Kling's in its heyday..................

Mr. Bond said:
It was simply a ball basket for convenience. For toting balls to and from the tables and even making the racking go quicker.
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Thanks Mr. Bond, that makes sense, I'd never considered how people moved sets of balls around before the era of the plastic ball rack.

Two further questions -

1) How did the basket make racking go quicker?

2) Was the "Kling" model table named after Johnny Kling himself? (Seems likely from the article but it could just be coincidence)
 
skip100 said:
I see, so what we need are beautiful rooms with brand new equipment, super cheap table time and in convenient locations. Oh yeah, and all-day happy hour and no greens fees for leagues. I'll take a massage while we're at it.

Clearly people value playing pool at whatever price Steinway charges because the room is doing well. Perhaps you don't and that's fine.
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Exactly. One of the rooms in Tulsa has GC4's w/Simonis at THREE dollars/hr from 10am-4pm. Even at that rate some of the oldtimers squeal. I tried to tell one of these whining fossils that the local rate in 1980 was about $2.25/hr. People will pay 35-60bux for 4hrs of golf but the thought of paying 25bux for 4hrs. of pool gives them the hives. Crazy.
 
AuntyDan said:
Thanks Mr. Bond, that makes sense, I'd never considered how people moved sets of balls around before the era of the plastic ball rack.

Two further questions -

1) How did the basket make racking go quicker?

2) Was the "Kling" model table named after Johnny Kling himself? (Seems likely from the article but it could just be coincidence)
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From what i've gathered Brunswick named it the Kling after the order of FIFTY tables. More Kling table-porn: http://www.billiardrestoration.com/antique-pool-tables/kling.htm If you're ever in ClayCenter,Kan you need to go see this place.
 
jay helfert said:
I never said it had to be in a hotel. It could be built in a warehouse in an industrial district and be successful if done right.
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No it wouldn't.
And yes, that is exactly what you were referring to...the man's picture of the hotel.
Find a hotel that will allow a pool room to occupy an entire floor...find someone stupid enough to finance it. :rotflmao1:
Show the world how its done.
Lost in the past....those days are gone forever.
:thumbup:
 
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Low500 said:
No it wouldn't.
And yes, that is exactly what you were referring to...the man's picture of the hotel.
Find a hotel that will allow a pool room to occupy an entire floor...find someone stupid enough to finance it. :rotflmao1:
Show the world how its done.
Lost in the past....those days are gone forever.
:thumbup:
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Dude, what's your problem? To quote: " a really well appointed room like this would still do well today". He's referring to the poolroom in the picture. He never said that the room had to be in a hotel. What's makin you so ticked here? Ok, we got it. You don't think a hotel poolroom would fly today. Me and probably everyone on this forum agree with you. Feel better now? JFC.
 
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We had a Kling Snooker Table at Magoos, until a couple weeks ago. It was beautiful, like the one shown in this thread. The owner wanted it back,

My Partner got himself a Kling Snooker Table & I'm gonna go to Kansas, to play on it for a weekend.He also has a Brunswick Arcade 6 Leg Billiard Table, a 9 foot Diamond Table & a 7 foot Diamond Table, all in the same room. He has his own little Pool Room..
 
ceebee said:
We had a Kling Snooker Table at Magoos, until a couple weeks ago. It was beautiful, like the one shown in this thread. The owner wanted it back,

My Partner got himself a Kling Snooker Table & I'm gonna go to Kansas, to play on it for a weekend.He also has a Brunswick Arcade 6 Leg Billiard Table, a 9 foot Diamond Table & a 7 foot Diamond Table, all in the same room. He has his own little Pool Room..
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Post some pictures!
 
jay helfert said:
My vision would include soft lighting and maybe some soft jazz music in the background. A place for people to chill out and relax and have fun. A club for well mannered ADULTS!
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Man, you just described Shakespeare's, a hall that used to be located in lodo Denver.
I miss that place.
 
Amsterdam, steinway

People, regulars don't pay anywhere near $16-20 an hour. Nor $3like in the afternoon in oklahoma!
 
AuntyDan said:
Thanks Mr. Bond, that makes sense, I'd never considered how people moved sets of balls around before the era of the plastic ball rack.

Two further questions -

1) How did the basket make racking go quicker?

2) Was the "Kling" model table named after Johnny Kling himself? (Seems likely from the article but it could just be coincidence)
Click to expand...


Some pool halls would simply remove the ball return box and place a basket in its place, and some tables were even made that way on purpose, so you could retrieve all the balls at one time. Was more laziness than anything else lol. Just a slightly quicker way to load a rack.

Yes they named it after Johnny Kling, the former Cubs catcher. The story is primarily undocumented but we do know that the Brunswicks et al were huge baseball fans and had many professional players as close friends.

Interestingly enough, it's the only Brunswick table known to have been named after a living person.
 
Mr. Bond said:
Some pool halls would simply remove the ball return box and place a basket in its place, and some tables were even made that way on purpose, so you could retrieve all the balls at one time. Was more laziness than anything else lol. Just a slightly quicker way to load a rack.

Yes they named it after Johnny Kling, the former Cubs catcher. The story is primarily undocumented but we do know that the Brunswicks et al were huge baseball fans and had many professional players as close friends.

Interestingly enough, it's the only Brunswick table known to have been named after a living person.
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The Brunswick factory at the time was located in Skokie, IL a suburb of Chicago. So it makes sense that a big Cub star who was also a great pool player would be someone they admired.
 
De420MadHatter said:
I don't think Low, mentioned anything about, Jay saying anything about a hotel :grin:.
IMO he was just referencing how immensely popular, pool was then.
If someone pulled this off in say New York, at the Waldorph, next yr, it would make the ice house look like a redneck dive. It would be fair to say, it would be next to impossible to pull something like this off.
I mean the guy was quitting professional baseball to play pool :eek:
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Your opinion of baseball is rooted in today...baseball was a very dispfferent profession back then.

You shoul watch league of their own. That's just how it was. No crying in baseball.:killingme:
 
smashmouth said:
Brunswick history is fascinating, what a company they were.
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Boats - Still going.
School Furniture - Stopped manufacturing.
Bowling - Sold off a couple of years ago.
Billiards - Now made overseas? The "Metro" is the New GC for the World?
Exercise Equipment - Still Going.
 
Baseball then................

Black-Balled said:
Your opinion of baseball is rooted in today...baseball was a very dispfferent profession back then.

You shoul watch league of their own. That's just how it was. No crying in baseball.:killingme:
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Exactly. There was no free-agency. The players were basically serfs to their owners. Most players had off-season jobs of some sorts to hold them over. Superstars may have had endorsement deals but even those were a drop in the bucket compared to now.
 
Yes sir, eliminate workers comp, state and fed unemployment fees, the Social Security match, bureaucrat pensions,
Obamacare, minimum wage and the state and local liability insurance requirement’s,
yes, a hotel centered around a well-appointed, event scheduled billiard room will be a player
making America great again.






</I’m a master dreamer>

:wink:

There is something about the making hay days and playing safety(ies) nets that don’t mix well for robust economics of the majority.
 
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jay helfert said:
The Brunswick factory at the time was located in Skokie, IL a suburb of Chicago. So it makes sense that a big Cub star who was also a great pool player would be someone they admired.
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Klings weren't made in Skokie. Don't think Brunswick moved there until 1970's and it was mostly offices i believe. Kling's were most likely built in one of the factories in Chicago proper. I'm sure Mr.Bond has that info. They had factories in Chicago, Mich, NY and overseas as well. What an empire they had at one time.
 
Ironically someone emailed me the other day wanting to know how much a Kling would have cost back when they were being produced.

If you want to read an entertaining story about Brunswick getting involved in baseball, check this out:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=315270

I wonder if anyone still has their Simonis cloth uniform ?
 
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