Remember When

L

Lucasi53

Registered
Surviving another birthday, I thought I might post a couple of memories just to see any response. I remember when:

Pool-
1- local pool rooms opened at 7am (for high school kids)
2- a game of 8-ball was 5 cents (high stakes was 25 cents - lunch money)
3- every pool room had a house man (racked every game + collected money)
4- each room had 1 or 2 snooker tables (older men would play/gamble)

Miscellaneous-
5- before fast food, the local A&W cooked fresh hamburgers (had Papa meal, Mama meal, and Baby meal each with its own frosty mug)
6- hottest radio stations were all AM (FM stations were few)
7- all gas stations had attendants who pumped gas and cleaned windshields
8- cars had horn rings

This list could go on. These memories are from southern Illinois. I'm sure other parts of the country had their own history.
 
Room in my area...snooker 25 cents a game...30 cents for four-handed..
...houseman racked the balls...rotation or 8-ball on the nine-footers...10 cents.

The thing I miss the most is...no sound system...WE were our own entertainment...
...some of the stories were a bit 'tall'...but they were usually good.

The only famous player we'd heard about was Willie Hoppe...we thought he was a
snooker player...:rolleyes:
 
No sir I don’t as I’m only 43 but I do enjoy hearing “the good ole days” stories :grin:
 
Pool in the front part of the place and domino tables in the back potion While you were playing pool there was the constant slam of dominoes on the slate tables and the loud profanities of the domino players.

Pool games were 10 cents a rack and there was a rack man. No jukebox till the 60's, then most of the music was blues or rock n' roll.

Cold drinks, beer(if you were old enough), and cigarettes. No food unless you ordered from the café nearby and paid a hanger-on to go pick it up for you.

Most everyone played off the wall. If someone brought in a cue, they were eyed with suspicion. Our best player was a guy in the Navy, who, when he came home, played well enough to beat most of the soldiers from Ft. Hood in Killeen. That said a lot about his game because people from all over the U.S. were stationed at Ft. Hood. He was certainly not "world class" but he played very well and knew how to make a game.

Almost all small towns had at least 1 pool hall. You never saw a woman in the pool hall.

I started sneaking in the Belton pool hall when I was 13. Parked my Cushman Eagle in the alley behind the pool hall. My Dad's barbershop was 3 doors down and across the street. One Saturday morning I was playing pool on a table and I here this loud female voice at the front door saying "Charles Wilhite, if you are in there, you better head home right now"! My Mom was at the front door and peering into the smoke filled pool hall.

I paid for the game, hung up my cue and, as I slunk out the back door, one of the domino players said "That's right Charlie, Momma's got your sugar tit ready. Better get on home".

For a week or so, I was the laughingstock of the Belton pool hall.
 
Holly devil, you boys are old! ha ha. Good job:)

What was the reason for the houseman racking the balls? Would you have to wait for him if he was busy with someone else, and you were about to start a new game? When you said he handled the money, do you mean all gambling action went through him?
 
8 Brunswick Anniversary tables.
No music
No food. Just soda and snacks.
50 cents per hour per person.
Rack your own.
One bathroom.
Hard wood floors.
Everyone except a few played with house cues.
No cursing allowed.
No women.They were allowed they just didn't come in.
Smoking OK.
Opened at 10 AM closed around 1 AM .
Old fashioned wood phone booth with the ear piece on a cord separate from the adjustable mouth piece.
No air conditioning.
Big overstuffed easy chair in the corner.
One pinball machine.
Houseman at night was Fast Eddie.
Houseman during the day was Uncle Mike.
House pro was Sam "one poke" Fauver.
List of characters:
Chicken neck
Bugs Bunny
Mouse
The Ern
Big Elmer
Young Blood
Gitchi
Saint
Race Track Tommy
Lucky, our local mob boss.
And some others I've forgotten.
For a 15 year old kid like me this place was magic.
 
I remember...you would tap your cue on the wooden floor a couple of times and the houseman would come over and rack the balls, and nasty spittoons around the bar!
 
iusedtoberich said:
Holly devil, you boys are old! ha ha. Good job:)

What was the reason for the houseman racking the balls? Would you have to wait for him if he was busy with someone else, and you were about to start a new game? When you said he handled the money, do you mean all gambling action went through him?
Click to expand...

The houseman or his helper was the only one who had a rack in the entire place. You paid by the game and lived (or died) by his racking skills. If he was racking another table, you waited. He typically only handled the money for the games but would occasionally handle the bet if both players didn’t trust each other and needed a go between. My grandfathers first job was to rack the balls at the local pool hall.

In a lot of places, banks and one pocket were not allowed as the games were too slow. I also remember they used to cut down the slate in order to remove the shelf (made the games go faster).
 
iusedtoberich said:
Holly devil, you boys are old! ha ha. Good job:)

What was the reason for the houseman racking the balls? Would you have to wait for him if he was busy with someone else, and you were about to start a new game? When you said he handled the money, do you mean all gambling action went through him?
Click to expand...

The poolroom in Cedartown, Ga still racks the balls for you. Been in business about 100 years now. It even has a urinal with a short wall between your back and the pool tables. I guess women were not allowed at some point, but they go there now.
 
with those memories
did you fight in world war 1 ???
just kidding
happy birthday
wish you many more
:)......:thumbup:
 
When a Rich cue was $35 and you brought home $42.50 a week.

In Phila.... AM radio we listened to to:
WIBG
WCAM
WDAS
WHAT

TV had VHF/UHF antennas.
Money was worth more.
I had hair on my head.
 
Last edited:
Lucasi53 said:
Surviving another birthday, I thought I might post a couple of memories just to see any response. I remember when:

Pool-
1- local pool rooms opened at 7am (for high school kids)
2- a game of 8-ball was 5 cents (high stakes was 25 cents - lunch money)
3- every pool room had a house man (racked every game + collected money)
4- each room had 1 or 2 snooker tables (older men would play/gamble)

Miscellaneous-
5- before fast food, the local A&W cooked fresh hamburgers (had Papa meal, Mama meal, and Baby meal each with its own frosty mug)
6- hottest radio stations were all AM (FM stations were few)
7- all gas stations had attendants who pumped gas and cleaned windshields
8- cars had horn rings

This list could go on. These memories are from southern Illinois. I'm sure other parts of the country had their own history.
Click to expand...


hate to admit it -
I remember every one of those -


bill
 
How about the times you could ride into town, tie your horse up and walk into the saloon and shoot a game of pool with one piece cues and ivory balls. Hell, we even smoked in there and gambled.
 
I liked the small town poolrooms with pool tables out front and a card room in the back. The played mostly Tonk or draw poker. You could actually make money playing for a dollar a game. A ten dollar score might cost you $1.50 in table time! Do that a couple of times a day and you were making a decent living from pool. That's all they played for in the bars, a dollar a game Eight Ball. If you could hold the table for two or three hours you might win twenty five or thirty bucks.

Five dollar nine ball was a big game, as was ten dollar One Pocket. If you froze up $50, everyone crowded around to sweat it. Five ahead for fifty was a serious game. You never asked anyone to play One Pocket, only 9-Ball. For the most part you pretended like you didn't really understand One Pocket, but you would play for something cheap. :rolleyes:

You could carry a cue, in a soft case and nothing fancy. I wore jeans and a plain white T-Shirt every day for years. Just something comfortable to play a long time. And a pair of tennis shoes. I never parked out front, always somewhere down the street. You didn't want anyone to see your out of state plates. I only carried about twenty bucks in my front pocket, never used a wallet. I may have held back an extra thirty or forty bucks in my sock.

If there was a big guy in the place I made a point to talk to him and befriend him if possible. I ALWAYS paid the time if I won! This way the guy would play me again. If you wanted them to split the time they would be pissed and not want to play you again. I made sure to remember the good shots my opponent made and compliment him afterwards on them. I got games because people liked playing me. I actually let people/suckers cheat me on the score more than once. I knew it was only a matter of time before I won whatever they were willing to lose that day. I never bragged about winning or how much money I won. I would just say it was close.

If I found a good house cue in the room, I would either mark it or find a place to hide it (like in the closet behind the hot water heater). That's kind of what it was like being a scuffler in the 60's. I had a nice single apartment in Hollywood back then that cost me $25 a week. It was furnished and they paid the utilities and cleaned my place once a week. I had a bank account with a few thousand in it and felt like a rich man. It was discouraging when top players came to me to borrow five or ten dollars. Men who I looked up to were constantly broke. I always had money in my pocket for food and to gamble with.

I never went to a movie and didn't care about politics or anything else. I was consumed with finding a game every day. That all changed when I bought my first poolroom at age 27. I became a working stiff! But I was making far more money every day, enough to afford a real house. :smile:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top