Deluxe-Editions

Billiards, Game of Princes
A story goes that the game of billiards started in Europe among the aristocrats when a
lawn game got too rough. Mike Shamos of the Billiard Archives has much to tell about
everything billiards. The French aristocracy, known for their fondness for horse races
and other vices, is said to have invented the cushion around the billiard table. It no
doubt had become tiresome for them to go chasing after the balls all over the floor in
their dainty silk shoes. “Oh, Pierre, really? Must you always push the ball off the green
like a cat?” Thus, this cue sport developed as one of strategic placement of three balls
on the table, maneuvered with either a mace (imagine a golf club) or a cue stick. No
pockets are used. Then the English took it a notch higher in the Gentleman’s Pursuit
department. They put two cue balls, and in carom, another ball as an objective.
Benjamin Franklin, born in Boston under the English Crown and a francophile, was
known for his love of billiards, among other finer things in life. Visual arts in the forms of
painting and prints grew in popularity as the princely game gained traction in polite
societies, although they were luxury goods.