I never forgot the lesson that customer taught me: The reward is great, but getting there is where all the meaning is.ĭon Bartholomay of Bankshot Billiards in Albany, N.Y., has been selling Schmidt tables for 20 years, alongside restored antique tables. The dad worked right along with them, Kurt recalls.

One of Kurts favorite memories is about a customer who prepaid for a billiard table, bringing in his two sons every week with cash they earned cutting grass on weekends. The companys customers range from celebrities such as singer Justin Timberlake to middle-class American families. A basic model sells for around $2,000, while elegant high-end models such as the Carsten Diner cost more than $6,500. The tableswith names such as Kashmir, Majestic, Xanadu and Ivanhoeoften include ornate hand-turned legs, colored trim, and mother of pearl table sites, and are constructed out of oak, cherry, maple, walnut, hickory or cedar. Schmidt workers build about 600 tables a year, each requiring 22 hours or more to construct. Kurts son, Michael, a 21-year-old college student, works part-time for the company, and daughters Stephanie, 17, and Rachel, 15, often help out in the factory. Karen hand-dyes the crocheted pockets black, brown, or any color a customer selects.Ī sixth generation of Schmidts also is learning the business. She can make one pocket a day, Kurt says. Among the companys 20 employees are Kurts wife, Karen, who works in the front office, and his aunt, Gwen, 91, whos been crocheting linen pool-table pockets for more than 40 years. is the oldest family-owned billiard table manufacturer in the nation.

In 1882, Ernsts son, Oscar, began crafting the companys first pool tables. Kurts great-great grandfather, Ernst Schmidt, started the company in 1850 and was in the business of carving ivory billiard cue balls, constructing cabinetry, and repairing billiard tables and equipment. The Schmidt family has been dressing up billiard tables for generations. Theyll look at our basic models and just want to dress it up a bit. Our average customer only wants a couple of things changed, he says. Schmidt Billiard Co.s tables arent as challenging to build. Thats what makes us different from other pool companies, he says. The second, third, fourth and fifth seemed to hold, but after a week started to sag.Įventually, Schmidt solved the problem and The Carsten Dinernamed for the customercame to life. The first snapped in half from the weight of the slate.

Six months later, Id built my fifth frame and I still couldnt make it hold the slate properly, he says, referring to the tables main playing surface. The table had to be at a comfortable height for both dining and playing pool, but it couldnt be so low to touch a diners knees. Ive never met a challenge I didnt like, says Schmidt, 48, whose great-great grandfather founded the company in 1850.īuilding a 7-foot billiard table that can seat up to 12 dinner guests was a challenge because it had never been done before. So when he received a call in 2006 from a customer in Oregon asking for a custom-size pool table that also served as a dining room table, he jumped at the chance.

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