tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31919780105334439652012-02-08T02:03:13.188-08:00This is one of a series of pool history blogs hosted by author R.A. Dyer. Check back regularly for the newest interview excerpts, documents and other archival material related to pocket billiards history. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.poolhistory.com">www.poolhistory.com</a> or the main <a href="http://untoldstoriesbilliardshistory.blogspot.com/">Untold Stories</a> pool history blog.R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-16941464602370661072011-01-07T17:31:00.001-08:002011-01-08T06:33:12.618-08:00

Billiard Champs Entertain The Troops&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;Your browser does not support iframes.&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt; Will the wonders of the Internet never cease? I just came across this very cool footage of legends Willie Mosconi and Ralph Greenleaf sharing an exhibition stage.  (Click here to see it.) Willie appears to be at the peak of his abilities

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-75329873909838701072010-09-16T06:37:00.001-07:002010-09-16T06:37:19.495-07:00

Consider exhibit A, above. It's a handwritten note in which someone has enumerated 13 pool shots, each of which has been described with just a few words. The unnamed author uses cursive letters that slant off to the right. It also looks like he took his time writing it because the script is deliberate. Almost tidy. And judging from the crease marks, one can assume the note was at one time folded

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-46205077289212578202010-04-08T06:02:00.000-07:002010-04-09T06:17:51.494-07:00

Pool historian Charlie Ursitti pens a lovely rememberence of "Auntie Flo" on the Pool & Billiard Magazine blog. Auntie Flo was none other than Flora Mosconi, wife of the late Willie Mosconi. Flora passed away March 25 in hospice care in New Jersey.Writes Charlie: "I first met Auntie Flo back in 1977 while preparing for the ABC's Wide World of Sports telecast of the 'Great Pool Shootout' between

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-10277366414504656462010-03-31T11:20:00.001-07:002010-03-31T11:20:35.533-07:00

Flora Mosconi, the widow of Willie Mosconi and a woman credited with bringing love, warmth and stability to the pool legend's family during his long years on the road, has passed away after a long illness. She was 87.Ms. Mosconi, formerly Flora Marchini, met Willie in 1952 and they were married a year later. They lived out most of their years at a home in Haddonfield, New Jersey, not far from

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-16957132569643751652010-03-07T10:52:00.000-08:002010-03-07T11:13:51.872-08:00

Earl Strickland's emotional outbursts have earned him a lot of criticism over the years. But judging from internet traffic, they also have brought a lot of attention to the sport. As of March 7, 2010, the image of Earl smashing his pool cue in frustration during a Mosconi Cup event has been viewed 181,233 times (181,238 if you count the five times I watched it that day). I've included the video,

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-89483836614871759302010-02-26T06:57:00.001-08:002010-02-26T06:57:29.658-08:00

The National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. -- specifically its Archives Center -- has in its possession a great collection of artifacts relating to Willie Mosconi. Flora Mosconi, Willie's widow, donated the items to the prestigious museum in 2003. She also donated a cue stick, trophies, and an ivory cue ball to the Museum's Division of Cultural History.The archival image above is

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-67929946020092461912010-02-19T07:00:00.000-08:002010-02-19T07:01:01.359-08:00

BCA Instructor Roy Pastor sends in this picture (at right) of himself, circa 1969, standing next to his then-idol, Willie Mosconi. I say "next to" and not "with" because the boy had to resort to subterfuge to have the picture taken with the great champion. Mosconi was a great player, but he could also be a tough and difficult man -- as Pastor's somewhat sad story about this photograph

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-17808442018618928002010-01-15T06:07:00.000-08:002010-01-15T06:09:20.758-08:00

You read it about it The Hustler & The Champ. Here's the video proof of the most watched pool match in U.S. history. Picture and sound quality is pretty lousy, but it's the only copy out there that I have come across. You can read about the pool match in detail in my book (that's it there to the right). The famous televised pool match was put together by pool promoter Charles Ursitti and the

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-90752737772367683032009-08-07T06:32:00.000-07:002009-08-07T06:34:21.881-07:00

Who is America's best ever pool player? The poll on the top right of the pool history blog lists some all-time favorites, including recent Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Archer. I've left Willie Hoppe off the list because he was known as one of the best-ever billiards players, as opposed to one of the best-ever pool players. Neither have I included one of my personal favorites, Efren "Bata" Reyes.

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-87677357837410327752009-07-31T07:24:00.001-07:002009-07-31T07:24:41.359-07:00

Here's a mystery. In 1934, shortly after Willie Mosconi and Ralph Greenleaf competed together in a national championship, the two icons supposedly went on the road together. Mosconi told stories about the road trip in his biography, written with Stanley Cohen. Both Mosconi and Greenleaf supposedly had been contracted by Brunswick Billiards to promote the sport during a series of exhibition

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-58588517084682781292009-06-23T07:06:00.000-07:002009-06-23T07:08:48.997-07:00

Reader Brad Bowlin from Nashville, Tennessee has put out an all points bulletin for old Willie Mosconi videos. The 29 year old says he's been playing pool for the last seven years "and from Day 1 Willie Mosconi has been my idol." Brad notes that he himself has taken a very Mosconi-like dim view of hustlers ("most are thugs or thug wanna-a-bes") and admires Mosconi for the speed in which he

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-59904601462311738342008-03-27T13:40:00.001-07:002008-03-27T13:47:31.127-07:00

James Van Cise sends in this picture of a 40ish Willie Mosconi. He writes: Here's a copy of an old family heirloom. That's my cousin with the cigarette. We've always wanted to know what year and what possible location this could have been. I am from Cleveland but my cousin traveled a lot. Any ideas?He also wrote:I don't know who took the photo. ... My own guess about the year is after 1962

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-28319127151094904002008-02-21T06:24:00.000-08:002008-02-24T17:06:34.440-08:00

This appears to be a newsreel reenactment documentary relating Mosocni's world championship victory in 1948, the year his son Bill was born. Of course, there's no actual record of Mosconi making a five-rail kick shot to win it.

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-8630551762916090762007-08-19T17:45:00.003-07:002007-08-19T17:45:36.470-07:00

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-33980278122517463732007-08-19T17:45:00.001-07:002007-08-19T17:45:11.832-07:00

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-31949847043126990182007-08-18T23:04:00.000-07:002007-08-18T23:05:44.239-07:00

9-5-2005-22 Originally uploaded by jakedyer.This is Flora Mosconi, Willie Mosconi's widow. The picture was taken in the summer of 2005 near her home in New Jersey.

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-53896110419784634022007-08-18T23:03:00.000-07:002007-08-18T23:04:31.225-07:00

Mosconi affadavit Originally uploaded by jakedyer.This is an affidavit attesting to Mosconi's record straight pool run. It can be seen at americanhistory.si.edu/ archives/d9744.htm. I also have a copy provided by the Mosconi family.

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-38052864587853057732007-08-18T22:56:00.000-07:002007-08-18T23:02:52.689-07:00

Ken McCarthy writes:"When I was in the navy (1961-1965) I was stationed in Norfolk ,VA and played pool every minute I had at St. Elmos pool hall (2nd floor, a few buildings up from the YMCA). As you know this is where Wimpy played when in town, and it is where I saw him ( I still have a perfect vision of that white head standing out in the dimness along the left wall watching the goings-on).

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-79572009527756295302007-08-18T22:53:00.000-07:002007-08-18T22:55:26.001-07:00

WesternUnion Originally uploaded by jakedyer. This is a telegram that Willie Mosconi sent to Rags.

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-22940576064337225362007-08-18T22:51:00.000-07:002007-08-18T22:53:01.032-07:00

Willie MosconiJimmy Caras goes up against Mosconi in Straight pool.

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-81228751911326436792007-08-18T22:50:00.000-07:002007-08-18T22:51:54.924-07:00

Mosconi_1 Originally uploaded by jakedyer. Mike Haines sent in this photo of Mosconi, which he took in San Antonio some years back. To see more of his great photos, go to www.billporter.smugmug.com.

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-43279227353962095652007-08-18T22:49:00.000-07:002007-08-18T22:50:32.976-07:00

jockey_playing_mosconi-1 Originally uploaded by jakedyer.That's Willie on the left, and Norman "Jockey" Howard, at the right. The Jockey's son, Charles, sent in the photo. He said his dad was a full-time pool hustler."He never entered tournaments that generated national attention," said Charles, "(But) he was best man at Cornbread Red's wedding and has played with some of the greats such as

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191978010533443965.post-45370092106563123262007-08-18T22:46:00.000-07:002007-08-18T22:49:18.765-07:00

Mosconi_2 Originally uploaded by jakedyer. Mike Haines sent in this photo of Mosconi in San Antonio some years ago.For more of his great photos, go to www.billporter.smugmug.com.

R.A. Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18203284748098418423noreply@blogger.com0