POOL HALLS AND CUE BALLS

THE STORY OF THE DOWNTOWN POOL HALLS

There has been many different opinions throughout the years about the where and when billiards was invented but the why has always been consistent. Entertainment and challenge has fuelled the sport as it moved from an outdoor lawn bowling game in the 1500’s to the modern indoor table game of today.

Let’s travel back in time, visit our sleepy little city by the Bay and view some lifestyle changes that are taking place.

Our young adult baby boomer population of the late 1950s and ’60s have been working full or part-time, have some spending money, and are ready for a new form of entertainment. Paul Newman famously starred in a movie called The Hustler in 1961 and pool halls are shooting up in our area.

Jack Sheridan Billiards opened in 1946 on Station Street beside the Docters Hotel and across from the train station and it’s a popular drop-in spot for the area. There’s a combination of young local teens from the neighbourhood, working-class railroaders and pool hustlers frequenting the cozy, corner pool hall. Friends meet up before the Saturday night dances just off Station Street at Club Canara, shoot some pool, have a smoke, and recount the local gossip.

Quote from Richard Hughes, local historian ‘As teens, we felt “pretty cool,” gathering for a few games after our day’s work at the grocery store and then strolling down the street to meet our girlfriends.’

Jack operated his pool room for sixteen years after returning from serving in the Second World War. For several years, this casual neighbourhood hangout was also home to Fred Bellis Billiards.

Francis’s Billiards Room at Dundas West and Church Street was another local neighbourhood spot. It was small and catered mainly to the locals who hung out, played pool and socialized with drinks, smokes and snacks. At one time, Downtown Belleville was home to FOUR jam-packed pool halls!

Lafferty Billiards
In 1936 William A. Lafferty opened Lafferty Billiards at 44 East Bridge Street in downtown Belleville. This classy little spot was the pool parlour of choice for the B.C.I. teens who streamed down Bridge Street Hill after classes.  Maurice Rollins, a fascinating gentleman from another story, was one notable teenage pool player to frequent the establishment. Maurice would often slip out the classroom window and scoot down to Lafferty’s for the afternoon.

The guys loved the little pass-thru window connected to the Starlite Lunch next door. They could buy a sandwich to eat and not have to interrupt their game. Spiro’s ham and egg sandwiches were a favourite menu item and cost 25¢.

William (Bill) was known to run a tight ship, and past customers recall a technique the no-nonsense owner used to keep the underage players out of his establishment. Bill was not very tall but solidly built and smoked a big stogie. He would get right up in a young guy’s face and start blowing smoke while talking congenially to him. Most of the young bucks couldn’t take the smoke for very long and would tear up, cough their lungs out and scurry away!

Rumours of a gun tucked under the counter may have kept them away until they grew up a bit!. The smoke was so thick it was hard to see the other end of a 12-foot table.

His great-nephew, Tom Lafferty, remembers sneaking in the back door, so his mom wouldn’t find out he’d been in the place. Bill was gruff but kind.

If a young lad had played & didn’t have the money to pay; out came the broom and the kid swept the whole place & dumped the garbage in lieu of the 10¢ payment.

‘Here’s how I recall that memorable hangout. There was an unwritten expected code of respect for the seniors and management. If you possessed those qualities, you were welcomed and accepted. It was more than just a pool hall; it was a fraternity of like-minded friends.’

This Bridge Street billiard hall is fondly remembered for its superb high stakes quality tables and strict management. Legends abound about old Bill and a friend playing some serious no-pocket, three-ball pool on Saturday afternoon.

Bill passed away in 1967, and his son, William C. Lafferty, took over the pool hall until it eventually closed.

As we round the corner on Front Street, we run into five young men who came to Canada from Greece to build a better life for their families and decided Pool Halls were the way to go! Sam and Tom Pappas, Jimmy Yeotes, Jimmy Annis and George Poulas were hardworking, adventuresome entrepreneurs. They left an indelible mark on our downtown Front Street by following their dreams of owning a business.

Pappas Pool Hall
It all began in 1910 when Sam Pappas emigrated from Tripoli, Greece, to our city and opened Pappas’s Billiards at 227 Front Street in 1920. He served the Belleville community for 34 years at this location. Also, he purchased and ran the Belmont Restaurant, which was a popular downtown spot for local lawyers and Front Street employees.

Sam and his cousin Tom Pappas operated this facility, and cousin Tom also owned and ran the Recreation Bowling Alleys on Bridge Street East, across from Laffertys Billiards. The pool hall was very close to another of Sam’s ventures, the Vanity Fair Dance Hall, but let’s save that raucous story for another day. In 1954 Sam moved to Toronto, bought a building on Bloor St West and his son, William Pappas, operated a successful pool hall in that location for 40 years.

National Billiards
The solid brick building stood a block away at the busy corner of Victoria Avenue and Front Street. It was owned by Jimmy Annis and George Poulos, who emigrated from Greece.

The two long rows of billiard tables were separated by a wall, with the front of the room used for the drinks, snacks and smokes section.

This pool hall was home to St. Michaels and NCC school crowd, downtown workers and local residents.

Quote from Richard Hughes, local historian: ‘This was my own “local” where school friends and weekend workmates from the Dominion Store just up the street could meet up. We would sharpen our dexterity by simultaneously holding a pool cue, coke, and a smoke.’ 

Jimmy Annis and George Poulos retired in 1969.

Uptown Billiards
In 1936 a young Greek immigrant named James (Jimmy) Yeotes came to Belleville. He arrived in Canada from his native village of Arcadia, Greece. Records show he ran a small pool hall at 227 Front Street (Pappas?)for a couple of years (where Rolufs is located) then bought the Uptown Billiards at 316 Front Street in 1940.

Due to its wide range of offerings, the Uptown drew a mixed crowd that enjoyed the relaxed social interaction with peers over a coke and a smoke. Jimmy’s booming voice greeted the regulars and offered up the 25¢ Yeotsie burger as the deal of the day, along with the big metal container of steamed hot dogs and buns.

Hamburgers were made under the counter in a little metal frying pan, and the buns were steamed while customers got their boots polished.

On the other side of the front room was a seven-seat, brass rail, waist-high shoeshine stand run by the congenial and hardworking Mike Salottola. Mike was a well-loved and well-respected crowd favourite at the pool hall. He ran a blocking and cleaning fedora hat business in the basement. His attention to detail was essential and vital to the well-dressed men of the era. A well-remembered quote from Mike was, ‘Guys, you no pay, you no play. ‘ The pool room was behind a full-size partition. The more talented and mature players occupied the twelve tables.

James Yeotes left a lasting memorial to his adopted city by donating the land, once occupied by the very old Belleville Arena on Turnbull Street. Belleville’s first senior citizen housing project—Yeotes Court, was constructed on this land.

After 35 years in the pool hall, Jimmy Yeotes retired and sold the business, but not the building, to his nephew, Peter Zamanis.

Peter Zamanis immigrated to Canada from Greece in 1950 under his uncle Jimmy Yeotes. Young Peter started as a shoeshine boy at the front of Uptown Billiards at 316 Front Street. He also owned and operated Mary’s Billiard Hall with his wife Mary in the late 1960’s located upstairs of where Laffertys Clothing Store now is. He then purchased the building next door to 316 Front Street in 1970 and has been there ever since.

Quote from Peter Zamanis’ ‘It was busy. We had 12 real leather chairs with brass legs and big mirrors in the shoeshine area, and when I wasn’t shining shoes, I was racking up balls at the pool tables. I was making 7 dollars a week, but it was fun, and my brother and I saved our money, and for a while, we sent our Mother back in Greece about half of what we made.’

In 1970 Peter realized there was no money in shining shoes anymore. He changed the name from the Uptown Billiards to Mr. Zeds Cue and Cushion and started selling subs, burgers and billiards.

This writers connection to the local Billiard Halls was minimals unfortunately. I do remember waiting impatiently for my future husband to win a few games of pool at Sheridans Pool Hall and then head down to the McCarthy Theatre downtown.

There was a hard and fast rule that females were not allowed inside the door and it was strictly enforced! I know this because I tried to sneak in one Halloween night and was told politely to ‘scram’!  My red and white checkered clown costume and painted face did not work well as a disguise.

The smoke filled Billiard Halls of days gone by still linger fondly in the minds of a generation of men who remember the clack of the balls, camaraderie and friendships formed around the tables. The billiard tables are have mostly faded away but the memories live on!

Pool Trivia Tidbits
The name “pool” really has nothing to do with billiards. In the 1800s, men used to “pool” their money together for bets on horse races. A “pool room” was a spot for men to gather and bet on the races back then.

To help customers pass the time while they waited for their race to start, the owners of these pool halls installed billiard tables.

Since then, “pool” and “pool hall” have become names we associate with billiards.

Billiards is played on a table without pockets.

The game only has three balls, which are red, white (with a spot), and another white one (without a spot).

Pool involves a table with six pockets. You need 15 balls, but some people play with just nine. Don’t forget the cue ball.

Snooker uses a table that has six pockets, but the table is generally larger than pool tables. However, the pockets of the snooker table, though, are smaller. You need 15 balls to play snooker. All these balls do not have a number but are red. You also need six object balls, which are numbered, along with one cue ball.

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