Neat antiquing find...

[Sweet Marissa]

Awhile back, I was browsing one of the many antique stores in the country where my mother lives and found these

 

[ShootingArts]

Think I bought a set like that new

Awhile back, I was browsing one of the many antique stores in the country where my mother lives and found these

I'm not positive but I think those are just like a set I bought new around 1970. Nice quality and not cheap even then.

Hu

 

[deep]

Very nice find, good deal on them??

 

[Sweet Marissa]

I can't complain, Deep. I find something every time I go to this particular store, too, but this made my day!

Hu, how can you tell what year they are from? Aside from some discolouration (the whites on the balls have yellowed), they are in perfect shape.

 

[ShootingArts]

no idea other than a general range

I can't complain, Deep. I find something every time I go to this particular store, too, but this made my day!

Hu, how can you tell what year they are from? Aside from some discolouration (the whites on the balls have yellowed), they are in perfect shape.

I know roughly the year I bought mine if they are a match but I have no idea how many years they made balls with the same graphic design. They listed for $200 in one of the higher end department stores but one ball had a tiny blemish and I bought mine for $135.

Although I don't remember them being that yellow, the whites on my set were a little offwhite even new. Think they came in a royal purple box with gold lettering and pinstripe style decorative lines. Of course my memory of those years is by no means 100% reliable.

Hu

 

[Nostroke]

I had a set and someone fairly knowlegeable told me the yellow was a 'good sign' I dont rememebr why.

 

[ctyhntr]

I also have the same question. How can you date Brunswick Centennials?

When these were clay, cellulose nitrate, phenolic, when Saluc/Aramith started to make these. When the blue dot was introduced, people started to call these 'heavy balls'.

I can't complain, Deep. I find something every time I go to this particular store, too, but this made my day!

Hu, how can you tell what year they are from? Aside from some discolouration (the whites on the balls have yellowed), they are in perfect shape.

 

[JoeW]

Awhile back, I was browsing one of the many antique stores in the country where my mother lives and found these

I bought my GC III new about 1988 and bought a set of Centennials at that time that look like your set. Over the years they tended to turn yellow like the ones shown in your photo and I bought a new set of Aramith but not Centennials.

Last year I decided to clean up the Centennials for the heck of it. After trying many different things I found that if you use Aramith Ball Cleaner in a ball cleaning machine for many reprtitions they will clean up and look pretty close to new. I had to put a new drop of ball cleaner on each ball about every five or ten minutes and did this about ten or more times over a few days and they finally cleaned up.

There were a couple of places I had to clean by hand with much hand scrubbing. In the end it worked and my original set of Centennials, that I much prefer, looks fairly new. After the first few times they begin to show patches of white and yellow on the balls. Later with many cleanings the yellow patches go away and the natutal cream color comes back. At least it did for me.

If you don't have a ball cleaner your local pool hall may have one.