subject: How The Wild Game Pool and Pool Cues Started Off [print this page] How The Wild Game Pool and Pool Cues Started Off
Billiards is one of the most renowned sports in the world. Unlike any other sports like soccer, football or lacrosse, it can be played within the house. The vivid story of this sport can be traced down to the 15th century, where our old kinfolk used to play it on the lawn somewhere in Northern Europe or perhaps also in France. The reason why the pool table is green is to copy the green lawn, when our old folks at that time started playing it inside the house. And at that time the balls were not struck, but were shoved by wooden sticks called "maces." The use of pool cues has only been popularized sometime in the late 1600s by the British folks.
The term "billiard" is a French word, derived from "billart", referring to one of the wooden sticks or "bille", meaning "ball." It has been thought that it was called the "Noble Game of Billiards" for kings and nobles alike were to amuse themselves with this sport. Even Shakespeare himself might have been familiar with this game that he mentioned it in "Antony and Cleopatra."
The use of pool cues as mentioned above and the improvement of pool tables has only been undertaken in the period of the 1800s, at the era of the Industrial Revolution. Back then, people were already starting to look at it as a competitive sport. The word "pool" in itself does not refer to any pool equipments. In fact it means a collective bet, or a gamble. In the 19th century, a poolroom is a place where men gamble for parlors that set horse racing. While waiting for the competition to set off, pool tables, which were played similarly to the "four-ball billiards" of the present time, were constructed by the owners so the patrons could not bore themselves. Hence, the name "pool room" and "pool table" were linked now to billiards. Although some people believe billiards as to stand for carom games only (carom is where two balls were stroke by a cue ball) and the term "pool" is for pocket games.
Starting on the year of 1878 to 1956, pool and billiard competitions were so prevalent that an annual contest were arranged. In the time of the Civil War, pool became the supreme amusement for the soldiers and billiard results were even more popular in television than the war news. Some billiard champions also went to go to see the troops and held exhibitions there to amuse them. Although, come the end of the World War II and everyone were all involved in re-building once more their lives, and the annual pool tournaments came to stop for a moment.
In 1961, the film "The Hustler" was released, featuring Paul Newman as a pool hustler. New pool rooms were opened but it was forestalled for a second time when the Vietnam War occurred and more recreational engagements arose. In 1986, the film "The Color of Money" featuring Paul Newman another time and the aspirant Tom Cruise with their pool cues have once again made the billiard popular to a whole new height. These days, pool rooms were most usually played only by men, although now and again we can see women joining international tournaments as well. And billiards has served as one of the greatest past times for the indoors.
