What is Pool?

A Brief History On Pool:

In its Earliest Manifestation...
It is said that "Billiards" is actually an activity and pastime that originated as a type of lawn game, something like "croquet," circa the 1600's (according to http://pool-cue.wowshopper.com/htm-pages/service-pool-history.htm). It is believed that pool originated, either in, or around Northern Europe. It is likely that it was developed mostly in France though, since the word "billiards" is said to be of French origin. Soon after its most primitive inception, it started to evolve into a form that more closely resembles what we are familiar with today.

Supposedly, pool moved from the out of doors, into interiors, and was played on a wooden table. This early table even had some sort of green, cloth-like covering which was purportedly meant to simulate grass. It did have balls, of some sort, but the devices that were used to strike the balls were called "maces." We could assume that these older tools might have resembled a "mallet" (again, like a "croquet club"), much more than they did a modern "cue stick." According to some, the earliest manifestations of the game did utilize six pockets, but the number of balls used, and the rest of the physical make-up of the game can get rather archaic. What is next important to realize is that the game became popular with not only aristocrats, but also certain royal families. That would have certainly added to its growing and wider popularity, even amongst the "lower classes." Over time, the game migrated around the continent and into the wider world.

What is further remarkable about the ritual artifacts is that, soon enough after its inception, approximately 60 years or so, the "cue stick" started to come into being. This started to happen, perhaps because taller rail systems emerged, and then it became harder for the players to hit the balls, especially if the balls wound up against a rail. So, it is relatively common knowledge that players started using the narrower, handle end of the "maces," in order to hit the balls stuck in any of those most difficult of situations. In fact, the modern word "cue" is actually derived from the name of the mace's handle, which was spelled "queue," and meant "tail."

What is further interesting, especially for folkloric and other social science purposes, is that women were not allowed to use the cues at first, and had to keep using the older maces. This is due to the fact that the men felt that the women might rip the table's cloth with the sharper end of these newly developed "pool cues." Hopefully, such a social limitation did not last too long, but I could not find any more information on that story of earlier repression.

In More Contemporary Times...
Like so many other things, pool began to evolve in leaps and bounds after the 1800's, as the Industrial Evolution vastly improved materials and material production. "Chalk" was just one new invention that improved the physical dynamics of the play of the game. More specifically, chalk allowed players to begin to impart "spin" (or what is now called "english" in America) to the cue ball, which drastically effected how the game was played. So, over the years chalk certainly complicated the entire game of billiards, but so did many other material devices and subjective techniques. Nowadays, pool has evolved into a richly complex sport that is played in most countries around the world by richly varying rules.

Someday, In the Future...
It is the hope of many a pool player that pool will eventually be recognized as an Olympic level sport.

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Again, much of the above history was taken from the following site:
http://pool-cue.wowshopper.com/htm-pages/service-pool-history.htm

For a more detailed history of pool, please check out the following links:
http://www.bca-pool.com/aboutus/history/start.shtml
http://www.info-on-pooltables.com/pool-table-history.html
http://www.thebilliardshop.ca/poolhistory.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiards

In the near future, please visit this web project's "Outer Links" page to investigate these, and maybe even more websites containing other information on the history of pool.

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