The Minn Billiard Company

4/27/2010 9:13:41 AM

The Minn Billiard Company

I am restoring a 9' billiard table. The rail plaque (pic attached) says "The Minn Billiard Company" in Milwaukee. They were established in 1885. The previous owner stated that the table was of 1903 in which I was skeptical because the body and legs have a black and white plastic band inlay. But I found (the ONLY) ad through on-line search that shows Minn Billiards Company in a 1914 issue of the Milwaukee Journal. I contacted the Public Library up there for more information. So I am less skeptical of 1903 upon my findings. Whats different is that the wood rails are supported by a 3/16" steel "L" channel (pic attached). Now I know why the rails were so heavy upon dismantling! The slate is 1.6" thick.

Do you know of anything of this company and their tables?

Regards

Doug Maki

dougmaki

The Minn Billiard Company

Replies & Comments

exgolfpro2 on 12/11/2010 6:51:19 PM
I haven't been able to find anything about minn billiards either.I bought a 9'er a couple months ago. Heavy as hell. can you email me a photo of yours? My email is exgolfpro2@yahoo.com

Thanks, Mike

BallBuster on 5/23/2022 9:24:29 AM
Your pool table looks to be newer—from somewhere around the 1950s or 1960s.

I just picked up a Minn. Billiard Company pool table for $50. It's very old. The slate is cut at the corners and they used wood for the pocket shelves. Also, the super-old pool tables all have the rails bolted into the sides of the slate instead of bolting from underneath and pulling the rail DOWN onto the slate.

Here's my Minn Billiard Company pool table still in my truck.

billiardsforum on 5/26/2022 7:21:03 AM
Your new pool table looks to be in fantastic shape! What a steal of a deal you got.

P.S. OMG I'm in love with that truck!

BallBuster on 5/26/2022 7:51:28 AM
I bought that truck from the widow of the original owner in Arlington, TX circa 1982. It was abused and sat under a tree for 11 years. I have to go over it again.

I got the pool table base in my house yesterday. It was a chore because it's heavy and the legs wouldn't unbolt. I had to get creative. Later today I'll get the slate inside. I'm doing it by myself.

BallBuster on 7/8/2022 1:38:59 PM
It is finished and is playing great. There is no ball roll-off at all, and it has decent rails. I had to modify the pockets to make them fit.

There were two unusual things about this pool table.
1. The corner pocket slate was cut straight and they used wood to make the slope where the balls fall into the pocket.
2. The other thing is that the pocket irons don't go into the rails but rest on top of the rails and bolt-in from underneath.

billiardsforum on 8/23/2022 5:34:13 AM
It looks fantastic. It has a bit of an old stately look—I really like it.

Those two unusual things you mentioned about the pockets—the slate cut, and the pocket irons—are making me think that it was originally a carom billiards table (without pockets).

It was common for carom tables to be converted to pocket billiard tables as carom billiards declined and pocket billiard games rose in popularity.

Sometimes the slates were ground down directly to the semi-circle shape required, but some companies might not have had the tools or skill, and thus, just lopped off a straight corner and built it back out with wood.

I can't be 100% sure with your particular table of course, but I've definitely seen this before.

For this same reason, the company doing the conversion may not have wanted to take the time to chisel out the recesses required for the pocket irons, or they had a pocket iron kit designed for conversions with that method of attachment.

BallBuster on 8/23/2022 8:20:31 AM
That's interesting, but did the Minn Billiard Co. make 8' pro carom billiards tables in the late 1800's?

billiardsforum on 8/23/2022 8:25:26 AM
Good point. That, I do not know.

The Minn Billiard Company

Title: The Minn Billiard Company
Author: dougmaki (Doug Maki)
Published: 4/27/2010 9:13:41 AM