Collection:
From Our Collections

Item No:
PIXC00062

Title:
Billiard playing in 1776: from the original picture

Caption Title or Work Name:
Local option or not, we'll play billiards

Source:
Print and Picture Collection

Media Type:
Cartoons (Commentary)

Creators:

• Leopold, John - Publisher

Creation Place:
City/Town/Township: Philadelphia
State/Province: Pennsylvania

Notes:

 gifted by Miss Lydia T. Morris, 2/1926.

"Backgammon boards and billiard tables were popular among the wealthy by the 1770s, and the lower sorts, at least the men, could indulge in such recreations at the ubiquitous public taverns and coffeehouses. Writing of his New England in 1761, John Adams said, "In most country towns you will find almost every other house with a sign of entertainment before it." As early as 1722, a Charlestown, Massachusetts, tavern owner advertised tables for all who "had a Mind to Recreate themselves with a Game of Billiards.'"

Source: © 2012 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Link: http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/spring08/pop.cfm

Subjects:

• Billiard rooms
• Billiards
• Cartoons (Commentary)
• Colonials (people)
• Recreation rooms