[FASTLARRY]

Back to 1900, a look at a couple of items in my studio pool room.

Let’s go back to 1900.

The picture is of aFull Bakelite Hyatt Inlaid Black Triangle Billiard Cue Break Ball in Original Hyatt Box-no lid. These break balls were made by Hyatt Albany Billiard Co. for many billiard suppliers including Brunswick. Time frame of this ball 1900 to 1910. It has a small black triangle in the middle, and the ball is a very dark wine color.

The clay set of 15 balls were left on the table, with the red break ball. You would check in, get a ivory cue ball which you played with and when you were done you returned it to the desk. If you were a stranger you got a cheap white Bakelite cue ball to play with or you had to put down a deposit for an ivory ball.

You broke the rack with the red break ball, and then switched to play on with the white ivory ball. Hitting an ivory ball hard, could crack or break it, and they always cost around $100 each no matter what time period. In 1900 it might have been $5, but that might have been $100 in today's money, so the amount people paid always paid the same over the years. The cheaper Bakelite break ball was used to protect the ivory ball. If you forgot and broke with their ivory ball, they would throw you out of the joint and bar you from coming back. You mostly played rotation then, or 15 ball, and a boy racked the balls and you paid him.

Straight pool would not be invented for another 12 years, and 8 ball for 35 years, 9 ball for a half century.

When you made balls, you took them off the table and put them in a wood rack, so you could count your score. You had your slot, and each opponent has his. If you made the 1 ball, you got 1 point, the 10 ball, 10 points.

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[FASTLARRY]

Any body hu has any old antiques, put pictures up so we can see them.

[RoyZ]

Wow, great stuff. Sounds like a clay ball would break on impact.

[FASTLARRY]

RoyZ, on Jul 23 2010, 04:00 PM, said:

Wow, great stuff. Sounds like a clay ball would break on impact.

No, they were just fine, I am sort of careful when I let student play a rack with my 1920's set, if you hit real hard, you could cause a crack, because of their age, but when they were new, they were just like todays balls, not as good, but played fine.