UK Website Devoted to Billiards, Snooker History

Interested in the the history of UK billiards and snooker? Check out the UK Billiard and Snooker Archive, which touts itself as the only website dedicated to to the history of snooker and english billiards.  The website charts the history of both games, and includes biographies of several key players like Joe Davis and Willie Smith.

Here's the link:  http://www.billiardsandsnookerarchive.co.uk/

Pool Historian William Hendricks Dies

Here’s a bit of sad news for pool history fans: William Hendricks, author of the very good but somewhat obscure Official Standard History of Pool, Billiards and Snooker, has died.

The World War II veteran was 90 years old. He passed away on May 15^th in an Illinois nursing home.

  
The Official Standard History of Pool, Billiards & Snooker is a hard-to-find gem, one that includes fascinating tidbits about the early history of billiards equipment and the game. A timeline in the book goes all the way back to 1164, and cites the earliest documented use of the word “bille” to refer to certain medieval ball games. 

  
According to an online obituary, Hendricks was born on Sept. 16, 1923 in Alton, Illinois. He served in Europe during World War II and later became a professor at Southwestern Illinois University-Edwardsville and Belleville Area College. He also was an avid pool player.

  
Although never in wide circulation, Hendricks' book has been cited in many other works, including those by billiards historian Mike Shamos (The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards) and John Grissim (Billiards). I also cite Hendricks in The Hustler & The Champ.

-- R.A. Dyer

Michael Phelan, the Father of American Pool — A Timeline *

Michael Phelan, Father of American Pool

1819 (April 18th) — Born in Castle Comer, County Kilkenny, Ireland.
1823 — Father John immigrates to the United States. Here, he begins to operate a number of pool rooms.
1824 — Michael Phelan and family join father John in New York.
1830 — Begins learning the jewelry trade. He eventually abandons this trade and instead follows in his father’s footsteps, devoting himself to the pool business.
1838 — Phelan travels to Galveston, with plans to open a pool room there. The plan goes awry, and Phelan remains stuck and penniless in the south for several years.
1842 — Michael Phelan returns to New York.
1847 — Opens the famous Arcade Billiard Room on Barclay Street, a favorite of the fashionable young men of the day.
1848 —Irish nationalists launch aborted rebellion; Hugh Collender, Phelan's future business partner, flees Ireland — apparently in a coffin — when the rebellion fails; Phelan lends financial support and helps arm militias in the United States.
1850 —Phelan, seen now as greatest player in the United States, publishes Billiards Without a Master. This was pool's first best seller.
1851— Phelan visits Europe as a delegate of the “Insurrectionary Party of Ireland,” meets with rebel leaders; is ejected by British authorities.
1851 or 1852 — Leaves New York for California.
1854-1855 — Returns to New York.
1854 — Begins manufacturing billiard tables, entering into a partnership with Hugh Collender to form Phelan & Collender.
1855 — February, Plays a three-carom match with Monsier Damon, a French expert, for a stakes of $1,000; he opens a room at 39 Chambers Street, New York.
1856 — Phelan’s book Game of Billiards is published; he opens a room at the corner of Broadway and 10th, New York. It was considered the finest and most luxurious pool room in the world. He also publishes the first edition of Billiard Cue, the first billiard periodical.
1858 — Phelan defeats Ralph Benjamin of Philadelphia for $1,000. This is the first recorded billiard match in American history.
1859 — Enters into a high stakes challenge match with John Seereiter  In today’s dollars, the stakes would be valued at more than $400,000.
1860 —Buys Tobias C. O'Conner's share of billiard table manufacturing business, O'Conner Collender.
1863 — Phelan retires from active competition. He also offers a $10,000 reward for anyone who can come up with a suitable ivory substitute for the manufacturer of billiard balls. This effort has been credited with the eventual development of plastic.
1865 — Phelan was a founder of the American Billiard Players Association, which was open to professional players, poolroom proprietors and amateurs. Controversially, he brings a large segment of the sport under his control.
1870 — Saves his grandson from drowning during International Yacht Race.
1871 (Oct. 7) — Dies, presumably from the lingering effects of exposure from helping saving his grandson the previous year.
1993 — Inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame.

Historian Charlie Ursitti posts collection of historic "Billiards Magazine" editions online

I have some very cool news to report from Charles Ursitti, the charming pool promoter and historian. Ursitti has just purchased what must be one of this country's largest private collections of the historic publication Billiards Magazine. According to Charlie, the magazine started in April of 1913 and ran through September 1934 -- for a total of 276 issues. It then became Bowling and Billiards Magazine. Charlie says he has the first issue and about 230 more. "Even the Smithsonian doesn't have a complete set," reports Charlie.

OK, and now here's the really cool part: Charlie is uploading the entire collection onto the web. It's a work in progress, but already there are several years of the publication up for public viewing. "Billiards Magazine featured the best reporting ever done on the sport and I feel every billiard lover should be able to see it," says Charlie. He said he's scanning every page himself.

You can find the magazines at Charlie's website, www.charlieursitti.com or www.charlesursitti.com. He plans to eventually divide the site into 16 to 20 sections, and it will include reproductions of his posters, program books, tobacco cards and photos. I've seen some of Charlie's collection firsthand during a visit to his previous residence in New York City and I have to say it is something to behold. That's a picture I took of him in his stacks, holding up an old edition of Billiards Magazine.

So go check out more of them at Charlie's site. It's great.


-- R.A. Dyer