproduced. I feel just like you. I understand. So I do not and never will deserve the recognition that others do. But if one or two of my items gets reproduced from someone else's identical item, that cannot and will not hurt me enough to complain. That's all I'm saying. Fair enough?
 

hunger strike

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
"...for ALL he has done..."

Now that I think about it, Eggert must have known that he was copying Hood's work, as he uses the word Exposed as well and the title has a similar style....none of that was in the BBC book. Is your copy one of Ursitti's reprints? He needs to be in the hall of fame for all he has done and all that the info that he has shared so selflessly.

Please read this again, closely. I said "....for ALL he has done."
Thanks to Jim Cullis for pointing out to me that the Eggert book is dated 1919-1935, rather than 1919. Way to share buddy.
 

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was trying to say something positive about an incredible person. I did this in an incomplete way so let me be specific. Charles Ursitti deserves recognition not just for his unselfishness that has undoubtedly de-valued his own immense collection through reproducing it. Mainly he deserves accolades for his research, the extent of which is staggering. Look at his website and try to disagree. Almost every number for every inning for every player for every tournament has been fact-checked among every possible source, not just the first one found. Errors have been corrected, data has been verified. Yes, some of the reproduced material has been sold to recoup a small portion of the overall cash outlay for such projects. I don't want to get into a big discussion about this here, but there have been multiple collectors involved in reproducing books, pictures, and posters. These were money-losing projects. I myself have been somewhat selfish about having my collection reproduced because like you I have a significant investment that I would like to recoup some day when and if I have to sell. I understand your feelings on this, but not the apparent ill-will toward my posting. I was trying to say something positive about someone who deserves it. I know plenty of true but negative things I could say about various people, but I would rather say positive on here. Please go to the website and see what I am talking about before you get upset with me for saying something good. Here is something negative I can say, and it is about myself. I have been selfish about my things being reproduced. I feel just like you. I understand. So I do not and never will deserve the recognition that others do. But if one or two of my items gets reproduced from someone else's identical item, that cannot and will not hurt me enough to complain. That's all I'm saying. Fair enough?

Please reread my post.
I have no ill will toward you, I have no idea who you are. I disagree with what you are saying and tried to portray why.
As far as the negative things you could say about others , if by that you mean me , then please don't hold yourself back on my account.
I am truly interested in what you have to say.
Your last paragraph about 1 or 2 items being copied may be true as far as the ones Mr. ursitti copied , but is about 90 short of the real number of rare billiard books that have been reprinted or made into e books.
While I understand your attempts to praise Mr. Ursitti, I believe you made a poor choice of subjects to use as your platform . ie the Joe Hood reprint.
If you are truly a friend of his , you might want to have him proofread your posts regarding him.
 

hunger strike

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This thread is about Joe Hood

Nobody needs to proofread a compliment. The thread is an informative observation about Joe Hood. I am not a book collector; I have some rare billiard books because I collect billiard antiques and come across some. But they are very, very poor investments. If you are upset at people reprinting them, and 90 more have been copied, then that emphasizes why you should be less upset at me and my acquaintances who are responsible for printing two or three. No, my compliment stands. And I don't know or need to know who you are. But the fact that I post information and you still probably don't know who I am illustrates that I have taken my valuable time to try to add to and share billiard history rather than hoard it. If I were out to glorify myself, then you would all know my name, and you don't. On here, I am just a dude, trying to spread some interesting information. If you don't like said sharing, which you apparently don't, then you must not stop at protesting a Joe Hood reprint; you must protest all sharing of billiard history, including this entire section of AZ. Which means you may continue to be upset if you keep reading this great section. The Joe Hood book is over 100 years old and is thus far out of copyright. So copying it at a loss is not a copyright violation, it is a favor to historians and trick shot afficionados. When Eggert copied it long ago, well that's possibly a different story. I appreciate seeing something that was previously hoarded by guys who tend to bid up every available copy to prevent what is an inevitable loss of value in a world where Ebay discoveries outpace new collectors daily.
 
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book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
.................................... never mind, in the scheme of life , none of it matters.
 
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9ballrob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
In an attempt to share and inform, here is another Joe Hood antique billiard item.

This is an original exhibition poster that I've owned for many years.

There were a few copies made many years ago but they are easy to spot. The background is bright white, as it was cleaned up in Photoshop before the were printed.

100_3385.jpg


Enjoy!
Rob Montgomery
 

hunger strike

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Rob, a good man in the industry

In an attempt to share and inform, here is another Joe Hood antique billiard item.

This is an original exhibition poster that I've owned for many years.

There were a few copies made many years ago but they are easy to spot. The background is bright white, as it was cleaned up in Photoshop before the were printed.

100_3385.jpg


Enjoy!
Rob Montgomery

Rob, thanks for sharing. If I was at home, I would scan in the page from Stellinga's book showing the other Hood poster. I like yours better, though.
 
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