RUTH MCGINNIS: THE QUEEN OF BILLIARDS

Smithsonian Article

Back when pool was a serious sport that grabbed the attention of the nation, one woman smoked the competition.

One January day in 1938, a slight, wide-eyed woman named Ruth McGinnis walked into the Arcadia, a pool hall in Washington, D.C, where six of the district’s most accomplished players waited to play her. McGinnis powdered her hands. She picked up her cue. The men tried to act nonchalant, but as they watched McGinnis dispatch their friends one after another, they shifted nervously from foot to foot.

McGinnis played a straightforward game, not chatting or joking with anyone as she played, the balls clacking cleanly as she cleared the table. The manager teased that he should borrow a bowling ball from the alley next door and paint a big 8 on it, so the men stood a chance. But it was a weak joke. And she beat them all.

That was just an average day at the tables for McGinnis, who triumphed in the male enclave of the pool room, earning her the nickname “The Queen of Billiards.” Born in 1910, she started playing in her family’s Honesdale, Pennsylvania, barbershop at 7 years old: her father kept two pool tables for waiting customers, and a soapbox for tiny Ruth to stand on. She excelled.

Pool was a big deal in those days. “You have to understand that pool back in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s was in a very different space in this country than it is now,” says pool historian and author R. A. Dyer. “Now the sport is relegated to bars and play in leagues, but most prominent pool players nowadays--their names are not household words. But during McGinnis’ age this was not the case. You could find plenty of stories about Ruth McGinnis and other pool players in the New York Times.”

McGinnis’ game, popular in the 1930s, was straight pool, which is what Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason play in the iconic film The Hustler. (Today, if you walk into an American bar with pool tables, patrons are likely playing 8-ball.) In straight pool, the player calls what ball she will try for—stripes or solids doesn’t matter. If she sinks 14 balls in a row or “runs a 14,” she can use the 15th to start into another rack and continue shooting. Read more:

MINNESOTA FATS: THE MOST FAMOUS POOL PLAYER

Rudolph Wanderone ("Minnesota Fats")

Born: 19-Jan-1913 Birthplace: New York City Died: 15-Jan-1996

It was Jackie Gleason's birthday yesterday and of course his famous role in The Hustler was supposed to have been based on the life of   Rudolph Wanderone ("Minnesota Fats"). Fats was born in NYC and had reportedly never visited Minnesota. The Hustler made that nickname very lucrative and Fats dropped New York Fats for Minnesota Fats.

Fats was quite a character..not a fancy player, not a lot of English. He followed the roll of the cue ball mostly. That technique is shooting with three shots ahead in mind.  Knowing where to place the cue ball at the end of each shot was the skill.  He did use a bit of bottom/stop spin as you can see in the video I posted below. 

I became obsessed with shooting pool in the early 1960's when my step dad would take us to the American Legion and give my sister and I a bunch of quarters to play the games there. I began rolling the balls into the pockets as I wasn't tall enough to hold the stick over the table..True story ask my sister...

Then in the summer, a local park would have a Carrom board for us kids to play on.  Like pool only with colored plastic rings. Using the little cue sticks was for sissies. Our game was to flick the rings with our thumb and index fingers into the pockets..try that sometime..not easy!

Fats with the Smothers Brothers

Then..in Jr High, I was an Army brat and played tons of pool in the teen clubs. It was all I wanted to do.. all my free time was in the club shooting pool with the boys.  Girls didn't play much back then...

I only had two pool heroes, Minnesota Fats, and Willie Mosconi.  It was rare to see them on television but I did get to see them play on ABC sports now and then.  Willie was the better player but Fats was the STAR....

New York Fats changed his name to Minnesota Fats after the 1961 release of The Hustler starring Paul Newman. Wanderone had never been to Minnesota, and Walter Tevis, the author, himself denied that the movie was based on this character, though that is now essentially accepted by the pop culture lexicon.

Minnesota became well-known to television audiences after a series of matches with Willie Mosconi were broadcast by ABC Sports (and re-run several times over the years).

Great story on Fats in NY Times

Even though he appeared the fool, and wanted to, he made huge scores. At the pool tourneys he would not enter, saying someone would win a $20,000 prize and he'd beat them out of that. He did just that, taking down a series of younger pros who were better shooters.

Fats and Daughter Etta James

Like his mentor, Titanic Thompson, he never drank or smoked. This was a huge advantage. He'd wait until the young pros were drinking.

"He knew how to manage money," she said, insisting that while the late Willie Mosconi, the perennial professional champion, may have been correct in claiming to have won the vast majority of their games, "Fats always left with the money."