European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 29, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine taking a Cue from the Fastback to billiards by Glenn Ccllins now York  he billiard room the very phrase seems to summon images that Are strongly contradictory. A place of Graceful skill and leisurely camaraderie. The billiard room is also seen As the chamber of Impero priory the Den of foul language and Louler Cigar smoke at its Best the Ideal of the billiard room was perhaps achieved by Samuel Clemens in his Retreat on the third floor o his House in Hallord Conn fool Only did he do his writing there it was s place where billiard lovers gathered and played until a Lale hour As the Mark Twain biographer Albert Bigelow Paine described it adding they Lold stories and smoked till the room was Blue comforting themselves with hot scotch and general Good  Al it worst the billiard room was tha place of mate Ole mess the parlor of iniquity and Nursery of corruption that seemed 1o recapitulate the Story of neediness from the 18th Century roue to Paul Newman s broken thumbs in the Hustler. As the room hat time and fashion forgot the billiard room All but disappeared now it is Back no1 just because the Biniard table has won acceptance As an antique and nol just because an interest in billiard rooms is a logical consequence of the Boom in victorian House restoration. The real reason is 1 lat the game of pocket billiards is in a new heyday suddenly billiards is in said Ron blast president Alan Greenber plays nearly every night in the billiard room of his 31st-floor Manhattan apartment of Beall billiards in Manhattan a table is Lorca and maker that Fias Ridden the billiards Boom and Busl cycles for 64 years. Right now business is he Bosl i be Ever seen it the world s Lai Gisl make Lor of billiard tables founded in 1845, agrees ii looks Asil 1987 will be an outstanding year not Only for Brunswick bul for the other manufacturers As Well said Jim Bakula. Director of operations for Brunswick billiards in Bristol wis. Brunswick accounts for $10 million of i he $50 million m annual . Billiard sales our sales Are up 40 percent Over the first four months of 1986, and we have More orders than to can till right now according to a Gallup poll on Leisure activities pocket billiards commonly called Pool ranked As Tho 10th most popular participatory sport in the United Stales in 1986, with 31.8 million people playing 9 8 million of them women we re seeing More and More women playing the game said Bakula. Some couples Are playing pocket billiards now m Tho Way Hal couples in a previous generation played  whenever we Havo a dinner party both the men and the women will wind up in Iho a Milord room said Alan Greenburg who plays on a 19th-Century Walnut reproduction table in his Manhattan apartment. The billiard room of she mid-191h Century lend cd to be removed to the upper floors due to what were deemed the of ensue smells of tobacco and Brandy Tho Clatter of poo balls and men talking said Jan Seidler Ramirez who organized an exhibition Al the Hudson River museum in Yonkers ., that examines the victorian billiard room the location of the billiard Pablo was one Marker of sexual segregation in victorian society Ramirez said. The worlds of work act the Home were separate  in Middle and upper class families women were viewed As the spiritual ministers of Iho family and the Home was their Temple. Putting the billiard room on the third floor protected the innocence of women and children from smoke gambling and foul  a Paradox developed however the Vic Lonan ideology of family cohesion also opened up billiards to women and children As a game Hal promoted family interchange Ramirez said. The billiard room was on the third floor Bolh at the 1874 Mack Twain House and a the Lyndhurst mansion in Tan town  Whose billiard room was built in the 1860s. But the museum s exhibition is in the original first floor billiard room of Glenview the mansion that John Bond Trevor a banker Buill in 1876. However the Glenviol billiard room is a judicious distance from the ladies s Silling  Ramirez said. The notion of the billiard room As a Centrepiece of family ills is still expressed. Consider John and Carol Kimball who ripped Oul the Wall Between the Fiona and Back Parlours of their 1840 Homo in Brooklyn to accommodate Kimball s antique Pool table. We wanted to to be a part of the  Carol Kimball said. It s Nice we re together John Kimball added and i m not Oul every night playing Pool. Ii was my dream to have a table like this " his 1890 Oak Lable. Valued at $12,000 is a rare numbered table in the limited edition Union league style. I just loved the look of in he said. A carpentry Foreman he has a professional appreciation for its intricate construction. Similar sentiments were echoed by Greenberg in the Billard room of his 31 St floor Apar men i be always wanted to have a room like this said Greenberg a former publisher of Squire Magazine. He and his Wile Joy designed the room around a the table that including accessories Cost around $50,000, some couples restoring victorian Homes say they want them to look authentic Bakula said and if a room used to be a billiard room they want a billiard table in there even if they Don t know How to play " however. Blatt said once it s there they wind up gelling interested in the game despite themselves it s  John Kimball and his son John William have a family game on an antique Pool table in their Brooklyn Home. Monday june 29. 1987 the stars and stripes Page 13