History of Billiard Balls

[iusedtoberich]

I came across the below article today that discusses the history of billiard balls, from wood, to ivory, to early plastics, and to the modern phenolics. It was quite interesting to me, especially in light of the recent Cyclop ball being a new option on the ball scene. I think the article was written in the mid 80's, and then whoever put it on the web updated it with further information in the past 5 years.

One interesting part near the end of the article was that the Rashig company invented the modern phenolic ball, and its head guy being Jewish fled Germany during the war and shared his knowledge with the competitor companies to keep him out of Germany.

Enjoy:

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

 

[Mr. Bond]

Yeah, the norman clare collection is crazy-awesome.
They have some amazing items.

Here are a few more interesting tidbits on ball history:

How Ivory balls are made: click here ( Apr. 1880 )

The Ivory billiard ball business and the conversion to "composition balls": Click here. ( Dec. 1,1889)

Jan.13th 1937, The CBS Radio weekly program called "Calvacade of America" featured a skit portraying John Hyatt's discovery of modern plastics while trying to invent a substitute for ivory billiard balls. You can listen to it by clicking here. (mp3 - 27:00 mins)

please note: the original recording was edited to remove 3 minutes of music before the skit.

 

[DsmithBFL]

Pool cues Dallas

Amazing. Whenever I read something related to billiard and pool cues I feel thrilled. Reasons are obvious. I am a huge fan of this game.

 

[Mr. Bond]

Amazing. Whenever I read something related to billiard and pool cues I feel thrilled. Reasons are obvious. I am a huge fan of this game.

Your not-so-subtle attempts to spam the board with no purpose other than to post that link have not gone unnoticed. Consider this your first and last warning.

 

[DaveK]

Thanks so much for posting. Mr. Clare has done us a great service with all his articles, although he is currently keeping me from my table. I'll get there ..... in a few more articles.

Dave

 

[YubaCushion]

I found this.













http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/d8011.htm

 

[kaylaemarx]

At first only two balls were used on a pool table with six pockets. By the late 1800's, the number of balls increased to three then four and gradually to nine as it was less expensive to produce them.

 

[bankbusiness]

Great reading. I bought an ivory cue ball last year and made me wonder? Question: when was the last ivory ball made?

 

[Bob Jewett]

Here is an amazing historical record of phenolic ball manufacturing, especially for Brunswick.
Whole thread:

Help Identifying Antique Pool Balls

Hi! Thanks for the add. I hope this is the right thread, I searched for an ID section but couldn’t find anything. I am wondering if anyone can help me identify these balls? Age, Date, Material, Brand, Value? Any info at all is greatly...

forums.azbilliards.com

This may be the main post:

Help Identifying Antique Pool Balls

Hi! Thanks for the add. I hope this is the right thread, I searched for an ID section but couldn’t find anything. I am wondering if anyone can help me identify these balls? Age, Date, Material, Brand, Value? Any info at all is greatly...

forums.azbilliards.com

 

[Bob Jewett]

Here is an item I found about the Aug/Sep 1977 sale of the Albany Billiard Ball Company.