Help Identifying Antique Pool Balls
- Thread starter 22Missy
- Start date
Imported plastic set from the 1970s, I'll try to find the box again. My father has this same set
From SALUC?
I'm pretty sure they are from China in that generic Saluc-knockoff box with the circles
You have a nice, rarely seen set of phenolic resin balls manufactured by the Albany Billiard Balls Co. of Albany, NY ca. 1968-1972. You will notice the absence of the white circle around the numbers on the low balls. During manufacturing, the white phenolic resin rod (dowel) around which the malleable colored phenolic resin was injected into the mold to thus make a ball, was left out of the mold, resulting in solid colored balls. The way for the numbers was then "machined" into the opposite sides of the ball and cream colored malleable phenolic resin was hand pressed into the way. The cream color was selected to provide contrast against the various colors of the solid balls. When the balls cooled, they were ground using an archaic system of "centerless grinding," polished, boxed and sold. Because the field color of the striped balls was always white, black malleable phenolic resin was used on them.
The foreman of the Albany Billiard Ball Co. had a special name for the phenolic resin dowel which was used in the regular production of solid balls and in the Ambassador and Vitalite phenolic balls which were made with the number in the stripe. The phenolic resin dowel was nicknamed the "stick," because they were of varying lengths before they were cut to fixed lengths prior to being inserted into the mold for the molding of each ball.
Your set, which was packaged under the tradename of "Challenger" was nicknamed the "No-Sticks." Nice set. Cherish them.
The foreman of the Albany Billiard Ball Co. had a special name for the phenolic resin dowel which was used in the regular production of solid balls and in the Ambassador and Vitalite phenolic balls which were made with the number in the stripe. The phenolic resin dowel was nicknamed the "stick," because they were of varying lengths before they were cut to fixed lengths prior to being inserted into the mold for the molding of each ball.
Your set, which was packaged under the tradename of "Challenger" was nicknamed the "No-Sticks." Nice set. Cherish them.
For all practical purposes, throughout the entire reign of The Albany Billiard Ball Co. there was little to no evidence of computer support as is seen in ball manufacturing today. "Hyatt" balls were basically man made. One of the things that has always drawn me to Hyatt is that they were man (and woman) made in The U.S.A. Sometimes the guys and gals at the plant would get bored with making the same old balls day in and day out. From time to time, odd designs where conjured up and a few sets were made. Some were sold in limited production, like The Challenger seen above. But there were others that never saw the light of day. That's where the fun starts. As an example, there are a few sets of "No Sticks" where the phenolic resin dowel was left out of the striped high balls and the numbers were engraved directly into the stripes. Here, the cream colored phenolic resin "infill" was used giving contrast to the colored stripes. They are a pleasure to behold.
Did they use the generic circles box (from the 70s) at all? I haven't been able to get my father's set out of storage, I have a feeling his are knockoffs of the set you're describing
Hyatt did some awesome sets. I love their no number set of 15 solid color balls that pop up in ebay sometimes
If you are referring to the green box with loosely placed white circles and no other markings, the answer is a "sort of, maybe" yes. Both La Decalite of Froyennes and Les Usines of Callenelle periodically used that box prior to the consolidation in the late 1970s, early 1980s. They would differentiate by using paste on labels. Hyatt never used that box, as they had there own in house designs which were easily recognizable over the years. Be aware, also, that the Taiwanese used a knock-off of the green/circles box, but their balls were, at the time, made of polyester resins.
The solid colored balls to which you refer in your second paragraph were not manufactured by The Albany Billiard Ball Co. of Albany, NY. They were manufactured by an off-shoot company based in Fort Edward, NY known officially as A. Hyatt Ball Co., Ltd. in the late 1980s.
Well damn, learn something new about NY billiard ball manufacturers every day!
Thanks for the education
It seems from a Brunswick history booklet that Hyatt/Albany went out of business in about 1985. Is that correct?
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The short answer to your question is, "Yes." If it's OK, I'll get to that in just a minute, but first I'd like to comment on the remark about the Brunswick Centennial balls in the Brunswick History you shared above. Brunswick had well established business relationships with all of the major European ball manufacturers by the late 1940s. Composition balls had been the norm for many years through the end of World War II. The phenolic resin formula had been the basis of pool balls in pre-War Germany, but when the formula was spirited to England, it fell into the hands of a British plastics firm which was owned by a large American investment firm which also owned Albany Billiard Ball Co. The formula, thus became the property of ABB Co. In the beginning, there was resistance to the product. Brunswick realized that purists wanted composition balls, and wisely did not press the issue. Instead, they incrementally introduced phenolic balls into their catalogue, first with carom balls and next with the Red Dot cue ball, both of which were imported form England. Simultaneously, ABB Co. which had enjoyed a long, healthy business relationship with the Brunswick Corp., was ramping up to produce an injection molded product using phenolic resin as its singular core building block. The Ivorylene darted balls were widely recognized and accepted, so the design for the new "Centennial" balls was an easy next step. Because of the way phenolic balls are manufactured, it was impossible to replicate the pointed dart on the Ivorylene balls, so with the new phenolic Centennial balls, a "New Look" was born. Fast forward to 1971. ABB Co. was faltering financially for a number of reasons that are worth a separate discussion. In an effort to remedy their money woes, they petitioned the United States Tariff Commission and, on the ground of unfair trade practices, asked the Commission to dramatically increase the tariffs on all imported pool balls. The Commission did not find in ABB Co.'s favor and concluded the hearing. In the simplest terms, that event broke "Hyatt's" spirit.
In 1977, David M. Carey, an investor and the owner of Pederson Golf Co., an old New York concern, purchased ABB Co. and began to turn the company around. By 1981, it was thought that ABB Co. was back on solid ground. Unfortunately, years earlier, Les Usines, the company that is now know as SALUC, had smelled the blood in the water. David M. Carey had actually gone so far as to go out into the pool world in an effort to sell his products virtually "door-to-door." It wasn't enough. The decision to close was surely the reason for the departure of Robert Simpson, the operations Vice President during the Carey tenure. Whether Carey and his financial backers supported Simpson in his start-up company, A. Hyatt Ball Co. of Fort Edward, NY, is unknown. I haven't been able to find an exact date for the closing of Albany Billiard Ball Co. but several different accounts I've read suggest it happened on sort of a slow, wind-down basis. The building was mostly empty by 1986.
Carey, the head of all sales at ABB Co., was always in close contact with the Brunswick corporation. When his ability to provide product, both the Centennial balls and the Gold Crown balls, was becoming more and more impractical, the Brunswick Corp. reached out to the only major player positioned to step in, SALUC. Subtle design changes were approved which didn't radically alter the aesthetics of the product, the licensing was finalized, and the deal was done. It wasn't until 1988, that the Belgium made SALUC Centennial ball first reappeared in the famous Brunswick Mail Order Catalog. Even the box looked almost exactly like the box that carried the Ball That Changed The World, The Unforgettable Brunswick Centennial. My set, which came to me directly from Albany, NY, is in its original packaging and has never been on a pool table. Some things are worth taking care of.
In 1977, David M. Carey, an investor and the owner of Pederson Golf Co., an old New York concern, purchased ABB Co. and began to turn the company around. By 1981, it was thought that ABB Co. was back on solid ground. Unfortunately, years earlier, Les Usines, the company that is now know as SALUC, had smelled the blood in the water. David M. Carey had actually gone so far as to go out into the pool world in an effort to sell his products virtually "door-to-door." It wasn't enough. The decision to close was surely the reason for the departure of Robert Simpson, the operations Vice President during the Carey tenure. Whether Carey and his financial backers supported Simpson in his start-up company, A. Hyatt Ball Co. of Fort Edward, NY, is unknown. I haven't been able to find an exact date for the closing of Albany Billiard Ball Co. but several different accounts I've read suggest it happened on sort of a slow, wind-down basis. The building was mostly empty by 1986.
Carey, the head of all sales at ABB Co., was always in close contact with the Brunswick corporation. When his ability to provide product, both the Centennial balls and the Gold Crown balls, was becoming more and more impractical, the Brunswick Corp. reached out to the only major player positioned to step in, SALUC. Subtle design changes were approved which didn't radically alter the aesthetics of the product, the licensing was finalized, and the deal was done. It wasn't until 1988, that the Belgium made SALUC Centennial ball first reappeared in the famous Brunswick Mail Order Catalog. Even the box looked almost exactly like the box that carried the Ball That Changed The World, The Unforgettable Brunswick Centennial. My set, which came to me directly from Albany, NY, is in its original packaging and has never been on a pool table. Some things are worth taking care of.
This is a great backstory. I had my research open for another project and did a quick search to see if I could answer your question on the date of the ABB / A. Hyatt Ball Co. split. Looks like it might have been 1977:
Thank you very much!
Your article is a little bit misleading. As I stated in the next to the last paragraph above, David Carey purchased Albany Billiard Ball Co., a company which had been trading under that name for many years, in 1977 and retained the name for obvious reasons. Prior to the closing of Albany Billiard Ball Co. in 1985/1986, the Vice President of operations, Robert Simpson had resigned and founded and opened the fledgling A. Hyatt Ball Co., Ltd. in Fort Edward, NY., a company totally unrelated to the Albany Billiard Ball Co. of Albany, NY. Other than the coincidence of the products manufactured, there is no evidence the two companies were ever interdependent. When Carey purchased Albany Billiard Ball Co. in 1977 he incorporated it, thereafter the official name was Albany Billiard Ball Co., Inc.
It can be a little bit confusing. Oh, the last paragraph in your newspaper article made me smile. Sales didn't decline because of the advent of electronic games. Sales declined because the Albany Billiard Ball Co. was competing against a company in Callenelle, Belgium known then as Les Usines, which had dedicated all of its energies to being the biggest and best billiard ball company in THE WORLD, and they did it. Our dearly beloved Albany Billiard Ball Co. got crushed.
Your article is a little bit misleading. As I stated in the next to the last paragraph above, David Carey purchased Albany Billiard Ball Co., a company which had been trading under that name for many years, in 1977 and retained the name for obvious reasons. Prior to the closing of Albany Billiard Ball Co. in 1985/1986, the Vice President of operations, Robert Simpson had resigned and founded and opened the fledgling A. Hyatt Ball Co., Ltd. in Fort Edward, NY., a company totally unrelated to the Albany Billiard Ball Co. of Albany, NY. Other than the coincidence of the products manufactured, there is no evidence the two companies were ever interdependent. When Carey purchased Albany Billiard Ball Co. in 1977 he incorporated it, thereafter the official name was Albany Billiard Ball Co., Inc.
It can be a little bit confusing. Oh, the last paragraph in your newspaper article made me smile. Sales didn't decline because of the advent of electronic games. Sales declined because the Albany Billiard Ball Co. was competing against a company in Callenelle, Belgium known then as Les Usines, which had dedicated all of its energies to being the biggest and best billiard ball company in THE WORLD, and they did it. Our dearly beloved Albany Billiard Ball Co. got crushed.
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You are an amazing trove of info. I assume the British company you are referring to also made the original "Super Crystalate" snooker balls. Aramith now makes that brand, it seems.
Did ABB Co. make the Roman numeral balls in 1976?
Bob,
Thank you very much. Coming from you, that is a special compliment. In the early days, chrystalate was the name used to identify an early plastic that was used extensively in the manufacture of records for the music industry. The Endolithic Company was probably the first British company to experiment with chrystalate in the manufacture of pool balls. They supplied snooker balls made of chyrstalate. They later became the Composition Billiard Ball Co. and were indeed the company who developed and marketed The Super Chrystalate ball. It is the Super Chrystalate number font that is occasionally seen on Hyatt phenolic resin Vitalite balls from the 1960s. ABB Co. and Composition Billiard Ball Co. had a business relationship and I have strong reason to believe that it was Composition Billiard Ball Co. who manufactured the first phenolic resin carom balls and the Famous Red Dot cue balls introduced by Brunswick in 1948 (+/-).
As is true about La Decalite of Froyennes, SALUC gobbled up Composition Billiard Ball Co. too in their march to dominance. SALUC truly had no interest in buying Albany Billiard Ball Co. in its declining years. Why buy the cow, when the milk's free.
Regarding the Romanique ball, I'm sorry, I can't give you an answer now that I'm comfortable with.
There is a very interesting, but likewise complicated history of the relationships between ABB Co. and, excluding Raschig, the European billiard ball manufacturers. As an example, a Sear Roebuck catalog from the 1960s has a prominent color picture of a set of Belgium made balls.
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So it is possible Hyatt only marketed/sold the Romanique I and II sets and a European company may have manufactured them?
I am confident in saying unequivocally, that both the Romanique I and the Romanique II balls were manufactured in Albany, NY by the Albany Billaird Ball Co., exclusively. My paragraph above regarding the dating of Romanique balls was a stand alone thought. The next paragraph was the introduction of a new topic. I'm sorry I wasn't more clear.