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BILLIARDS AND AMERICAN CULTURE, 1660-1860 bv Kenneth Cohen A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Early American Culture. Spring 2002 © 2002 Kenneth Cohen All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number. 1412294 UMI’ UMI Microform 1412294 Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BILLIARDS AND AMERICAN CULTURE, 1660-1860 by Kenneth Cohen Approved: —YT GretchepBugglen, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: James Turds, Ph.D. jfoo6f the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture Approved:_ Mark W. Huddleston, Ph.D. Acting Dean o f the College of Arts and Sciences Approved:, Conrado M. Gempesawl Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Planning Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Preface According to an old adage in academia, art historians are frustrated artists and literary critics are failed novelists. I am not a very good billiards player, and I do not doubt that I wrote this history of the game to placate my sense of inadequacy. Of course, I like to think there are other reasons for this project. No academic historian has devoted a study to billiards and sport historians have called for scholars to fill the gap. Billiards also represents one of the few leisure activities in Early America for which we have a material record. Footballs, fishing rods, and cricket equipment from the period have not survived, but a number of museums have billiard tables, maces, cues, and balls in their collections. For a Winterthur student interested in sport and leisure, billiards' historiographic significance and material remains made the game an attractive thesis topic. But not enough material or documentary evidence survives from any single locus to entirely picture play in one place. This thesis' broad geographic and chronological boundaries partly results from the scattered nature of the evidence, but the topic also presented an opportunity to write the kind of history for which I have argued in classes over the last four years. I have drawn upon a variety of sources: published material, diaries and journals, letters, insurance records, tax records, census records, and material culture. I have gathered this evidence from New Orleans, Natchez, Charleston, Richmond, Williamsburg, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. My analysis equally iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. inspects changes and constants over time. Blending "types” of sources, writing synthetic narrative, and avoiding a teleologic emphasis on change all fit the methodological approach to writing history I have longed to try. As these components suggest, this thesis describes more than a chronology of inventions and champions. Billiard enthusiasts already have uncovered that history. Instead, I have drawn upon existing works and the primary sources listed earlier to discuss the meaning of playing billiards in Early America. My focus centers on the relationship between the evolution of the game and the culture in which it evolved. * * * * No scholar works alone. At the very least, he or she stands on the shoulders of the scholars who came before them. But the geographic diffusion of sources on Early American billiards left me unusually reliant on the local knowledge, hospitality, and cooperation of museum and billiard professionals across the country. Mimi Miller of Historic Natchez not only procured access to private homes but graciously housed me during my visit. Susanne Olson at Gore Place stained good clothes measuring the billiard table there. Joe Newell, Brunswick's official historian and reproducer of historic models, sent several packets of information and I even received one or two. An engineer and real estate agent by trade, Greg Bayman nonetheless copied by hand the rare billiard table account book at the Indiana Historical Society. My classmate Rob Rudd found as many references to billiards by accident as I did on purpose. Thanks also go to J. Paul Ericson; Phil Zea and Mark Wenger, Colonial Williamsburg; Martha Rowe, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts; Mark Anderson and Linda Eaton, Winterthur; Gerard Belliveau, New York Racquet and Tennis Club; Dave Atkinson and Mr. James Biddle, iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Andalusia; Phil Porter, Mackinac State Park; Mrs. R. Carmichael Tilghman; Susanne Crow, Indiana Historical Society; Sarah Neener, Virginia Historical Society; Siva Blake, Historic New Orleans Collection; Douglas Kent and the staff of Hyde Hall; and the staffs of Castle Tucker and Johnson Hall State Historic Site. Writing a thesis while applying to Ph.D. programs is a recipe for stress. Gretchen Buggeln quelled fears, inspired confidence, and advised revisions - often in the same meeting. My gratitude to this Superwoman of advisors exceeds words. Dozens of friends and family members also lent their encouragement and support. I especially thank my parents for their patient attention and interest. Robin Sarratt advised me to apply and come to Winterthur in the first place. She served as travel agent, research assistant, editor, and sounding board on this project. Every day, she is so much more. My grandfather introduced me to billiards. I grew up watching my uncles and him play on the table in his basement. I only wish I could have been there more often. This project is for him. V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. x INTRODUCTION: BILLIARDS AND CULTURE.................................................. I CHAPTER ONE: BILLIARDS IN AMERICA.......................................................... 16 Origins.............................................................................................................. 17 Colonial Plav and Structural Change............................................................... 21 Proliferation and Restriction............................................................................ 29 Toward "American" Billiards .......................................................................... 38 Billiards and "Modem" Sport .......................................................................... 43 CHAPTER TWO: BILLIARDS AND AMERICAN CULTURE............................. 56 Ideologies and Stereotypes.............................................................................. 56 Players................................................................................................................ 68 Spaces................................................................................................................ 84 CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................113 FIGURES........................................................................................................................122