Leather tips on pool cues was a game-changer

French Army Capt. François Mingaud, who was imprisoned in Paris in 1804 for speaking out in opposition to Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor, is widely regarded as a pioneer who helped popularize “cue sports.” 

Allie Leigh Adams, a billiards historian, said: “There was not much to do at the prison, but there was a billiard table. Mingaud, who was a keen player, would pick up a cue every day to practice.” 

In those days, “miscues” were common, because of the degree of difficulty in executing the perfect stroke. It was necessary for the wooden cue stick to precisely strike the center point of the cue ball.

 François Mingaud

It was here, while being held captive, that Mingaud discovered that a small circle of leather, when glued to the tip of a cue, added an element of texture, also referred to as grip, giving “more purchase on the ball.” Whatever – there was a marked decline in Mingaud’s frequency of miscues. 

Adams said the cue tip “innovation changed the sport of billiards forever.”

Kristina "Kiki" Grim of Karlsruhe, Germany

Mingaud also knew it was important to regularly dab the cue’s tip with a white, powdery substance known as calcium carbonate (commonly referred to as chalk). This helped preserve the life of the leather.

 His experimentations enabled him to apply twist, side-spin, topspin and backspin to the cue ball. After he was released from prison in 1807, Mingaud parlayed his trick shot artistry into “routine,” performing in the best Parisian cafes. 

His repertoire of 40 shots, dazzled patrons. They were astonished by his manipulation of the cue ball, a sight that they had never seen nor imagined possible. 

He feigned that his cue ball was “tormented by Satan himself” – all part of the act. 

One of the most notorious hustles in the history of the game of billiards was perpetrated by Jack Carr, who was employed as a billiards marker (scorer/referee) at a parlor in Bath, Somerset, England. Carr was an excellent player and won the first all-English championship in 1824. 

Carr “invented” blue chalk in about 1825. Carr led patrons to believe the product was “magic twisting chalk.”

When players chalked up with Carr’s blue chalk, they were suddenly able to make the cue ball spin and twist. He demonstrated Mingaud’s trick shots and claimed them as his own, and Carr’s side-spin shot was executed by applying “English” to the ball.

 Carr charged an exorbitant price for a box of his “magic chalk” – a half crown (two shillings and six pence), about the average weekly wage during that time. Sources say Jack Carr made a small fortune with his ingenious swindle – selling what amounted to a “powdery form” of snake oil.

 Eventually, players caught on that Carr’s chalk was ordinary, standard white chalk that had been colored blue and had zero magical properties.

Andy Janquitto of Towson, Md., an attorney and billiards enthusiast, said that in the latter part of the 19th century, the rage was Italian chalk. “It was mined in Sicily from porous volcanic rock deposits found near Mount Etna. The volcanic rock was pulverized, mixed with a blue coloring agent and formed into blocks,” Janquitto said.

In Chicago, William A. Spinks, an entrepreneur, partnered with inventor William Hoskins to formulate a chalk product to mimic the Italian chalk. They received a patent in 1897.

Their product claimed to “provide a cue tip friction enhancer that allowed the tip to better grip the cue ball.” Spinks’ Billiard Chalk became the best-selling brand in the land.