Michael Phelan (billiards player)

Historical figure of the sport of billiards Michael Phelan
Born	April 18, 1817 ( Castlecomer )
Deceased	7 October 1871 (? )
residence	New York City
nationality	/
job	Entrepreneur
Known for	Billiard table construction and as a player

Michael Phelan (born April 18, 1817 in Castlecomer , County Kilkenny , Ireland , † October 7, 1871 ) was an Irish-born American billiards player , entrepreneur and owner of billiards. He is known as "the father of US billiards" and was the first "billiards star" in his country. In 1850 he published the book "Billiard without a Master". It was the first book in the United States to deal with the science, etiquette, and rules of the game of billiards.

Daniel Webster once introduced him this way: ... inventor, writer, publisher, player, tournament organizer, billiard salon owner, promoter, designer, columnist, entrepreneur and visionary.

Early years

Man plays with a cue and checkers with a "mace" (slide).
Illustration by Michael Phelan from his book "The Game of Billard", published in 1859.

Illustration about the different points of the kick ball; Michael Phelan, "The Game of Billard", appears in 1859.

Phelan was born in Ireland in 1817 (some records say 1816 and 1819, respectively). His father emigrated to the United States that same year, initially without his family, and established himself in the billiards business, running three or four billiard parlors in different parts of New York City at the same time . With great success as a businessman and sympathy for his new home, the father brought his family from Ireland to join them in 1823. Phelan remembered his arrival in the USA, as well as the pool table in his father's room, how excited he was when he allowed him to push the balls with the club (" Mace "). It was his best pool experience at the time. He wasn't allowed to use the cue until he was 15, when, almost immediately, he became an excellent player.

Career

education

His father made him do an apprenticeship in the trade as a jeweler. But after coming of age and getting married (around 1837), Phelan was determined to start his livelihood in the pool business. His father had died shortly before, when Phelan was employed in a billiards room. By 1850 Phelan had become the greatest expert and scientific player in the country and that same year his work entitled "Billiard Without A Master" was published, which sold widely, and it was the first book in the USA that the science , Etiquette and rules of the game of billiards.

Phelan was determined to make an American pool table that would become the standard model for the whole world. He visited Europe in the autumn of 1851 and when he returned in 1852 he had the idea of ​​founding a billiard table factory. He left the east coast in the fall of 1854 and went to San Francisco , where he opened an elegant pool room that immediately became a local attraction. Phelan continued his success as a player and was rumored to be invincible. This was shown in a game in which he beat the then French top player, a certain Monsieur Damon , for which he received the unbelievable prize of US $ 10,000 at the time, and thus became the first "billiard star" in the USA.

Inventions

In 1854 he developed a new gang, which was characterized by its elastic and lasting quality. To increase the accuracy, he added the so-called diamonds to the gangs.

Company formation

Michael Phelan's "Arcadia Billiard Parlor", January 1, 1859, historical print

Factory building of "Phelan & Collender Co." approx. 1872

In 1847 Phelan opened his Arcadia Billiard Parlor on the corner of 10th Street and Broadway in Manhattan .

Tobias C. "Chris" O'Connor and Hugh William Collender (mostly: HW Collender) were among the first table manufacturers in the USA and in 1854 Phelan had shown great interest in entering the business. He bought O'Connor out and then renamed the company Phelan & Collender Co. In 1871 the company was dissolved after Phelan's death and Zollender merged with John Moses Brunswick Company to form "Brunswick & Collender Co.", today's Brunswick Corporation .

Personal

Phelan owned a summer home at Locust Point on the Shrewsbury River. He was married to Ann, with her he had two daughters, Julia, who Zollender married, Maggie, and their son George, who was a member of "Phelan & Collender".

Phelan died in 1871 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Queens , New York City.

Honors

In 1993, Phelan was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Billiard Congress of America .

Publications

• 1850: Billiards without a master (with DD Winant)
• 1858: The Game of Billiards
• 1863: The Illustrated Hand-book of Billiards (with Claudius Berger)
• 1864: Billiard almanac and New York guide
• 1870: The American billiard record

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} A Noted Billiard Match . In: The New York Times , September 4, 1887. Retrieved July 5, 2014. 
2. ↑ A Brief History Of The Noble Game Of Billiards On: Billiards Digest.com. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
3. ↑ Records of historical significance are to be preserved, and forever updated… By: Jim Parker. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
4. ^ ^{A b c} Horace Greeley: The Great Industries of the United States: Being an Historical Summary of the Origin, Growth, and Perfection of the Chief Industrial Arts of this Country . JB Burr & Hyde, 1872, p. 402 (American English, google.com ).
5. ↑ Timeline 1850–1860 . Chicago Billiards Museum. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 4, 2014. 
6. ^ ^{A b} Patrick R. Redmond: The Irish and the Making of American Sport, 1835–1920 . McFarland, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7864-7553-7 , pp. 39 ff . ( google.com ).
7. ↑ Selim Hobart Peabody, Charles Francis Richardson: The International Cyclopedia: A Compendium of Human Knowledge . Ed .: Harry Thurston Peck. 1st edition. Dodd, Mead, 1892, pp. 538 ( google.com ).
8. ^ Billiard Congress of America: Billiards: The Official Rules & Records . Billiard Congress of America, 1998, ISBN 978-1-878493-08-8 , pp. 25 ( google.com ).
9. ↑ Chauncey Mitchell Depew: 1795–1895: One Hundred Years of American Commerce ... a History of American Commerce by One Hundred Americans, with a Chronological Table of the Important Events of American Commerce and Invention Within the Past One Hundred Years . DO Haynes & Company, 1895, p. 655 ( google.com ).
10. ↑ ^{a b} U.S. Supreme Court: Supreme Court, First Department . Ed .: US Supreme Court, Public domain. Robert J. Johnston, New York City 1874, p. 161 (American English, google.com ).
11. ↑ Supreme Court . S. 4 ( google.com ).
12. ↑ Kenneth T. Jackson, Lisa Keller, Nancy Flood: The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition . Yale University Press, December 1, 2010, ISBN 978-0-300-18257-6 , pp. 639-.
13. ^ Hall of Fame Inductees: 1992-1996 . Billiards Congress of America. Retrieved July 4, 2014.

Some parts of the article were taken from the following books:

• H. Greeley's "The Great Industries of the United States: Being an Historical Summary of the Origin, Growth, and Perfection of the Chief Industrial Arts of this Country" (1872)
• SH Peabody's & CF Richardson's "The International Cyclopedia: A Compendium of Human Knowledge" (1892)
• CM Depew's "1795–1895: One Hundred Years of American Commerce ... a History of American Commerce by One Hundred Americans, with a Chronological Table of the Important Events of American Commerce and Invention Within the Past One Hundred Years" (1895)
• US Supreme Court's "Supreme Court, First Department" (1874)
• The New York Times's "A Noted Billiard Match" (1887)