crane vs balsis question

L

liakos

Banned
Just curious, my favorite match of all time is the 1966 straight pool championship finals! I can watch this video twice a week(and I do:)) forever! Anyway, my question is does anybody know what cloth they had and what balls they used back then? The balls seem to play pretty fast on the table! Thanks in advance:)
 
I would think in 66 they still had the slow cloth. The filming in those days made the balls look like they were going fast. Maybe someone that's into cameras can explain it a lot better than me. Johnnyt
 
liakos said:
Just curious, my favorite match of all time is the 1966 straight pool championship finals! I can watch this video twice a week(and I do:)) forever! Anyway, my question is does anybody know what cloth they had and what balls they used back then? The balls seem to play pretty fast on the table! Thanks in advance:)
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My best guess would be Brunsco (Spelling?) made by Brunswick. It would have been for sure 100% wool and directional.
 
Johnnyt said:
I would think in 66 they still had the slow cloth. The filming in those days made the balls look like they were going fast. Maybe someone that's into cameras can explain it a lot better than me. Johnnyt
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I don't know,,, I've watched the match sooooooo, many times and the balls seem to be moving pretty far considering the stroke! It's me with my ocd kicking in ;)
 
Johnnyt said:
I would think in 66 they still had the slow cloth. The filming in those days made the balls look like they were going fast. Maybe someone that's into cameras can explain it a lot better than me. Johnnyt
Click to expand...

You'd have to go back to the hand-cranked film cameras used during the silent era to see that sort of thing. Also, if the footage was speeded up the players would look ludicrous walking around the table. Even a few percent faster film speed makes ordinary human movements look comical.

I was only 14 in 1966 and had never been inside a pool hall yet, but when I started playing a few years later I never noticed anybody needing a heroic stroke just to lag the ball like some would have you think. In fact, I started on a beat to shit 10' table in the rec room of Waterbury Hall on the downtown SUNYA campus. That cloth was so old, stained, and full of holes it was ridiculous, but I seemed to be able to get the balls into the pockets at a pretty good pace once I had been playing for a few months.
 
Not on the topic but related to the match:
Mr Crane in one of his interviews remembers with his distinct humor (aprox. phrasing):
Pool has some interesting figures. I remember running a 150 on a guy once in a final. Next year we meet again in tournament and he runs a 150 to me. After the match he turns to me saying, "let that be a lesson to you"... :)
 
Petros Andrikop said:
Not on the topic but related to the match:
Mr Crane in one of his interviews remembers with his distinct humor (aprox. phrasing):
Pool has some interesting figures. I remember running a 150 on a guy once in a final. Next year we meet again in tournament and he runs a 150 to me. After the match he turns to me saying, "let that be a lesson to you"... :)
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That's awesome!!! Lmao
 
+1 on the Brunsco cloth. It was pretty much the standard in the 60s and 70s, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was used. It was pretty slippery when brand new, but did slow down a bit until well-worn. I haven't seen the tape in a while, but I would assume that Centennial balls were used. If so though, I would assume those were made by Albany Billiard Ball Company, rather than imported from Belgium.
 
Mr. Bond said:
Here is the 1961 catalog from Brunswick showing their cloth and balls...

Click Here
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So to answer the OP's question, it would be directional nap (wool) cloth, and polyester balls.

(Polyester balls were the first "plastic successor" to ivory balls, well before the days of [phenolic] resin-based balls.)

-Sean
 
sfleinen said:
So to answer the OP's question, it would be directional nap (wool) cloth, and polyester balls.

(Polyester balls were the first "plastic successor" to ivory balls, well before the days of [phenolic] resin-based balls.)

-Sean
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I disagree.... They had Phenolic Centennial balls in that catalog. The page clearly shows the regular balls, and the Phenolic Centennial snooker balls. The text refers you to the back cover of the catalog for the corresponding Phenolic Centennial pool balls. Unfortunately, the back cover is not part of the scan.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I disagree.... They had Phenolic Centennial balls in that catalog. The page clearly shows the regular balls, and the Phenolic Centennial snooker balls. The text refers you to the back cover of the catalog for the corresponding Phenolic Centennial pool balls. Unfortunately, the back cover is not part of the scan.
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D'oh! You're right -- I didn't look at the comments in the snooker ballset's product page.

There was a point in time -- before phenolic plastic was used -- that polyester was the material of choice for billiard balls to succeed ivory and clay.

Will have to investigate a bit later to find out what the timeline of each material's "era" was.

EDIT: it looks like Brunswick has something of an era "timeline" for billiard ball materials here: http://brunswickbilliards.com/our_rich_history/billiard_balls/

-Sean
 
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sfleinen said:
So to answer the OP's question, it would be directional nap (wool) cloth, and polyester balls.

(Polyester balls were the first "plastic successor" to ivory balls, well before the days of [phenolic] resin-based balls.)

-Sean
Click to expand...

If, by 'polyester', you mean celluloid, then yes, they were the first to replace ivory.
 
sfleinen said:
...snip...
Will have to investigate a bit later to find out what the timeline of each material's "era" was.

-Sean
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Check this out:

http://www.normanclare.co.uk/normans-articles/days-of-old/billiard-snooker-balls/

I read the whole thing a few weeks back while researching all about billiard balls. Very interesting article that traces the history of the ball from its origins, to the modern phenolics. The modern phenolics has a war story behind it, its towards the bottom of the article. Good reading...
 
I enjoyed reading that, tracing the history back to Ivory balls with the back dot left by the blood vessel in the tusk. I wonder if the red circle and blue circle design mark evolved from.

Wonder where do clay balls fit into this timeline?

sfleinen said:
D'oh! You're right -- I didn't look at the comments in the snooker ballset's product page.

There was a point in time -- before phenolic plastic was used -- that polyester was the material of choice for billiard balls to succeed ivory and clay.

Will have to investigate a bit later to find out what the timeline of each material's "era" was.

EDIT: it looks like Brunswick has something of an era "timeline" for billiard ball materials here: http://brunswickbilliards.com/our_rich_history/billiard_balls/

-Sean
Click to expand...
 
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