In the summer of 1969 it was time that the kids get involved with the family business so Belmont Avenue became our second home. We added Murray & Sons, Delmo, Fisher, Delta Tables, as well as, Brunswick to our ever growing home pool table line. We had two crews working the valley and the central coast, along with a sales representative who called on our accounts. Mecca Billiards Supplies, the service part of the business was going strong. The only difference being, no alcohol was served. 1946 to 1968 what a run! The patrons from the Old Mecca made the Golden Crown their new room to play in. In1968 the lease ran out on the” Mecca Billiards”Belmont Avenue location and the old pool hall closed for good. My parents set up shop in the Crown and ran Mecca Billiard Supplies Sales and Service out of that location. Both pool halls were about four blocks apart. In 1967 they moved the Golden Crown Pool Hall down to Belmont Avenue. Dad ran the Mecca and the ever-growing service end of the business. Mom ran the Crown and took care of the books. The Golden Crown was a family recreation center, unlike the Old Mecca, which was for the crowds over 18. The Gold Crown table succeeded the Anniversary model coming out in 1961, still in production today as the Gold Crown V. In 1964 they opened a second pool hall in Ashlan Park in Fresno the “Golden Crown” featuring Brunswick Gold Crown 1 pool tables. In 1961 they moved the old Mecca Pool Hall to Belmont Avenue in Fresno. Thus becoming the authorized dealer for Brunswick Pool Table Manufacturing.
Small’s business and became the valleys largest billiard table service, Mecca Billiard Supplies. Power staple guns and cordless drills? Not in those days! Most work done back then was by hand tools. Cushion replacement was an art in itself requiring skill and knowledge, as well as, table leveling. Pocket work was always common, hand sewing leather and the buckets braded to the top leathers. In those days cloth was put on by tack and hammer method. Back then Brunswick was king and their pool tables were the most common in the field. “Old man Small,” as Richard referred to him, was an expert billiard table mechanic. He took a liking to Richard (my dad) and decided to teach him the trade. A man named Joe Small had a pool table service business that covered the central San Joaquin Valley from the 1930’s to the early 1960’s.
#VALLEY POOL TABLE 1960S HOW TO#
As a pool hall owner it was to your advantage to learn how to maintain your own tables. The Old Mecca, as the patrons referred to it, offered to the player hamburgers, fries, soda, coffee and, of course, beer, cigarettes, cigars not to mention pool players that were not new to the game! The smoke was so thick you could hardly see to the back of the pool hall. My father felt it was their best commercial table ever. In 1945 Brunswick turned 100 years old! The Anniversary is their 100-year model. It featured 15 Brunswick (Anniversary) pool, billiard, and snooker tables. Well, in 1958 my parents bought Mecca Billiards, an old pool hall in down town Fresno.
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