Antique scorekeeper

Mr. Bass Man

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I found this today, by far one of the most elaborate scorekeepers I've ever seen. It has dials for each player to 100, buttons you push with your cue to add 1-8 points depending on which button you push, a timer of sorts as well as a game counter. It appears to be cast iron and is extremely heavy. Any guesses to age and value?
 

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oldschool1478

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Could it be for scoring snooker?
The 1-8 points would make some sense. (One red and a black = 8)
But what does the dial at the top indicate.
You said iron. Does a magnet stick to it?
 

Mr. Bass Man

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Age: Old


Value: A LOT


This is so cool

Thanks guys, I'm so happy with it. It's gotta be the coolest thing I own that involves pool. I agree that it was probably a snooker scorekeeper, and the only marking I can find on it is on the key for the reset which says Waterbury Clock co us. They were a booming company from 1850-1910 and things started to putter out beyond that though they still made clocks and watches. I can't find anything similar on the internet or in my books, I'm guessing this was a one of a kind made for traveling as it has a sturdy wood frame and case. If only it could tell the stories.....
 

dnixon

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
that was made in waterbury ct./ check some clock web sites for vallue that is so cool
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nice. Does it still work? Can you take some more pictures of it? What did you pay for it, if you don't mind sharing:)

Do the buttons add 1, 2, 3, up to 8 points each? If It was for snooker, how did they get over 100 points? What are the various complications for?
 
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Mr. Bond

Orbis Non Sufficit
Gold Member
Silver Member
It's very cool no doubt.
But I'm a little confused.
If there are no electric components, and it was in fact made in the u.s., why would it be a snooker register from so long ago. ( non electric registers are VERY early, maybe even earlier than snooker)
Maybe it's a snooker register, not made by waterbury, but someone found a waterbury key that fit it?
Maybe it's just a pool register, not snooker, not made by waterbury ( pre waterbury because it's very Victorian)
Maybe it's not a pool register at all but something like a ship's clock, or process timer clock? (punch clock)
The heavy nature is also unusual for a " portable" unit.

Fwiw I've seen a photo book specifically about waterbury clocks for $8 on amazon
 

Don Owen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I found this today, by far one of the most elaborate scorekeepers I've ever seen. It has dials for each player to 100, buttons you push with your cue to add 1-8 points depending on which button you push, a timer of sorts as well as a game counter. It appears to be cast iron and is extremely heavy. Any guesses to age and value?

Are you interested in selling it?
Don
 

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Seems too ornate to be used in pool but it could be for a game called bar billiards or Russian billiards which is scored in increments of 10 and involves a clock.

It could also be for something unrelated to pool. Ships used mechanical devices in a box for various purposes. If you could find a serial number possible by removing the cover you could probably figure out what it is.

Excellent find.
 

Sunchaser

Belgian Malinois
Silver Member
I haven't a clue I even googled for an hour trying to figure it out. Great find though, whatever it is. Thanks for the look! Don't sell it...you'd be hard pressed to find another one. Matt D.
 

Mr. Bass Man

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It's very cool no doubt.
But I'm a little confused.
If there are no electric components, and it was in fact made in the u.s., why would it be a snooker register from so long ago. ( non electric registers are VERY early, maybe even earlier than snooker)
Maybe it's a snooker register, not made by waterbury, but someone found a waterbury key that fit it?
Maybe it's just a pool register, not snooker, not made by waterbury ( pre waterbury because it's very Victorian)
Maybe it's not a pool register at all but something like a ship's clock, or process timer clock? (punch clock)
The heavy nature is also unusual for a " portable" unit.

Fwiw I've seen a photo book specifically about waterbury clocks for $8 on amazon

You brought up some great points Mr. Bond, after a long week of research this is what I've found: it is a clock that has dials for calculating longitude and latitude, probably manufactured by an individual clockmaker based on the design of a scientist(possibly huygen or berthoud) between the years of 1650-1790 for french royalty. Every single person I've shown it to has tried to buy it from me, it is no longer an option to contemplate the sale without proper documentation. And to think I just found the perfect scorekeeper for my pool room :O
 

Texdance

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I found this today, by far one of the most elaborate scorekeepers I've ever seen. It has dials for each player to 100, buttons you push with your cue to add 1-8 points depending on which button you push, a timer of sorts as well as a game counter. It appears to be cast iron and is extremely heavy. Any guesses to age and value?


If you think it is a clock-like device for calculating longitude it should be insured for its value, which I think might be rather high.

The Cambridge Digital Library at http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/longitude/ has good information for starters.

The race to discover and manufacture a reliable way of calculating longitude took place from about 1714 on. There was a huge money prize offered by The Longitude Board, though I think they tried to screw the eventual winner out of it.

There was a great History Channel show about this some years back. When the inventor got the device into a smaller size, rather than the extremely heavy first attempts, it became a huge hit with mariners and navigators. It was essentially a clock that kept very good time even on long sea voyages of the sailing ships of that era.
 
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