Meet artisans and cabinet-makers gathered from around the globe who use skills and construction techniques of a bygone era. Find out how pool became universally appealing and see how this game of skill developed into one of the most popular games in America. We feature one of the leaders in custom-designed pool tables and learn how creating these handcrafted hobby pieces demands the same precision as tuning a fine instrument.

Then we travel to Hamley's in London—a place many believe to be the finest toy store in the world—where we discover the attractiveness of lead miniature figures. Collecting bright-eyed, red-cheeked toy soldiers is nostalgic. Each figure is strikingly realistic and scrupulously detailed, whether it's a reproduction of a French musketeer or a Confederate rebel.

Finally, we take a look at the toy train, which is not only still popular but also available in more models and varieties than ever before. Apart from various scales and gauges, some toy train items are clearly made for adult enthusiasts, others for collectors, while others (thankfully) are still made just for children.

Billiards and Darts Facts:

• Historians trace the origins of billiards to the lawn games, like croquet, played in the royal courts of Europe, in the mid to late 1300s.

• Ground billiards of the 1300s was actually very similar to golf and croquet. The most significant change in the evolution of the sport was the move to the table.

• The word "pool" means a collective bet; it became a term for the game when it began to be played in 19th century "pool rooms," which were then places for betting on horse races. Pool tables were installed so patrons could pass the time between races.

• American Darts was developed by the coal miners in working class regions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the 1880s.

• Darts actually originated with archers in the woods in England, who decided to shorten their arrows and throw them by hand at an ale cask set on its side.

• Blatt Billiards has been on the same premises since 1923, and houses the world's largest collection of antique pool tables.

• Blatt's will customize anything—one request was for diamond encrusted sights.

• In 1868, chemist John Hyatt invented celluloid for billiard balls. The balls sometimes sparked on collision and even exploded, requiring a search for improvements that lead to the invention of plastics.

Contact:

Blatt Billiards
809 Broadway
New York, New York 10003
212-674-8855
800-252-8855
info@blattbilliards.com
www.blattbilliards.com

Monarch Billiards
800-847-2283
sales@monarchbilliards.com
www.monarchbilliards.com

Victor Stein
718-796-5445
www.billiardencyclopedia.com

Resources:

Billiard Encyclopedia: An Illustrated History of the Sport
by Victor Stein and Paul Rubino

Friars Club
57 E.55th Street
212-751-7272
WebMonk@friarsclub.com
www.friarsclub.org

Hamley's Toy Store

• Dolls are the world's oldest toy, followed by the yo-yo. Dolls, yo-yos and teddybears are the world's most popular toys.

• Hamley's was founded in 1760; it sold dolls, soldiers and wooden horses.

• There have been model and toy trains for almost as long as there have been real railways. Indeed, some early 'models' of locomotives were made first as promotional sales tools for the early railways.

• During the 1920s toy makers took note of the increase in train sales to adult enthusiasts. Toy trains became much more realistic, adopting more accurate shapes, colors and markings.

• Loved by children and adults alike, the wooden railway system offers unequaled play value and generates new ideas as the train moves along the track.

Contact:

Hamley's
188-196 Regent Street, W1
Oxford Circus, W1
011-44-0-20-8752-2278
www.hamleys.co.uk

Resources:

Fao Schwarz
The Ultimate Toy Store
Fifth Avenue
767 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10153
212-644-9400
www.fao.com