The early 1930's saw the first synthetic resin ball being sold in England by the Composition Billiard Ball Supply Co under the trade name of "Vitalite". The "composition" balls available at that time were essentially made from powdered bone, (cow's shinbone) bound together with cellulose nitrate. This new ball was one of the first to use a solid plastic resin. Other manufacturers of this type of ball in Germany and France, also began to import into the English market at this time. Initially unsuccessful, they were reintroduced towards the end of the decade.
In January 1932, Walter Lindrum made a record break of 4,137 in a match against Joe Davis at Thurston's match room. Upon the completion of the break, Davis congratulated his great rival and immediately settled down to establish a further record by playing out the remainder of the time with a break of 1,131, which he carried to 1,247 in the evening.
In the News of the World Gold Cup Tournament in February 1933, Walter Lindrum scored a break of 1,041, which included 529 consecutive close cannons. The break involved nursing the balls 2¼ times around the table.
This period saw the highest standards ever achieved in English billiards, which may well have continued had not the War intervened. After this the professional game died out almost completely and the Age of the Amateur began. With many of the best cuemen now turning their attention to snooker perhaps we will never see performances like this again.
Advances in cloths, balls, cushions and accessories, have continued throughout the 20th century bringing us to the conditions we enjoy today. Hopefully, this brief chronicle will give a flavour of how the game has developed along with with the associated equipment and facilities, which we now take for granted.