Klondike Pool table

Earlier this year I was contacted by Gary Wasielewski (who writes at Crokinole Chronicles) about a Klondike Pool table he had picked up.  He agreed to let me document it on the blog.

Playfield details

Near the center-top of the playfield is what looks to be a divot to place a King ball for a game like cockamaroo.  But instead it looks like a button, and it makes it hard to balance a ball there.  Perhaps it's like that to make the 2nd ball precariously balanced, and thus easier to dislodge?

The trap hole mechanism

The counter weight returns the plug back to the hole once dropped

rotated photo, showing the trough beneath the trap holes

Lower playfield arches

 Front trough, cigar holders, and cue ball cup/rest

 Balls

he suspects that only the speckled balls are original.

 Cues

Legs

 

From Gary, on the provenance: 

"The last owner, who I never met but have tried to get the auction house to have contact me, shared that it was in a plantation house on site of Monocacy in 1864 and then at a hotel in Atlantic City (the Royal Palace) which was around in the late 1890s/1900s. The hotel is written in chalk at the bottom.

I do not know if Klondike Pool tables like this were sold as far back as 1864, but the evidence of the Royal Palace Hotel in Atlantic City does lineup with the known timeline for Klondike pool.

Bonus photo, a different Klondike Pool table that was sold earlier in 2024 in Quakertown PA USA.

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 Recommended reading: Shroud Waving