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Pool Cue

A pool cue is typically about a yard and a half long, thin at the top and tapered down to a slightly thicker base which can be additionally weighted. They have a leather tip that contacts the cue ball or other balls depending on the game being played. With the addition of chalk on the tip friction is increased which can allow for spin to be applied to the ball a term called “English”.

The pool cue is though to have evolved from smaller croquet mallets which were adapted for indoor use. Players on the shorter tables began using the pointed end of the mallet to push the ball on the table rather than strike it with the mallet and the mallet end was eventually taken off. Why the sticks extended in length is unknown, but it have been because setting down a shorter stick made it more difficult to pick up.

Another theory on how the pool cue developed can be traced beyond the invention of croquet all the way back to the Druids who were probably the most technically advanced society of the time, much more advanced than the Romans. They had a remarkable way of measuring distances and accurately predicting astronomical events with poles roughly the same size as cue sticks. It is possible billiards were an ancient way of divination rather than a game. Much like playing cards evolved from fortune telling and tarot cards.

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