The origin of billiards is lost in antiquity. Who invented the game and the early processes of its evolution remain mysteries.

The first known reference to the game with any traditional or historical accuracy occurs in Abbe McGeoghegan's "History of Ireland." Cathire More, a sub-king who ruled over Leinster, died A. D. 148. The Abbe, quoting from King Cathire's will, says, "To Drimoth I bequeath fifty billiard balls of brass with the cues of the same material."

As early as the fifteenth century we have much evidence of the universality of the game all over southern Europe. It was certainly known in France in the time of Louis IX, who died nine years before Columbus discovered America.

Shakespeare, in Anthony and Cleopatra (Act II, Scene 5), makes the latter say, "Let us to billiards."

Cotton's "Compleat Gamster" published in 1674, refers to billiards as "This most gentle, cleanly and ingenious game." He states that it was first played in France, but later gives Spain as its birthplace.

That the game was well known in England, and in fact in all Europe, is revealed when Cotton says, "For the excellency of the recreation, it is much approved of and played by most nations of Europe, especially England, there being few towns of note therein which hath not a public billiard table; neither are they wanting in many noble and private families in the country."

Billiards was brought to America by the Spaniards who settled St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. While we have no direct evidence, it is very safe to assume that the English gentlemen, so familiar with the game in the home land, who colonized Virginia in 1609, were not long in introducing it in Jamestown.

There is also every reason to believe that the French colonists in Maryland and Canada let no great time elapse before importing tables and equipment into those colonies.

In the days of Cromwell, billiards had been tabooed by the Puritan, not on moral grounds, but rather political. Billiards was the game of the aristocracy and the Puritan hated not only the aristocrat, but the style and color of his clothes, the cut of his hair, as well as the games he played.

Doubtless this attitude was carried to America by the New England colonists, and only when those colonies had been diluted by the injection of other social groups did Puritan prejudice die and billiards enter into their recreational life.

However, there is no doubt that by the latter part of the seventeenth century the game was universally played in the United States.

From that time to the present the tide of popularity for billiards as the premier indoor game has been steadily rising.

Unlike most things in the affairs of men, billiards has not developed at either end of society, thus working toward the opposite extreme; but it began at both ends and worked towards the middle.

In the early days we witness the strange spectacle of the game being indulged in by the wealthy and leisurely class on the one hand, and the idle and vicious on the other. It is easy to understand why. The first group was the logical extension of the old-world aristocracy. The second group lived in an age when the great middle class was struggling for a foothold in a new country. Men had very little time and

* Illustrations by courtesy of The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co, disposition for play, and this, coupled with the remnants of Puritanic influence, left the game in the hands of those who lived by their wits rather than work.

From these two extremes, therefore, the game began to work toward the great middle classes. In process of time recreation became a necessity, until today it is considered a duty. Men learned to play and, casting about for a game worthy of them, naturally laid hold of billiards.

Toward this desired result the Y. M. C. A. and church clubs have contributed greatly. They have broken down much of the illogical prejudice against the games, and have shown the public-room keepers that billiards can flourish under good and healthful conditions.

As the game became more universally played, a better class of billiard-room keepers entered the commercial field, thus helping to eliminate the incompetent and vicious.

Today the game has practically thrown off the last vestige of disrepute. In those sporadic instances where such is not the case, it is due to two causes. First, the majority of people in the community have low ideals. Second, excessive license taxes forces certain room keepers to resort to disreputable means for keeping alive their business.

Nevertheless, billiards today throughout the land is ranked among the highest and cleanest forms of recreation. The exceptions mentioned prove the rule.

Through a long, hard, vigorous opposition the virtues of billiards have asserted themselves. Today the game stands vindicated and triumphant. It is entering thousands of homes, church clubs, industrial welfare, charitable, educational and all other institutions. There are more billiard players in the United States than there are baseball players; not mere spectators, but actual players.

One large company alone manufactures 500,000 cues every year, and we must remember that a billiard cue, unlike a baseball bat, can be repaired and lasts for many years. This fact is sufficient to convey an idea of the vast extent to which the game is played

In the early part of the nineteenth century there were no manufacturers of billiard equipment in the United States.

In 1840 J. M. Brunswick, who operated a small furniture repair shop in Cincinnati, Ohio, conceived the idea of making a pigeonhole table. Success in this line led him to experiment in the manufacture of billiard tables, practically all of which were then imported. The business flourished. At first only the 6 x 12 English pocket tables were made - later the small French carom tables were built.

The two main objects of billiard construction are to create an accurate medium for play and then to keep the table permanently accurate by making it impervious to atmospheric or climatic conditions.