Attire and Etiquette for Billiards, 1918

Smoking is customary in the billiard-room, and ladies who are considerate will not object to it, though the courteous man will be careful to ask their consent. – A billiard room in a grand Gilded Age era mansion. Image source, Instagram

Billiards

In clubs and private houses where ladies are present and the lights are lit, evening dress with the dinner jacket is the most suitable and convenient dress for men billiard players. If there are no ladies about, coats are generally dispensed with.

Smoking is customary in the billiard-room, and ladies who are considerate will not object to it, though the courteous man will be careful to ask their consent.

No one should enter a billiard-room while a game is in progress, except between the strokes. Loud talking on the part of the spectators, or conduct of any kind which is liable to distract the attention of the players, is distinctly bad form.– From Emily Holt’s “Encyclopaedia of Etiquette,” 1918

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