Spotted on eBay

[GeordieDS]

That looks great fun......would like to play on that .

Me to it looks class!

[tincup]

they used to have an L shaped table at a pub in Wakefield a few years back. Was loads of fun to play on.
If memory serves me right im sure they used to have an octagonal table aswell

[Neil Taperell]

That looks great fun......would like to play on that .

[svendh]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-L-Sha...item1c55e2f640

[ADR147]

with a full set of ivories that would be worth a lot, as it is maybe £50-£80.

[jim evans]

I use a private club with 4 tables,each as it's own case of balls same as this case.

[DeanH]

I saw a Crawley book on ebay not that long a go and nearly ....

[billabong]

You beat me to it Dean.

[DeanH]

100-uper/Frank - fantastic information there, many thanks

[100-uper]

Lovely old case hopelessly over priced. The balls look like '60's crystalates of little value. I have discussed the lack of a black ball on Life Pool scoring equipment with many people including dear old Norman Clare but have never reached a true provable answer as to its absence. I believe it was because in drawing for play an officer of the military mess should never be "Black Balled as in colloquial terms it would been he was dismissed the service. F.

I assumed that the balls were "Supers" as I thought that the colours are a bit too vibrant to be the old composition, but the photo is hardly conclusive.

I also have never seen a pool marking board with provision for a black ball, although I have seen a reference to it being used in the pool. It is listed in the sequence of balls by Crawley in his "Billiards Book" 1866. This also references a "spot-black" and omits the Pink ball. I have never actually seen a marking board laid out like this, and I'm not sure how you would make a "spot-black" but assume that this game was played at one time.

[franksandellsnooker]

Lovely old case hopelessly over priced. The balls look like '60's crystalates of little value. I have discussed the lack of a black ball on Life Pool scoring equipment with many people including dear old Norman Clare but have never reached a true provable answer as to its absence. I believe it was because in drawing for play an officer of the military mess should never be "Black Balled as in colloquial terms it would been he was dismissed the service. F.

[100-uper]

This box seems to be too old ( older than the rules of snooker ) ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Ma...item2ee0657387

Maybe just the date thats out though.

Does anyone know when the blue and brown balls were introduced in snooker ?

Aparently it was after the introduction of the other colours.

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It may appear to be old, but this type of cabinet was designed and first produced by Burroughes and Watts in the 1920s. They are generally distinguished by the type of handle and locking mechanism. This particular example was being supplied in the 1950s (as per this illustration from their 1952-53 catalogue)



The central disk which would have identified B&W as the maker has fallen out and been replaced by a coin. This seems to be quite a common occurrence with this box – I have only seen one before with the disk still in place. The balls look to be Super Crystalate (Post-1972) and if so, would not be contemporary with the cabinet.

These cabinets are not that rare, and you should be able to pick one up for about £50.

[DeanH]

from the Norman Clare it appears Brown was already in the life pool games and blue was also used in pool games and probably was added to the snooker game after Yellow Green and the Brown, along with the Pink and Black.
Actual timing is difficult to stamp down, letters from the time seem that all the colours (except Black) were in existence in life pool but dating when each colour is added to Snooker, so could be anywhere from 1870s to 1880s. It appears that by 1890s, the colours as we know today were in place, and by 1900s the rules show them for Snooker and not "Snooker Pool" or "Black Pool".

[billabong]

The coloured balls (but not the black) were already in existence when Snooker was derived (1875, Chamberlain etc.) hence they are called "Pool balls" not "colour balls" in the early rules, as they were used in the Life Pool games. The black may have been specially created for snooker at the time of Chamberlain and snooker has been referenced as "Black Pool" in some places.

The wiki stuff is throwing me then. it says ( and I know it's not always 100% correct )

"Black pool was the next version created. Black pool was similar to pyramid pool, except that the black ball from life pool was added to the game and could be potted for more points. In 1875, at the officers' mess in Jabalpur in the Central Provinces, Colonel Sir Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain suggested adding the other coloured balls to the new version. The game was beginning to resemble snooker in its current form, though the blue and brown balls were added in later years."

Were the blue and brown added from life pool then ( 1875 ) , or later ?

[DeanH]

The coloured balls (but not the black) were already in existence when Snooker was derived (1875, Chamberlain etc.) hence they are called "Pool balls" not "colour balls" in the early rules, as they were used in the Life Pool games. The black may have been specially created for snooker at the time of Chamberlain and snooker has been referenced as "Black Pool" in some places.