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| AS TOLD TO US BY BRUCE BAILEY. Thank you Bruce. Brunswick built this pool table in 1895, it has 4 pieces of Italian slate, carved elephant size legs,with a weight of 1600 lbs and comes apart in 16 pieces. The Hoffman family of Mansfield purchased the table and later their young grandson Jim carved his initials on the bottom of the table. As an adult Jim was a successful business man as President of Mansfield Tire and Rubber Company. In 1972 the family had an estate sale,which we attended because my wife had an interest in an antique piece of furniture. Also we had been shopping for a pool table for our family room.But it was advertised to be auctioned at 2 PM. Then rain clouds developed so the auctioneer moved the times of featured items up to keep the crowd. The first bid was made and I significantly increased that bid then the bidding stopped dead. The challenge then was to move the accessories and the table from the 3rd floor to our home. Thru various contacts I found a pool table expert to disassemble and reassemble, and a moving company . At the auction that day there were a few unhappy prospective buyers who came at 1:30 for the table which would be auctioned at 2 PM. They complained to the personnel but they said talk to him he purchased it. They offered me much more than I paid for it so I called my wife to see if we should sell? She said we always wanted a pool table so let's keep it. This table was moved 4 times using the same pool table expert.It was a main feature at parties and family gatherings. |