George Balabushka (Russian: Григорий Антонович Балабушка Grigoriy Antonovich Balabushka; December 9, 1912 – December 5, 1975) was a Russian-born billiards (pool) cue maker, arguably the most prominent member of that profession, and is sometimes referred to as "the Stradivarius of cuemakers". His full name or last name standing alone is often used to refer to a cue stick made by him. Arriving in the U.S. in 1924, he worked at various carpentry and toy and furniture making jobs. He was an avid pool player and purchased a pool room with a business partner in 1959 and thereafter started making cues as gifts for friends, which quickly blossomed into a business when others wanted to purchase them.
Balabushka turned out approximately 1,200 handcrafted cues during his 16-year cue-making career, spanning from 1959 to his death in 1975. His cues are highly valued collectors items, made more so after being prominently featured in Martin Scorsese's 1986 film The Color of Money. Balabushka cues are generally separated into three distinct classes and time periods related to what Balabushka was using in cue construction: The Titlist blank era (1959–1966), the Burton Spain blank era (1966–1971), and the Gus Szamboti blank era (1971–1975). Original Balabushka cues with verified provenance may realize tens of thousands of dollars at auction.
Life and career
Early life
George Balabushka was born in Russia on December 9, 1912, and immigrated to the United States in 1924 at 12 years of age. His family, parents Anton and Natalie and younger sister Mary, settled in New York City. Although originally named Gregori, according to Balabushka he was given a new first name, George, by immigration officials when he was processed through Ellis Island.
Employment
Balabushka's first job was as a wooden toy designer and maker, working for the Educational Equipment Company, then located at 71 West 23rd St., in Manhattan, which made building blocks for nurseries and schools. Thereafter he built children's furniture for the Playtime Woodworking Company located on Greenwich Village's Jane Street. While on the job, Balabushka lost his middle finger to a band saw. Using a wooden mold, he made himself a replacement plastic finger of such craftsmanship that even his friends did not realize his loss until long after the incident. As Balabushka's carpentry skills deepened he began building accordions and other detailed carpentry pieces on his own time. In 1949, Balabushka applied for patent on a folding leg bracket mechanism he invented, which was granted in 1951.
Marriage and children
While working at Playtime Woodworking he met a woman named Josephine, his future wife, who then lived directly across the street from the toy company. They were married in 1941, and bought a home in Brooklyn several years later. Josephine and George had two sons, Gregory and George, both named after their father.
Josephine was not just a source of love and stability but was the rock that allowed Balabushka the ability to hone his craft. According to the writers of The Billiard Encyclopedia, "Josephine's limitless patience and strong sense of independence would afford George the time and solitude necessary that a great artist needs in order to perfect his craft."
Transition to cuemaker
Balabushka was an avid billiards player, especially of the game of straight pool, taking part in competitions and spending time with well-known practitioners of the sport. In 1959, he purchased a Brooklyn-based pool hall with partner, Frank McGown, which was located at 50th Street and 5th Avenue. While running the room, he began repairing cues as a hobby, and soon the idea was sparked to design and manufacture his own line of pool cues.
By the end of 1959, Balabushka had made a number of cues, most of which were given to friends as Christmas gifts. As this practice went on, he began receiving orders for his cues. His first cues were conversions of the popular Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company manufactured "Titlist" cues, which were one-piece cues; that is, they had no in the middle that would allow a player to the cue into two sections for ease of transport. At the time he started, there were very few private cuemakers, the industry being dominated by large manufacturers.