The Recreation Company opened in the 1920s during Prohibition and was used as a front for mobsters and gangsters, including John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, and "Machine Gun" Kelly, who ran a gambling operation from the basement.
Many of the old tables were initially so covered with grime, dust, and years of accumulated smoke that it was difficult to discern what they were even made of.
When Greg Peterson first played pool at a friend's house, he liked the game, but he really liked the table. "I went home and said I wanted to buy a pool table," he recalled. His dad suggested they make one instead. So Peterson, already an ace in his school wood shop class, came up with a design, based on his friend's table and started gathering materials. "I couldn’t afford slate, so I used particleboard."
He was just 15 when he finished that first table. Homemade tables were an interesting project, but he soon found himself fascinated with antique pool tables, especially the elaborate ones from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with their exotic woods, intricate details and fine craftsmanship.
Peterson refurbished the old tables in his parents' Minneapolis garage, then sold them, using the money to pay his tuition at the University of Minnesota, where he had decided to study architecture.
The owner of a small billiards store, Ken Peters, whom Peterson had befriended over the years, decided he was ready to sell his business. "I said I’d gladly buy it," said Peterson, who was all of 22 at the time. "I gave him a few dollars and assumed his two leases and his store."
Peters Billiards is now a game and home furnishings store in south Minneapolis, and Peterson's collection of vintage tables has ballooned to nearly 90, including the four he keeps at his home in Edina. Even his house was shaped by his passion for pool tables.
A teen fascination with pool tables inspired Greg Peterson and ultimately shaped his life, career, and home. Read more here --> Teen Passion for Pool Tables [Retrieved 2 February 2017]
Greg Peterson, owner of Peters Billiards, started collecting and restoring antique pool tables when he was a teenager.
Many of the old tables were initially so covered with grime, dust, and years of accumulated smoke that it was difficult to discern what they were even made of.
When Greg Peterson first played pool at a friend's house, he liked the game, but he really liked the table. "I went home and said I wanted to buy a pool table," he recalled. His dad suggested they make one instead. So Peterson, already an ace in his school wood shop class, came up with a design, based on his friend's table and started gathering materials. "I couldn’t afford slate, so I used particleboard."
He was just 15 when he finished that first table. Homemade tables were an interesting project, but he soon found himself fascinated with antique pool tables, especially the elaborate ones from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with their exotic woods, intricate details and fine craftsmanship.
Peterson refurbished the old tables in his parents' Minneapolis garage, then sold them, using the money to pay his tuition at the University of Minnesota, where he had decided to study architecture.
The owner of a small billiards store, Ken Peters, whom Peterson had befriended over the years, decided he was ready to sell his business. "I said I’d gladly buy it," said Peterson, who was all of 22 at the time. "I gave him a few dollars and assumed his two leases and his store."
Peters Billiards is now a game and home furnishings store in south Minneapolis, and Peterson's collection of vintage tables has ballooned to nearly 90, including the four he keeps at his home in Edina. Even his house was shaped by his passion for pool tables.
A teen fascination with pool tables inspired Greg Peterson and ultimately shaped his life, career, and home. Read more here --> Teen Passion for Pool Tables [Retrieved 2 February 2017]
Greg Peterson, owner of Peters Billiards, started collecting and restoring antique pool tables when he was a teenager.
:happydance::clapping:
