Billiards and Snooker as with other sports and games has not been without its share of inventions, gimmicks, and new ideas, intended to improve the game, or at any rate make money for the individuals or companies concerned. Some were successful and some were not.
Most of us can remember the introduction of the Cast Phenolic resin ball (Super-Crystalate and Aramith) and there can be no doubt that this product was commercially successful as clubs were compelled to buy it when it became the standard and completely replaced the existing ball. Other ideas that were less successful were concrete slabs for the table bed, cast iron tables, and metal cues.
One idea that nearly succeeded was the napless cotton cloth. As with most ideas concerned with the development of equipment the motives were entirely commercial. At the time the cotton cloth was introduced, woollen napped cloth was as fundamental to the game as slate beds and tables having eight legs. That the cloth should be of wool and have a nap running from baulk to the spot was unquestioned - least of all by the companies which manufactured it. These companies were situated in the Stroud area of Gloucestershire or in Yorkshire (And still are, Ed.) Billiard table cloth must have been, and probably still is, the major consumable item in the billiards industry. A new cloth would cost a lot more than a set of balls (even snooker balls) and its purchase could not be long delayed without a deterioration in the standard of play and the level of a club's revenue. Firms which made billiards cloth sometimes made very little else and though one or two companies found other markets, covering tables remained steady and lucrative business.
Envious of the success of the conventional cloth makers, a Lancashire firm decided to launch a competitive product made of cotton. Cotton cloth had only one thing in common with its woollen counterpart - it was green! But the new product did appear to have some merits as its makers were keen to point out:-
Cotton Cloth had no Nap:- which meant that a stroke played down the table exactly mirrored the same stroke played up the table.
Cotton Cloth could be Turned:- when worn or dirty a cotton cloth could be removed, turned over, and re-fitted revealing a completely new playing surface. Whenever, in the interests of economy, a woollen cloth was turned the effect on play could only be described as a billiards nightmare. An interesting account of the, "turnability," of cotton cloths was given in W. G. Clifford's, "Billiards through the Centuries." Cotton cloth that had been in regular use at the Manchester YMCA for over seven years was removed, turned, and put on a table used for a championship match between Davis and McConachy in 1932! The Trade name was appropriately, "Janus," after the Roman God who could look both forwards and backwards.
Cotton Cloth required no Ironing:- the irksome process of ironing was totally unnecessary with cotton. All that was needed was a quick brushing to get rid of chalk marks and any other debris.
Cotton Cloth could be cleaned on the table:- It was claimed that dirt or stains could be treated, "in Situ," by wrapping a damp cloth round a brush and using a scrubbing motion. The cloth could then be left to dry.
Other benefits:- were said to be that there was no wear on the spots and that it was virtually impossible to tear. This cloth was also said to be truer and faster than wool.
It is almost impossible to determine just how good was the Janus cloth compared with its woollen rival as, naturally, there was considerable commercial bias on both sides of the argument.
Amongst all this confusion there then appeared a book, W. G. Clifford's, "Billiards through the Centuries". Clifford was a billiards writer of note having written three other books, co-written a major work on the game with Tom Reece, and, "ghosted," books by Willie Smith, A. F. Peall, Joe Davis, and Lindrum himself. The book at first appears to be an interesting account of the history of the game and the development of billiards equipment. Having got as far as the introduction of the composition ball and the, "Standfast," cushion, Clifford then writes of the Janus cloth as an important development in the game and as being significantly better than its woollen, "predecessor." It soon becomes apparent that the whole work is a subtle advertisement for cotton cloth from the fact that the rest of the book is devoted to its merits and that at the end there is a full-page, "Ad," for Janus.
Not unexpectedly the answer is to be found in Levi, who, despite his business interests, never showed any commercial bias in billiards matters. But before turning to Levi let me complete the, "for and against," arguments. In addition to the claims made above, Janus benefitted from the endorsements of no less persons than Lindrum, Davis, Newman and McConachy, and in addition, Lindrum scored his record break of 4137 on cotton, a feat which Davis immediately followed with 1247. It was quite possible that the apparent technical benefits of Janus might have led to its dominating the market, and this would have meant a monopoly as only one firm was making it - the Manchester company of F. Reddaway and Co.
The writer has in his possession the minute book of the Billiards Association and Control Council from 1927 - 1933 covering the time that the controversy was at its height. (Janus was first introduced in 1923, but it was to be a few years before it began to threaten the makers of woollen cloths.) In 1930 members of the Council had some derogatory comments to make on Janus:-
"Play very adversely affected, ". Holt.
"Very inferior, ". Rainbow.
"Cotton Cloth gets very greasy and dirty and a dropped ball leaves an impression, ". Cox.
A unanimous resolution was passed:-
"The Association deprecates the stocking and supplying of Janus cloth because it destroys the beauty of the game and is not a satisfactory medium."
Further resolution were passed that year which were even more strongly worded, and indeed, it seems that the B.A.C.C. was almost a trade cartel especially when considering that two manufacturers were always represented at meetings, Hunt and Winterbottom, and Strachan, both then - and now - major producers of woollen cloth. At one meeting Janus was referred to as, "a menace to the trade."
The financial inducements to the top players must have been diminished at about this time. Joe Davis was heard to say that Janus was, "like playing on a shirt." Lindrum, back home in Australia, was also stating a preference for woollen cloth and was certainly playing on it.
But let Riso have the last word. In his, "Billiards in the Twentieth Century," he compares the merits of the respective products. Levi writes that cotton gets very dirty after just a few months of play, and he doubts the claim that it can be effectively washed whilst still on the table. He was also of the opinion that even a new cotton cloth was inferior to wool in appearance, and that the aesthetics of the game are an important element of good billiards. Levi also points out that cotton cloth was made by only one company and that monopolies were not good for the game.
As regards the huge breaks made on Janus he comments that the skills of the top players were of such a standard that they would have made thousand breaks if tables had been covered in green satin or for that matter green blotting paper. (Levi had experimented playing nurseries on blotting paper and had found it to be an excellent medium.)
Levi was nothing if not prophetic. His comments years before on transmitted side, and on the superiority of composition over ivory balls, bear this out. His concluding sentence on the subject of Cotton v Wool says it all:-
"What I think is that in a few years the cotton billiards cloth will snuffle out and be buried in a forgotten past, with oval and circular billiards tables."
Old Riso would have been pleased to have had the last word - and that must surely be the last word on the subject.