Will Ivory ever become undesirable for cues?
- Thread starter Thunder Thighs
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middleofnowhere
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Is it an ivory joint?
Who is going to speak for the elves?
Legolas
Forums like this are a perfect venue for moot points.
People collect for various reasons, to some, having something like a cue in all original condition is the ultimate, to others it does not matter. Same goes with playability - some like one thing, others like something else. I think that all would agree that the way ivory was/is harvested illegally is brutal and cruel to say the least. None of us were/are responsible for the way governments failed to control the illegal harvesting of ivory over the past few centuries - and I don't know how the ivory in the cues that I own was harvested.
So, due to the great exposure and awareness of how ivory has been widely illegally harvested, and to resulting ivory bans, etc.and the availability of substitute man made materials, yes, ivory will continue to disappear from cue making, that point should be obvious to all. As someone mentioned, there will be cue makers who will use it if they are paid enough by those who desire it for personal reasons - just like everything else in life.
So, due to the great exposure and awareness of how ivory has been widely illegally harvested, and to resulting ivory bans, etc.and the availability of substitute man made materials, yes, ivory will continue to disappear from cue making, that point should be obvious to all. As someone mentioned, there will be cue makers who will use it if they are paid enough by those who desire it for personal reasons - just like everything else in life.
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I wonder at what point old-time billiards players started to feel uncomfortable using ivory balls. And whether anybody would have given up the game because of it.
Heart of Darkness (which portrays a western ivory hunter going savage) was published in 1899 and suggests the possibility of a wider social backlash against the ivory trade.
John Roberts would have started playing exclusively with bonzoline balls (an early composite) somewhere very roughly around that time, although possibly because he was paid to do so.
Heart of Darkness (which portrays a western ivory hunter going savage) was published in 1899 and suggests the possibility of a wider social backlash against the ivory trade.
John Roberts would have started playing exclusively with bonzoline balls (an early composite) somewhere very roughly around that time, although possibly because he was paid to do so.
middleofnowhere
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The switch to plastic balls was because they were better. I used to play in a place that had a set of ivories. They were terrible. You could hear them rolling around the table. They were not round.
I can see why they used them back then they were naturally a perfect weight. Plus they had a certain resilience for playing Billiards the way they bounced off each other. Clay balls would not play like that.
Even for a cueball, polished ivories smooth surface, they could do all kinds of things with an ivory cueball you could never do with a clay cueball. So it made sense to use Ivory.
I read when billiard balls got out of round, they would be sent and turned down to cueballs. There was a time when for certain things, ivory was probably irreplaceable.
There was a time when we did things that today we just don't do anymore. I would like to think in some way we have evolved.
Ivory at one time had practical uses and there was no reason to feel guilty about it.
Not so today.
No...
More customers ask for it now than pre-ban times.
Don't have and can't get. The harder something is to acquire the more desirable it becomes.
Human nature.
Could not agree more...
Walrus ivory has a gray tint to it.
Has it been used regularly for cues?
USFWS hold confiscated ivory as evidence until it is no longer needed for prosecution, then it is crushed, typically with a rock screen. Small amounts are cataloged for comparative identification, education and training of K-9s.
Ivory is on its way out. Only the Chinese are currently swooning over huge, gaudy ivory decorations in their homes. I don't think an average European or American would dream of having one of those on display. As for cues, ivory joints and ferrules are brittle and expensive. Most new players want carbon cues now, not wooden cues with huge deflection. I think the 40-50 somethings are the last players who started out with non-ld cues. I don't think the average, even fairly enthusiastic player cares very much what his inlays are made of. If they do care, I'd imagine more care that a majestic animal or endagered tree were not killed making it, rather than hoping for that to be the case.
Then there are the collectors. There will always be collectors of all sorts of items. I'm sure there will always be some that want ivory. However, it will never have the dominant position it once had. Most cue collectors are on their last inning in life, anyway. It's usually the way that people collect items that were popular when they were young. My generation collect sneakers (...) and videogames (.......) and are now getting to the age where we have a lot of money and free time to pursue collecting. You see old video game cartridges going for millions now. Pool in that time was a niche sport, collectors of the cues are an even smaller niche. I doubt there will be a huge market for ornate cues going forward other than maybe in China. China is cracking down on all foreign influence and are randomly arresting Westerners working there. I wouldn't put a whole lot of eggs in that particular basket.
Then there are the collectors. There will always be collectors of all sorts of items. I'm sure there will always be some that want ivory. However, it will never have the dominant position it once had. Most cue collectors are on their last inning in life, anyway. It's usually the way that people collect items that were popular when they were young. My generation collect sneakers (...) and videogames (.......) and are now getting to the age where we have a lot of money and free time to pursue collecting. You see old video game cartridges going for millions now. Pool in that time was a niche sport, collectors of the cues are an even smaller niche. I doubt there will be a huge market for ornate cues going forward other than maybe in China. China is cracking down on all foreign influence and are randomly arresting Westerners working there. I wouldn't put a whole lot of eggs in that particular basket.
We would rather destroy something, than let others gain some enjoyment from it…