Some great players from 70 years ago

Awesome picture,well i see Greenleaf,Mosconi,Ponzi,not sure about the others.

BillPorter said:

Mike Haines just sent me this shot from 1937 showing some of the finest pool players of that time. Do you know them all?

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Let's see, Caras shooting, then Charley Peterson, Andrew Ponzi, Ralph Greenleaf, George Kelly, Willie Mosconi and maybe Chick Seaback. I'm unsure about a couple of these guys, so help me out. Where's Terry?

I kinda agree with Jay on this, except the guy between Greenleaf and Mosconi I believe is Johnny Layton. The fella on the far right, not sure.

8ballEinstein said:

I kinda agree with Jay on this, except the guy between Greenleaf and Mosconi I believe is Johnny Layton. The fella on the far right, not sure.

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You could be right. Him and the last guy I was guessing on. I know Seaback played in most of the big events back then.

Probably wrong

Probably wrong but I think its left to right

Allen Hopkins
Mark Griffin
Shwan Putnam
Danny Harriman
Tony Drago
Mika Immomen
Johnny Archer

8ballEinstein said:

I kinda agree with Jay on this, except the guy between Greenleaf and Mosconi I believe is Johnny Layton. The fella on the far right, not sure.

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Layton was a three cushion player, not a pool player. Initial post in the thread says these are pool players, but maybe Layton competed at pool on an occasional basis. It does look something like him.

Anybody know where Fay Gainer was from? Stories?
I've heard of him but can't remember anything.

sjm said:

Layton was a three cushion player, not a pool player. Initial post in the thread says these are pool players, but maybe Layton competed at pool on an occasional basis. It does look something like him.

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Although Johnny Layton was mostly known for his 3-C expertise, he also played pool at the highest levels. Looking at the record book, I see he had a World 14.1 Championship and 2 runners-up in 1916. Many cueists took up both games (pool and 3-C), including Ralph Greenleaf and Willie Mosconi. Layton was one of the very few that could play both at world class speed.

I thought it was him in the photo since he looks a bit older than the others. Also, I thought there was little doubt that the guy next to Caras was Charlie Peterson.

hondo said:

Anybody know where Fay Gainer was from? Stories?
I've heard of him but can't remember anything.

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Bump. Anybody know anything about Fay Gainer?
I remember hearing of him in my area.

didnt all these fellas cut their teeth getting beat by bucktooth? Time line seems about right.

Fay Gainer

hondo said:

Bump. Anybody know anything about Fay Gainer?
I remember hearing of him in my area.

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Fay Gainer was my husband's grandfather. Your memory is good. He was born in Gilmer Co, WBGV, in 1904 and lived all over the state before decamping to Vineland, NJ, in the early 1930's. From there he moved to the Bristol VA/TN area. He died in Columbus, OH, in 1988.

Fay was a player, a pool hall owner and an all-around gambler who won and lost several fortunes.....rough on family life. His son Max (my father-in-law) is the spryest 85-year-old diabetic you'll ever want to meet. He has won the VA Senior Olympics title in Billiards and still plays several times a week.......he plays only for fun.

Max remembers Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi as dinner guests. His mother thought Mosconi was a gentleman, but detested Fats.....the rudest and crudest man she ever met. Max also remembers playing with a teenaged Mosconi when Max was so short he had to drag an orange crate around the table to stand on.

The tradition lives on........after lessons from Granddaddy Max my youngest daughter at age 11 hustled her sister's high-school-aged boyfriends to earn her entire Christmas shopping budget for the year!

Hope this was of interest to you. Nice to know someone still remembers the old reprobate.

BillPorter said:

Mike says that the players are, "Caras shooting. Left to right is Onofrio Lauri, Ponzi, Greenleaf, Seabach, Mosconi, and Fay Gainer."

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That's definitely Lauri, not Charley Peterson. Peterson had even less hair :wink: and mainly a trick shot champion.

8ballEinstein said:

Although Johnny Layton was mostly known for his 3-C expertise, he also played pool at the highest levels. Looking at the record book, I see he had a World 14.1 Championship and 2 runners-up in 1916. Many cueists took up both games (pool and 3-C), including Ralph Greenleaf and Willie Mosconi. Layton was one of the very few that could play both at world class speed.

I thought it was him in the photo since he looks a bit older than the others. Also, I thought there was little doubt that the guy next to Caras was Charlie Peterson.

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I've heard that Layton was a pretty good one pocket player as well.

dgainerva said:

Fay Gainer was my husband's grandfather. Your memory is good. He was born in Gilmer Co, WBGV, in 1904 and lived all over the state before decamping to Vineland, NJ, in the early 1930's. From there he moved to the Bristol VA/TN area. He died in Columbus, OH, in 1988.

Fay was a player, a pool hall owner and an all-around gambler who won and lost several fortunes.....rough on family life. His son Max (my father-in-law) is the spryest 85-year-old diabetic you'll ever want to meet. He has won the VA Senior Olympics title in Billiards and still plays several times a week.......he plays only for fun.

Max remembers Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi as dinner guests. His mother thought Mosconi was a gentleman, but detested Fats.....the rudest and crudest man she ever met. Max also remembers playing with a teenaged Mosconi when Max was so short he had to drag an orange crate around the table to stand on.

The tradition lives on........after lessons from Granddaddy Max my youngest daughter at age 11 hustled her sister's high-school-aged boyfriends to earn her entire Christmas shopping budget for the year!

Hope this was of interest to you. Nice to know someone still remembers the old reprobate.

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Well, there ya' go. Ask and ye shall receive.

Ain't AZBilliards great?

dgainerva said:

Fay Gainer was my husband's grandfather. Your memory is good. He was born in Gilmer Co, WBGV, in 1904 and lived all over the state before decamping to Vineland, NJ, in the early 1930's. From there he moved to the Bristol VA/TN area. He died in Columbus, OH, in 1988.

Fay was a player, a pool hall owner and an all-around gambler who won and lost several fortunes.....rough on family life. His son Max (my father-in-law) is the spryest 85-year-old diabetic you'll ever want to meet. He has won the VA Senior Olympics title in Billiards and still plays several times a week.......he plays only for fun.

Max remembers Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi as dinner guests. His mother thought Mosconi was a gentleman, but detested Fats.....the rudest and crudest man she ever met. Max also remembers playing with a teenaged Mosconi when Max was so short he had to drag an orange crate around the table to stand on.

The tradition lives on........after lessons from Granddaddy Max my youngest daughter at age 11 hustled her sister's high-school-aged boyfriends to earn her entire Christmas shopping budget for the year!

Hope this was of interest to you. Nice to know someone still remembers the old reprobate.

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Wow, thanks!
I figured that post was long gone.

They talked about him being one of the best players ever in Clarksburg, WV.
The old timers always said that other than possibly
Charley Duvalier, he was the best that ever played regularly in Clarksburg.

He was always mentioned with the Herrick brothers but they were somewhat younger than him.

Thanks again for the response.