When I moved from Philly to Chicago in 1974, one of the first things I did was buy a beat up old pool table, had it refreshed, and installed in the new family home. I loved that table. Every day after work I'd shoot a few racks to unwind.
That lasted only a couple of years until I just couldn't handle the Chicago weather and moved to San Diego. (Best move I ever made.) Unfortunately there was just no room for the table in the U-Haul moving truck. My best friend since high school, Rick Feeny, came to the rescue and I sold it to him for one penny profit (see the framed check below).
At the time of the sale, Rick and his lovely bride Chrissy also lived in the Chicago area, but subsequently moved to North Carolina and took the table with him. Since then, he has moved several times, always taking the table with him. Just recently, he moved again to South Carolina and built an addition to his new home specifically for the table.
WOW! What a beautiful room it is, and the table is spectacular. Well done, Rick. Thank you for taking such good care of "our" table.
😀
Rick has done some research on the nameplate (see photo detail below):
Jaburek and Richard
Master Tables,
1735-37 West Lake Street Chicago
The story he unearthed is that the table was "probably" made by Brunswick around the early 1900's, well over 100 years ago, and relabeled with the seller's name, a somewhat common practice at the time. It is unusual in that it has a 4-piece slate!
I'm really looking forward to playing on the table again. Rick has been taking some lessons from Loree Jon Jones, and been doing a lot more practicing than I have, so it should be a good challenge.
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