Did you know that Shakespear references billiards? Or that upper class Englishman used to play table tennis on their dining tables with improvised equiment? As humans, we have been very good at taking outdoor games and adapting them to be played indoors on a table. The history of modern games tables is really quite interesting!
It is interesting at times to look at something that has been around for as long as we can remember,
something we may not think of often, and discover its history. Today there are many different types of game tables on the market, but did you know that game tables originated from outdoor games that were played on the ground? And that game tables have been around for hundreds of years?
Now, the exact origination of table top games is unknown, but the first definite reference to a game table is in 1470, when French King Louis XI owned a variation of a pool table. Though where it originated is unknown, the top three possibilities are England, France and Persia, and the earliest table games were ancestors to modern billiards or pool. William Shakespeare’s play, Antony and Cleopatra (1606-1607), mentions this game with the line “let us to billiards.”
So how did it all get started? Believe it or not, a version of a game that is still enjoyed today at many family BBQ’s, croquet, is where it originated. Versions of croquet have been around for hundreds of years and were quite a popular form of entertainment. But it was seasonal. To play year round at court, the game was moved inside. Though we can only speculate, there was probably some member of a royal family that had a bad back, and all the bending over to knock the balls was not doing anyone a favor. The game was downsized and placed on a table. With the problem of the balls rolling off, it probably did not take long to add edges to the table, and then by the 1600’s rubber was added to the edges to protect the wood and give extra bounce to the balls. Thin, green (the color of grass!) cloth, usually felt or wool, was then added making a players shot more accurate, and, I imagine, it reduced the amount of random rolling that would occur on wood. In the early 1800’s, wood was replaced by slate, making the tables sturdier and smoother.
In croquet, the object was to shoot your ball through a series of hoops, and then knock a wicket at the end of the course. Many of the early game tables also had objects to knock a ball through, and some did not. In the second version the object was often to knock your players ball with the cue ball and then have it bounce off the side to strike another ball. This type of cue sports (called Carom billiards) are still around today and are played on billiard tables without pockets. But early on, it did not take long for holes to be added to the tables as a replacement to obstacles with a net under the hole to catch the ball. As a matter of fact, King Louis’ billiard table had one hole in the center. This evolved over the years to two holes, one at each end, and eventually into the six pocketed pool tables that are common today.
With the dawning of the innovative 20th century, many other types of game tables were invented. After all, if you can play croquet indoors on a table, what else? Well, hockey was brought indoors to a frictionless table surface in the early 1970’s, and air hockey was born.
When it comes to soccer, you can probably guess that it was first invented in England. In 1922, an avid fan wanted to provide an indoor game that replicated the sport he loved. Though there were similar table games to foosball as early as the 1890’s.
Table tennis also originated in England in the 1880’s. Upper-class Victorians, looking for after dinner amusement, would use everyday items to act as the equipment needed: books for a net, a cork for a ball and a cigar box lid as the racket. Ping Pong grew in popularity quite quickly. Within 20 years there were books written about the game, and the unofficial first world championship was held in 1902.
Today game tables are found in homes, clubs, schools, pubs and offices around the world, bringing hours of enjoyment and relaxation to millions of people. Some of the tidbits of history and trivia are fascinating and can explain some of the idiosyncrasies found in the different games (such as how snooker got its name). And though there is still a lot I do not know about many of these games, one thing I do know, I will never look at croquet the same way again!
