"You Know You've Been Playing Pool For A Really Long Time When..."

beneath_the_sur said:
Wish I could find a place like this
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This is probably why I like AZ so much....you can chat...make a game....and argue about
every subject known to man....just like the old rooms.

Now you have to yell over the music......just to say "Shoot again."

An art has been lost to the pool culture.....I saw countless money players that were so
good at stirring up action....they could've hosted a talk show on TV...Fatty was one of the
best....but he had lots of competition.
 
Pool rooms were upstairs. Creaky stairs.

Fraternal orders had rec rooms with four to eight massive tables from the turn of the century.

The rack man got a dime for 9-ball and 15 cents for 8-ball. Yes, he had a coin changer around his waist, and no one but the rack man ever racked a game.

Two piece cures were fairly rare in small pool halls. The old hustler had the fanciest Palmer; a rich young GM employee a Balabushka.

In the early 70s there were photo cards showing the fruits of labor of Joss Cues, Tad, later Richard Black, Schon and other cue makers now famous. They were passed around at various pool venues by guys claiming to be dealers or claiming to be able to place orders. They were actual photos, usually 4x6 but sometimes 5x7. It was much less expensive than paying for four-color printed cards, which would not have looked as good as the photos anyway. I'm sure some collectors still have copies of these old cue photos stashed away. The prices were astoundingly low compared to today's prices - $100 to $250 vs. $1000 to $2500.

All the guys with really good cues also had a fine alligator skin or leather Fellini case. The oval Fellini cases went 'shuck" when opened or closed, and their small locks had a particular 'snick' sound when closed - loud if the player lost, soft and mellow if the player won (or at least it seemed that way to me). They were nearly air-tight, and very beautiful. They held just one butt and shaft, and could not stand the competition from the later multi-butt, multi-shaft cases.
 
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...when the saying "that's one helluva joint" meant a lead pipe cinch bet and had nothing to do with a 2-piece pool cue or marijuana.
...when pool hustler "Tommy The Sailor" from San Diego was still in the U.S.Navy
 
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...when Light Heavyweight Champion of the world, Archie Moore, used to play bank pool with "Long Beach" at the Tower Bowl on Broadway in San Diego.
 
your new Willie Hoppe, Master Stroke, or ku king Snooker came with
a black and white ferrule. They came in a round case with a screw on top.
And man oh man if you had one you were cool.
jack
 
When I realized I still have a tip tapper hanging on my key chain so long that the points went totally flat years ago. Probably, 35+ years. LOL


Stones
 
Stones said:
When I realized I still have a tip tapper hanging on my key chain so long that the points went totally flat years ago. Probably, 35+ years. LOL


Stones
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...when you've been driving your '71 Pinto to the pool hall for all this time!


Jeff, pin pool ain't bad, Livingston
 
--- When you find a pack of those red, white and blue cue papers in your drawer.
--- When you still have some milk-soaked Champion tips left.
--- When you remembered when everyone wore aprons. (If you didn't, you'd get a blue chalk line around your jeans that somehow didn't come out in the wash.)
--- When the rails were covered with cigarette burn marks.
--- When you had to develop a real stroke (not a fake one) to move the cue ball around on the slow cloths.
--- When you played on directional pool table cloths.
--- When you remembered going to Minnesota Fats or Willie Mosconi exhibitions at your local pool hall.
 
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When coin-op bar tables cost .10 per game.
When playing 6-ball or 9-ball you could push-out on every shot.
 
:boring2:




.....when you know there is no such thing as an aiming system.



.....there's only one place to hit the ball to make it, so you just shoot it in.





.
 
FranCrimi said:
--- When you find a pack of those red, white and blue cue papers in your drawer.
--- When you still have some milk-soaked Champion tips left.
--- When you remembered when everyone wore aprons. (If you didn't, you'd get a line around your jeans that somehow didn't come out in the wash.)
--- When the rails were covered with cigarette burn marks.
--- When you had to develop a real stroke (not a fake one) to move the cue ball around on the slow cloths.
--- When you played on directional pool table cloths.
--- When you remembered going to Minnesota Fats or Willie Mosconi exhibitions at your local pool hall.
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That wasn't a blue chalk line...it was the aluminum border on GC1s.
Some rooms would coat them and the lines stopped.
 
chefjeff said:
Does anyone make aprons and those green visors for pool players anymore?


Jeff Livingston
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Those were my father's generation...some old guys still wore them when i started.
I tried a green visor...I like my eyes protected from glare....but the reflection of the steel
joint going back and forth made me go to a golf visor.

But i wouldn't use an apron to sink a ball...hell, I don't wear one AT a sink.


p...the Russians are cleaning up...t
 
…you think loser should pay for table time.

…you remember laying your cue on a table and nobody would touch it unless given permission.

…you remember having to shower after coming home to wash off the cigarette smoke. You also had separate clothes for the pool hall that you took off in the garage before coming in the house.
 
When you remember large rooms filled with 9 and 10' tables, no music, no booze, just cigerates and coffee. You needed to go to a man in a cage to pay, get your balls and get the lights turned on. The only lights were over the tables. More sweaters than players. No 8 ball, that was a bar game.
 
You Know You've Been Playing Pool For A Really Long Time When..you remember when table time was only 60 cents an hour :eek:
 
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