A Brief History of Billiards and the Tools of the Trade
1910
1910 saw the arrival in England of a young Australian called George Gray who came with a reputation for red ball play. He made his first 1,000 break within weeks of his arrival and continued with a further 22 beaks over 1,000 in the course of 31 matches during the 1910-11 season. In a beak of 1,340 in January 1911, he made a sequence of no less than 289 centre pocket in-offs before being compelled to play for the top pocket. The highest of his breaks was 2,196 unfinished against Cecil Harverson, made at the Holborn Hall, London. George Gray played exclusively with Crystalate balls during this period. After this, red-ball play would become the most popular method of break-building, especially amongst the amateur players.
In 1912 Albany and Endolithic came to an arrangement to jointly market each other's balls with Bonzoline being made in America and Crystalate in Tunbridge, Kent. Although based on Hyatt's formula, the Crystalate ball was still not as popular as Bonzoline.
As late as 1915 gas lighting was still being used for billiard tables, but by this time was considered "old fashioned" with electric lighting being found in all major towns and cities.