Brunswick Billiards: Historical highlights from the first 150 years, 1845 to 1995
October 28, 2008
1845 
John Moses Brunswick, after emigrating from Switzerland in 1834 and apprenticing in New York City and Philadelphia, establishes his Cincinnati Carriage Making Company. The product line is expanded beyond carriages to include cabinets, tables, and chairs. The company’s first billiard table was produced this year for a successful Cincinnati meatpacker. Word-of-mouth promotion quickly brought requests for more tables.
1848
Brunswick opens its first sales office in Chicago on State Street. This first branch soon expands to include two factories and an 8,000 square foot billiard parlor on Washington Street. Additional offices, sales rooms, and billiard parlors open in New Orleans in 1852 and St. Louis in 1859.
1873
Demand for Brunswick tables continues to increase. Brunswick merges with rival Julius Balke’s Great Western Billiard Table Manufactory to become The J. M. Brunswick and Balke Company. Pamphlets published two years after the great Chicago fire describe the company as manufacturing 700 tables annually, with 350 Brunswick tables in play in the city of Chicago, and selling from Canada to Mexico, with tables in every principal city in the west.
1884
Brunswick joins with another rival to become “The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company,” the largest billiard equipment operation in the world, larger than all its competitors combined. Expansion of the product line now includes elaborate and ornate front and back bars made of rich woods, flawless mirrors, and stained glass. Originally offered as special order items, demand from taverns grew so great that a new factory in Dubuque, Iowa manufactured and shipped the bars around the world. The bars began to gather design awards at international exhibitions. Many of them are still in use today, becoming focal points in popular bars and restaurants around the country.
1888
Brunswick is one of the most successful businesses in Chicago, operating from a five story building on State Street, with an additional factory located at Rush and Kinzie and one at Huron and Sedgwick that covered an entire city block with its factory, warehouse and lumber drying plant.
1890
Company President Moses Bensinger works to experiment and research better ways to make billiard tables and equipment. Important patents for rubber cushions are registered and other technical innovations evolve.
1906
Brunswick opens a new 100,000 square foot plant in Muskegon, Michigan. Among the many departments at the plant: billiard table assembly, billiard balls, cue manufacturing, and chalk. Company-owned boats brought cut maple from Brunswick’s lumber mill in Big Bay on Lake Huron; the lumber itself came from a thousand acres of Brunswick timberland near Lake Superior. The company owned its own slate quarries in Vermont and Pennsylvania. It was the world’s largest user of hardwood. Manufacturing over 400,000 cues a year, there was enough reserve maple in Brunswick drying kilns (the world’s largest) to make an additional 600,000 cues.
Brunswick Hawthorn American Pool Table
July 22, 2008
Usually in the world of pool tables, a contemporary looking billiard table will be manufactured from some kind of laminate, so it’s very refreshing to see a minimalistic style table crafted from solid hardwoods, as is the case with Brunswick Billiard’s Hawthorn American pool table.
Although the Hawthorn may look clean and simple in its looks, it’s certainly not simple in the way that it goes together…In fact, the Hawthorn is one of the hardest billiard tables to fit in the Brunswick range because of the massive sub-frame that Brunswick have incorporated into the design of this table. Read more
Website Maintenance
July 18, 2008
Thanks for visiting - we’re just upgrading AmericanBilliardCompany.co.uk at this time and we apologise for any inconvenience.
Please go to:
http://www.AmericaBilliardCompany.com for up-to-date information on Brunswick pool tables in the UK
Predator 9-Ball Tour - Master’s N.Y.
May 28, 2008
Master Billiards in Queens, N.Y. was home for 50 of the best pool players for the latest stop on the The Predator 9-Ball Tour with Mika Immonen, Shaun Wilkie, Warren Kiamco and tour-founder Tony Robles all vying for the $1,000 added prize.
Some great cue play saw Immonen rebound from the losers bracket to face off against Shin Park for the title which Park won 9-5
Predator 9-Ball Tour — May 24-25
Master Billiards, Queens, N.Y.
1. Shin Park
2. Mika Immonen
3. Frankie Hernandez
4, Warren Kiamco
5. (tie) Scott Simonetti, Tony Robles
7. (tie) Matt Krah, Eddie Abraham
Play Better Pool - The Stance
March 19, 2008
There is no real perfect stance. On the basis that you are right handed, then when you are aiming a shot, part of your weight will be on your left foot and part on your right. You would also expect to support your body just slightly on your left hand as it rests on the table. How much weight is applied to each part of your body will vary drastically from one player to the next, as will exactly how each part of your body is placed. Some expert pool players will keep both knees straight and spread their legs widely, whilst others keep their feet fairly close together and then flex both knees.
Many snooker players turning to pool, will bring with them a snooker style stance, whereby they place their chin on the cue, however this can be painful on the back as a pool table is a couple of inches lowere than a snooker table. Whatever way you set yourself up for a shot - just be sure that you can play the cue ball straight and adopt that stance each and every time you go to the table.
Pool Table Slate Bed
March 18, 2008
Since the early 1800’s, slate has been the defacto choice for billiard tables. But there’s been a lot said about how thick it needs to be and how a certain type of slate from a certain country is better than another.
Italian slate is widely considered as being the best, but in the UK, Welsh blue slate is as good, if not better than anything else ever mined. This is simply due to two factors…the density and the water content.
The density of the slate is why we still use it - there is nothing else available that can provide a better mass to weight ratio, so no other substitute will give a better response than slate. The problem is that when it is cut into slabs, slate can warp or bowl. If the slate cannot hold water, it’s almost impossible to do anything with it, but if it does hold water, then the slate can be repaired, hence why many craftsmen prefer Italian.
However, these days, price is the biggest factor. Chinese slate can be 1/3rd the price of Italian and to most people this is all that counts. But…if you want precision pool, then you have to be sure that the slate is accurate to at least 1/100″ and so far only Italian and Brazilian slate can conform to this requirement, but Brazilian slate is less expensive and therefore the most popular of quality slates.
Thickness is not really an issue. John Thurston discovered in the first part of the 19th century, that once over an inch in thickness, performance doesn’t really increase, the only major benefit is a lack of ball rumble. However once you get past 1-3/4″ in thickness, any gains in performance are off-set by the requirement to produce increasingly heavy frames, thus causing one to cancel out the other.
How To Move A Pool Table…
March 17, 2008
What to think about before you pick your table up!
If you have a quality pool table like a Brunswick pool table or a Olhausen pool table, then the last thing you really want to do is try and pick it up to move it, and there are two reasons why…
1 - You’ll rip the aprons or blinds off (these are the pieces that hang down under the cushion rails and hide the slates), which will cost a lot of money and likely rather depress you!
2 - You may well put your back out! These tables generally weigh in excess of 1/3 tonne, so please be carefull.
If you want to do it yourself, it’s quite possible, just take a little time but do be very carefull of the face side of the slates. The edges and the back of the slate are actually quite durable, but don’t chip the face or you may need a new set (at GB£600 a set!).
The problem is…trying to put it back together again. Unless you are a qualified pool table fitter you will have problems levelling the table and the slate, but you’ll also have problems re-clothing the table.
If you have to do it yourself, then drop me a line via the Contact Us form here: http://americanbilliardcompany.com/contact/ and I’d be happy to help.
Brunswick Billiards Launches Largest Collection of New Products
March 12, 2008
New Designs in Billiards Tables, Game Room Suites Offer Unique Appeal BRISTOL, Wis. (August 15, 2007) – Brunswick Billiards is offering several new billiards tables and game room products for 2007 in the industry’s largest and most diverse product lineup.
Two new additions to the Brunswick line, an updated Gold Crown® and four new tables in the company’s CONTENDER® Series, bring the total number of billiards tables to 37, according to E.J. Loferski, director of marketing for Brunswick Billiards. All billiards tables can be purchased as part of a complete game room package featuring a poker set, bar, pub table, bar stools and more.
“Families continue to invest in their homes to create fun environments where they can spend quality time together,” said Loferski. “And, today’s tables and game room suites provide a stylish focal point to what’s becoming the most popular room in the house.”
Brunswick’s new Providence™ table follows a traditional European design, featuring elegant lines for a sophisticated look that will clearly stand out in any setting. The table features an innovative ball storage box hidden behind the foot-end apron, a patent pending innovation from Brunswick. The Providence, priced at $5,899 (MSRP), is designed in a beautiful chestnut finish and also features handsomely profiled, thick rails that are complemented with mother-of-pearl, diamond-shaped rail sights. The pockets, dressed with fringe tassels, overhang beautifully carved ram’s head post-style legs.
The new Park Falls™ table features a casual design style that is rustic, yet trendy. Constructed of select pine with a distressed antique pine finish, a Park Falls is unique and would be a perfect complement to a Northwoods retreat or any home designed with casual elegance. The Park Falls, priced at $5,249 (MSRP), features leather-bucket pockets, hammered black metal rail sights and wood pegs on the sides of the head and foot rails.
“The 2007 lineup shows Brunswick’s wide range of design capabilities,” said Loferski. “We simultaneously refine the classic styles and introduce new designs of top-quality products that provide the most satisfaction for our customers. This year’s new additions to the Brunswick line will continue its tradition of high quality and excellence making it possible for more people to enjoy pool in their homes as a recreational luxury.
Brunswick Billiards and Ewa Laurance A Winning Combination
March 11, 2008
Brunswick Billiards and Ewa Mataya Laurance have inked a contract extension to continue their long-standing relationship that began in 1988. Brunswick will sponsor Laurance on the WPBA Tour, and she will continue to represent Brunswick as their professional player representative and spokesperson.”Our relationship with Ewa has been a wonderfully rewarding experience for Brunswick. Ewa is one of the most well-respected players in the sport of billiards and we are thrilled to have her continue to be the face of Brunswick,” said Brunswick Billiards President Sean Cummings.
Laurance is one of the most recognizable stars in the history of pocket billiards. She has won every major title the sport has to offer, including multiple World Titles, U.S. Open titles and National Championships, and is a member the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame. Known as “The Striking Viking,” she has also become widely recognized as one of the great international ambassadors for the sport, promoting pocket billiards worldwide.
Laurance commented, “I am delighted to continue to be a part of a first-class organization like Brunswick, which has done so much for the sport of billiards. Additionally, it is an honor to be included with some of the other legendary professional billiard players that Brunswick has sponsored over the years such as Willie Mosconi and Jimmy Caras.”
For over 160 years, Brunswick Billiards has been the leader in designing the highest quality in pool tables with a standard of superior craftsmanship preferred by experts around the world. Based in Bristol, Wis., Brunswick designs billiards tables, game room furniture and accessories and has a distribution network covering 50 countries around the world, including over 300 retail dealer locations across the United States and Canada. For more information about Brunswick Billiards and its product line, visit their Web site at www.brunswickbilliards.com
Virtual Bowling By Brunswick Added at Second GameWorks Location
March 11, 2008
MUSKEGON, Mich., March 7, 2008 – Following the success of the first installation of Virtual Bowling at GameWorks in Las Vegas, Brunswick Bowling is pleased to announce that a GameWorks location in suburban Chicago now offers Virtual Bowling as its newest attraction.GameWorks Schaumburg, which is located at the Streets of Woodfield, is a casual dining and location-based entertainment center owned by Sega Entertainment U.S.A., Inc.
“Virtual Bowling is a great new addition to our facility, which has far exceeded our expectations. It allows us to enhance our day-to-day business, as well as our birthday, corporate and group party offerings,” said Jim Olson, general manager of GameWorks Schaumburg. “It attracts customers by providing the fun experience of bowling in this world-class entertainment facility.”
Virtual Bowling is a unique and exciting new game designed to help build traffic and revenues by attracting today’s video game generation as well as traditional bowlers seeking a new and fun bowling challenge. Today’s home electronic games continue to challenge entertainment facilities’ ability to attract patrons, get them out of their homes and into an entertainment–oriented establishment. Each year it becomes more difficult to identify and select the entertainment products unique enough to attract–and then keep–the best patrons coming back for more.
Unlike the more traditional video games available and easily duplicated by the home electronics industry, Virtual Bowling blends the unique attributes of real bowling with the excitement and variety of video gaming. Complete with realistic sounds, bowlers roll a standard bowling ball down a shortened lane, where sensors detect the speed and direction of the ball as it enters the virtual world. Players choose from five fun-filled bowling themes and can select five or 10-frame games.
GameWorks Schaumburg is the first location to offer the new Virtual Bowling Target Challenge™ game - a fun and exciting new game option where players roll the ball down the lane at a colorful target to achieve the highest point value. Sound effects and visually enticing graphics add fun and excitement to every shot and highlight each score. Multiple players can compete, making Target Challenge another great game for groups and parties. Players on the same lane can choose to play the bowling game or Target Challenge at any time.
The ability to offer an exciting alternative game like Target Challenge is unique to Virtual Bowling by Brunswick as a result of patented technology which is not restricted by using a mechanical pinsetting machine. Additionally, GameWorks in Long Beach, Calif., and Minneapolis, Minn., both include 10 lanes of regulation bowling on Brunswick equipment as part of their entertainment attractions
