Pool in 1918

SloRoller

SloRoller

Stuck in SLO
Silver Member
I came across the picture on a very cool website for old pictures.

I wonder which game they are playing?
If they are playing rotation why are all 3 around the table with a cue?
If they played cut throat they would have stripes and solids.
Any idea?


http://www.shorpy.com/node/4904?size=_original


4904



PS
I tried to imbed the pictures URL but it didn't show up.
 
Nice find, and cool pic! Maybe they're having a little menage a trois -- on the table, of course! :grin-square:
 

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Very interesting old picture. They might be playing on a 4 X 8 table, which must have been slightly unusual for the time. They could be playing rotation. The first one to 41 wins. It's nice to see the lady wearing a decent dress, in contrast to today where they dress like ho's.

Doc
 
I think this is probably right.

Hambone said:
Most likely they just posed for a pic and are not playing a real game.
Click to expand...

Looks like a doughboy, a sailer, and probably a nurse, preWAC. Leads me to suspect that it is a set shot too.

Hu
 
Well, let's give the picture some historical context. In 1918, in the United States:

President
Woodrow Wilson

Minimum Wage
No federal law existed for the minimum wage

Average National Salary
$1144.00

Average Cost of a Home
$4,821.00

Population of the U.S.
106,021,537

Price of an Automobile
$500.00

Price of a Postage Stamp
$.03

Price of a Gallon of Milk
$.55

Price of a Loaf of Bread
$.10

Price of a Gallon of Gasoline
$.08

World Series Won by
Boston Red Sox (it would be 86 years until their next championship)
 
I think miss primbottom on the right is the 'third wheel' in this little group. Heyyy sailor!
Just kidding.

Did they keep big old chalkboards like that just to write scores or something?

A little detail: I think the butt end of the shooter's cue is bevelled, kind of unusual.
I wonder if this is something you could do with modern cues as an artistic touch. A little more variety in cue design would be beat.
 
sjm said:
Well, let's give the picture some historical context. In 1918, in the United States:

President
Woodrow Wilson

Minimum Wage
No federal law existed for the minimum wage

Average National Salary
$1144.00

Average Cost of a Home
$4,821.00

Population of the U.S.
106,021,537

Price of an Automobile
$500.00

Price of a Postage Stamp
$.03

Price of a Gallon of Milk
$.55

Price of a Loaf of Bread
$.10

Price of a Gallon of Gasoline
$.08

World Series Won by
Boston Red Sox (it would be 86 years until their next championship)
Click to expand...

Don't forget a dollar was still about an ounce of silver then and an eagle ($20? coin) was an ounce of gold. A silver dollar from the mint today will cost you maybe $20 or more (if they aren't out of silver as they have been lately) and gold is at $925 an ounce. Average out the two and you see that prices changes look much different relative to sound money, but the value of the dollar has been destroyed by the private federal reserve banks. Every new dollar printed steals value from those already in your pocket, unless you have the real metal ones.
 
I think this is a cool picture. I was looking around the background to check out things that we don't see today and trying to make out what had been written on the blackboard and wiped off before the picture was taken.
I agree this picture must have been set up. As others have said the army guy has a big bandage on his thumb and left handed or right handed he could not bridge or hold the butt of the cue. The lady seems to have a nice watch on, I don't think thats regulation. put that along with the 3 playing and the strange looking game. I would like to know why they would set it up, maybe just a recruitment picture as they are showing Army & Navy and women. I still love the picture though, thanks for sharing,
 
My bet is they are playing straight pool with scotch doubles... The 4th is the person taking the picture...
 
sjm said:
Well, let's give the picture some historical context. In 1918, in the United States:

President
Woodrow Wilson

Minimum Wage
No federal law existed for the minimum wage

Average National Salary
$1144.00

Average Cost of a Home
$4,821.00

Population of the U.S.
106,021,537

Price of an Automobile
$500.00

Price of a Postage Stamp
$.03

Price of a Gallon of Milk
$.55

Price of a Loaf of Bread
$.10

Price of a Gallon of Gasoline
$.08

World Series Won by
Boston Red Sox (it would be 86 years until their next championship)
Click to expand...


How much was pool time?
A pack of smokes or a shot of bootleg whiskey?
How old was Jay Helfert? :rotflmao1: <laughing cause its a joke>
 
Cool pic thanks for posting

I dont know if this is true because I have never had the opportunity to try it

but I was told the wedge cut in the butt of old cues was used as a one

handed bridge. The cue was laid on the table then rocked up onto the

wedge. Then the shooter could slide the cue on the table and reach the

shot.
 
SloRoller said:
I came across the picture on a very cool website for old pictures.

I wonder which game they are playing?
If they are playing rotation why are all 3 around the table with a cue?
If they played cut throat they would have stripes and solids.
Any idea?
.
Click to expand...

Why wouldn't they all be around the table if they are playing Rotation?
I don't think Cut Throat was invented then, it wasn't in the rule books.
Looks to me like there are two balls in the upper left corner, one pretty much covering the other, one stripe and maybe a solid.
Could be playing any one of many games with more than two players.
 
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