Chicago. 130 Tables.

2 fer

(must resist temptation,................................must resist temptation,.....................................must resist temptation !!) :grin:

Shooters, in Burnsville MN, has a ton of tables, but I'm not sure if they hit the 130 mark.

On a visit to Lincoln's childhood home (New Salem, IL) I learned that it wasn't unusual for 3-4 men to sleep together on what amounted to a queen-sized bed. During the winter your room would regularly get below freezing so the more warm bodies the better. No one gave it a second thought.

But even with 4 people to a bed, that's 32 tables. I recall seeing a picture on AZB of a Chicago pool room that looked like it could have accommodated that many tables.

If you're ever around the Springfield, IL area, I highly recommend a side-trip to New Salem (about 30-40 miles outside of Springfield). They've very faithfully re-created the village that Lincoln grew up in and the tour is fascinating.

bdorman said:

If you're ever around the Springfield, IL area, I highly recommend a side-trip to New Salem (about 30-40 miles outside of Springfield). They've very faithfully re-created the village that Lincoln grew up in and the tour is fascinating.

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I did that tour with my family when I must have been about 10 years old.

That would have been in 1959 or close to it. I loved it.

We lived in Chicago and were on our summer vacation, which was to go see Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. This was before the interstate road system so it was a long drive on state routes, which go through every Podunk town in southern Illinois and Kentucky.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a bleeding heart liberal and a revisionist, and should not be entertained.

Carom Billiards was probably more popular than pocket billiards in 1860, so maybe three or four could fit on a table, but we'll never know.

11 years later everything three miles north to a mile south and then a mile west to the lake was destroyed in the fire.

Chris's has over 40 tables. Maybe 5 billiards tables included.

What I thought was unusual was Lincoln wasn't even there, but I guess that's how things worked back then.

Q Masters claims on their website to be the largest pool hall with 73 tables and 25,000 sq ft. So if Barry says so, it must be true!

sunnyone said:

Anyone know which billiards emporium had that many tables?

Also, does any room today have anywhere near so many?

And, do you suppose, some sharpie back then figured out the early closing time and adjusted his game / wagers / odds accordingly?

Historical inquiry is my life,

Sunny

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May 17, 1860
On the front page of the Chicago Tribune appeared an article about the convention getting under way titled:

" THE CONVENTION WEEK IN CHICAGO "

The third paragraph of the article says this:

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O' give me a cot?

In more than one instance, billiard rooms and their tables have come to pay a double debt and bear a double burden. Until a moderate hour for retiring, the markers are busy, and the click of the balls tells of the progress of the game, but at a signal of the clock, mine hosts "take their cue" from the crowd of weary guests, and during the rest of the twenty fours hours, passed on matresses spread upon the tables, the only "angles" studied, are those of tired humanity wooing "natures sweet restorer."

We looked in, just after midnight, upon one ranche of this kind, where one hundred and thirty persons were making this use of billiard tables in a manner and with a zest, from the fatigues of the day, that would have excited the sympathy of the most unfeeling bosom, albeit the use was rather "un-Phelan" .

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To answer your questions:

#1. Brunswick had one of, if not the largest room in the city at that time. But they certainly weren't the only "large" room, and many rooms were physically closer to the Wigwam than Brunswick, so it's hard to say which one was being spoken about without more information.

The Brunswick room pictured below existed at the time of the convention, but it only featured 18 tables. On the other hand, each table was at least 5'x10' - so it would have been easy for them to sleep at least two people on top of each one, if not 3 or 4.
(or perhaps 3 or 4 on top and 3 or 4 below as well)




#2. 130? Not in the U.S.
65? Maybe, but none that I know of.
32? Yes, but very few.
16? Yes, but not very many.

#3. Probably not in the reputable rooms being used as sleeping quarters. But I'm quite sure that many a tourist were "had" elsewhere in town.

+5 for using "sharp(ie)" properly in a sentence.

Historical inquiry is my life, too.

I'm surprised Chicago didn't have bigger rooms, Mr Bond.
Detroit had the Detroit Rec....which opened with 103 tables in 1917.

I would've thought Chicago had more of everything...
...one of the Bensinger's locations had 5 floors, but I'm not sure how
many of those floors had billiard tables.

Fargo Billiards has 56, not too shabby.

In Detroit there was one surpassing 100 tables in the 20's... credit to JAM for this tidbit:

JAM said:

The world’s largest billiard hall was built during billiards’ “Golden Age.” “The Recreation,” a mammoth seven-story health spa, was a bustling Detroit business in the 1920s. It featured 103 tables, 88 bowling lanes, 20 barber chairs, three manicuring stands, 14 cigar stands, a lunch counter on each floor, a restaurant that could seat 300, and an exhibition room with theater seating, that could accommodate 250 spectators.

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Whats the largest pool hall in the world and how many tables?

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=48597

pt109 said:

I'm surprised Chicago didn't have bigger rooms, Mr Bond.
Detroit had the Detroit Rec....which opened with 103 tables in 1917.

I would've thought Chicago had more of everything...
...one of the Bensinger's locations had 5 floors, but I'm not sure how
many of those floors had billiard tables.

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Chicago DID have some gigantic and even opulent rooms at one point, but 1860 was still pretty early in the big scheme of things...for every city. They had not even begun state championships yet...so I doubt that any billiard halls in the U.S. were as big or bigger than the ones in Chicago at that time.

Mr. Bond said:

Chicago DID have some gigantic and even opulent rooms at one point, but 1860 was still pretty early in the big scheme of things...for every city. They had not even begun state championships yet...so I doubt that any billiard halls in the U.S. were as big or bigger than the ones in Chicago at that time.

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Thanx for replying....I was thinking that the middle 1800s was a great time for great buildings.....
....so I thought of billiard palaces.
But I see that the game wasn't ready.

I enjoy your site.....but I can't access it from my IPad...only my ThinkPad.
Are you in league with Bill Gates?

Tramp Steamer said:

Doris Kearns Goodwin is bleeding heart liberal and a re-writer of history, and should not be entertained.

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Fools and their drivel belong in NPR.

Dale(violating the don't-feed-the-trolls rule)

pt109 said:

Thanx for replying....I was thinking that the middle 1800s was a great time for great buildings.....
....so I thought of billiard palaces.
But I see that the game wasn't ready.

I enjoy your site.....but I can't access it from my IPad...only my ThinkPad.
Are you in league with Bill Gates?

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Billiards really jumped in popularity in the 1850's and 60's - but the peak of the boom was yet to come.
The 1870's and 80's brought about the first big lavish rooms...

For example, check out this description of Foley's new room (in Chicago) in 1873.....
Very very impressive, but its hard to imagine anyone doing this today...



On the opening day of the hall, it was open from 10am until 4pm for ladies only (and their escorts). It was estimated that over 1000 ladies attended.

At 4pm, the public was allowed in for the "opening ceremonies". Two local sports writers for the Chicago Tribune and the [Sun] Times were given the honor of playing the first game in the new hall. The Tribune writer beat the Times writer.

During the busy season Foley's hall averaged higher than 800 games per day.


Yeah, sorry about the access issues. We are aware of it.
I'm trying to get everything Apple and Smartphone friendly as soon as possible.

Thanks for that article, Mr. Bond. Very Cool!

That article blows me away. If I didn't see it in black and white I'd have a hard time believing that such a place every really existed. Also, I was curious about how these rooms and subsequently the tables were lit in the pre-electric era. I assumed it was done with gas lights, but I wasn't sure. I think a lot of us today would find it quite unusual to play on a surface illuminated only by natural and gas lighting.

Just a curious thought, is there ANY game/sport/recreational activity today where they built massive,
elegant, beautifully appointed rooms, with huge mirrors and burnished wood and high ceilings and such?

Not only do they not make pool halls like they used to, I feel like they don't make ANYthing like that anymore.
Maybe there's some casino has that ultra high-class feel?

pdcue said:

Fools and their drivel belong in NPR.

Dale(violating the don't-feed-the-trolls rule)

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The good people who responded to this thread just proved her wrong, didn't they troll feeder?