Billiard parlors took style cues from patrons

By the turn of the 20th century, the crack of colliding billiard balls had become a common sound around downtown Charlottesville.

That hadn’t always been the case. In 1781, Virginia passed a hefty annual tax on public billiard tables that likely had something of a constraining effect on the proliferation of the sport.

For whatever reason, the stick-and-ball game had often run afoul of politicians and church officials. Ministers in particular were fond of railing from their pulpits on the sport’s sinful, dangerous and morally corrupting nature.

Today, of course, pool is considered one of the safest sports in the world. The remote possibility of getting bonked in the noggin by an errant ball does slightly escalate its danger factor above that of, say, a rousing game of Candy Land.

As far as the morally corrupting factor is concerned, or its sinfulness, that’s more difficult to discern. Perhaps it had something to do with players betting on who would win a game.

Defining the terms

During the 1800s, the term “poolroom” actually denoted a place where people could lay down bets on racing horses. The word “pool” came to describe the act of anteing into a collective bet placed on a billiard game.

Apparently Thomas Jefferson wasn’t a big fan of the sport, which likely evolved from a lawn game played in northern Europe in the 1400s. Near the end of his life he mentions billiards in his penned “Thoughts on Lotteries.”

In the paper, the third president opined that some games of chance “produce nothing, and endanger the well-being of the individuals engaged in them, or of others depending on them. Such are games with cards, dice, billiards, etc.”

It has been widely disseminated that Jefferson intended Monticello’s Dome Room to be a place where billiards could be played. Jefferson scholars such as Merrill Peterson have refuted that.

Promoting a pastime

Although billiards has had its detractors, it has had even more champions and enthusiasts. Perhaps nobody did more to promote the game in the United States than Michael Phelan.

Before he died in 1871, Phelan had written books about the game, established rules of play and started one of the first businesses that manufactured billiard equipment. Largely because of his promotions, professional players became so popular that tobacco companies started producing cards with their names and pictures on them.

During the Civil War, news about prominent players and the results of billiard tournaments ran next to news concerning the conflict. By the beginning of the 20th century, pool was entering a golden age in the United States.

At that time, John S. LaRowe was running a billiard parlor near the University of Virginia. It was said to have been a very popular gathering spot for students and professors.

A 1906 advertisement touting the establishment read, “After a day of toil, worry and mental fatigue, what better way is there of spending a social hour or so with a few jovial and merry friends in the good old scientific games of pool or billiards.”

The ad went on to mention the eight fine Gantor tables LaRowe had in his place of business.

It also was worth noting that the parlor was “brilliantly illuminated with incandescent lights.”

LaRowe’s major competitor was F.H. Wiseman, owner of University Billiard Parlor at 1325 W. Main St. This establishment sported Brunswick-Balke-Collendar tables.

Which place a person frequented probably came down to which of the proprietors he liked more.

LaRowe was an authority on boxing and gave private lessons in the pugilistic art. He also was an excellent musician.

It was said that in Wiseman’s place the prevailing spirit was “good nature, witty and jocular.” And it probably didn’t hurt that he was a native of Charlottesville.

B.B. Butt Jr. most have figured there was room for one more pool hall in the city. In 1906 he opened the Black Cat Billiard Parlor on the corner of Main and Second Street.

Butt made no bones of the fact that he was catering to “only high-class, respectable patrons.”

And, of course, such upstanding citizens desired only the best in equipment and amenities.

To this end Butt purchased the finest ivory balls available.

Most people at that time probably didn’t associate the balls with the horrendous slaughter of elephants that was taking place to fill the orders.

Ivory balls were beautiful, had the ideal weight and action and rolled perfectly. What more did they need to know?

They certainly wouldn’t have wanted to know that the tragedy was being compounded by the fact that only three or four balls could be made from an average size tusk. So as the popularity of pool increased in the late 1800s, elephants by the thousands paid the ultimate price.

Fortunately, beginning around 1910, balls made from celluloid started to take the place of ivory. This occurred not because of conscience, but reduction of cost. In 1906, ivory was simply a statement of class and quality. That’s why Butt’s mentioned in his advertisements that the cue sticks in his parlor were tipped with it.

It was clear that the newcomer felt his winning edge would be elegance of place. To that end he went to considerable expense to cover the walls with rich, crimson Scotch burlap.

He also had cushy easy chairs arranged throughout the parlor. And as a finishing touch, he heated the room with clean steam.

It probably didn’t hurt business that Butt also offered his patrons the best Havana cigars to be found anywhere. He must have realized that as the new guy on the block he had to offer something that LaRowe and Wiseman didn’t have.