Variations of pocket billiards, the visual of these two games is hilarious.
Source --> Four Forgotten Fads Past
Battle Ball, 1925. Like Puff Billiards, but more sophisticated. Battle Ball was a parlor table sports game that fashionable folks played in the 1920s. The Indiana, Pa., Gazette reported on June 18, 1925, that the indoor sensation had been imported from Europe. It swiftly became popular in country clubs and homes around this country. Played by two to 14 people, opponents peppered a leather ball with small metal pellets fired from fixed "guns" on the sides of the table. The object was to move the leather ball into a goal.
Puff Billiards, circa 1900. The table game — featuring small turkey-baster -looking puffers and a lightweight cork ball — made a splash during the holiday season of 1898. Tables came in three sizes — for two, four or six players. The object was to protect the pocket in front of you as other players tried to air-pressure the ball into it, the Logansport, Ind., Pharos-Tribune reported. By February of 1906, the Indianapolis News was noting that Margaret, young daughter of millionaire Andrew Carnegie, "can play puff billiards successfully against big, black-bearded men." Puff billiards continued to be played here and there for years, but it never caught on like pingpong or pool.
Hollywood couple Silvano Balboni and his wife, June Mathis, play a spirited game of Puff Billiards in the mid-1920s
Source --> Four Forgotten Fads Past
Battle Ball, 1925. Like Puff Billiards, but more sophisticated. Battle Ball was a parlor table sports game that fashionable folks played in the 1920s. The Indiana, Pa., Gazette reported on June 18, 1925, that the indoor sensation had been imported from Europe. It swiftly became popular in country clubs and homes around this country. Played by two to 14 people, opponents peppered a leather ball with small metal pellets fired from fixed "guns" on the sides of the table. The object was to move the leather ball into a goal.
Puff Billiards, circa 1900. The table game — featuring small turkey-baster -looking puffers and a lightweight cork ball — made a splash during the holiday season of 1898. Tables came in three sizes — for two, four or six players. The object was to protect the pocket in front of you as other players tried to air-pressure the ball into it, the Logansport, Ind., Pharos-Tribune reported. By February of 1906, the Indianapolis News was noting that Margaret, young daughter of millionaire Andrew Carnegie, "can play puff billiards successfully against big, black-bearded men." Puff billiards continued to be played here and there for years, but it never caught on like pingpong or pool.
Hollywood couple Silvano Balboni and his wife, June Mathis, play a spirited game of Puff Billiards in the mid-1920s