William A. Spinks

William A. Spinks
Spinks, approximately age 56, in the January 1923 issue of Billiards Magazine
Born	William Alexander Spinks Jr. July 11, 1865 San Jose, California
Died	January 15, 1933(1933-01-15) (aged 67), Monrovia, California
Residence	Brooklyn, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; and San Jose, San Francisco, Duarte, and Monrovia, California
Other names	W. A. Spinks, Billy Spinks
Occupation	Billiards player, inventor, sporting goods manufacturer, oil company investor/director, farmer/horticulturalist
Years active	c. 1892–1920s
Employer	Self-employed entrepreneur
Known for	Co-invention of billiard chalk, balkline billiards world record, the Spinks cultivar of avocado
Title	Pacific Coast Billiard Champion
Spouse(s)	Clara A. (Karlson) Spinks (1891–1933)
Awards	18.2 balkline chuck nurse world record
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William Alexander Spinks Jr. (1865–1933) was an American professional player of carom billiards in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was known as William A. Spinks or (in the initialing practice common in his era) W. A. Spinks, and occasionally also referred to as Billy Spinks. In addition to being amateur Pacific Coast Billiards Champion several times, a world champion contender in more than one cue sports discipline, and an exhibition player in Europe, he became the co-inventor (with William Hoskins) in 1897 of modern billiard cue chalk.

He was originally (and again in retirement from the billiards circuit) a Californian, but spent much of his professional career in Chicago, Illinois. At his peak, his was a household name in U.S. billiards;The New York Times ranked Spinks as one of "the most brilliant players among the veterans of the game", and he still holds the world record for points scored in a row (1,010) using a particular shot type. Aside from his billiards playing career, he founded a lucrative sporting goods manufacturing business. He was both an oil company investor and director, and a flower and fruit farm operator and horticulturist, originator of the eponymous Spinks cultivar of avocado.

While Spinks was a world-class player, his lasting contributions to cue sports were the innovations he brought to the game and the industry resulting from his fascination with the abrasives used by players on the leather tips of their cue sticks.

Cue "chalk" (used since at least 1807) helps the tip better grip the cue ball (very briefly) on a stroke and prevents miscueing, as well as permitting the player to impart a great deal more spin to the ball, vital for position play and for spin-intensive shots, such as massés. In the 1800s, true chalk (generally calcium carbonate lumps, suspended from strings), and even plaster was often used, but players experimented with other powdery, abrasive substances, since true chalk had a deleterious effect on the game equipment, not only discoloring the billiard cloth but also allegedly damaging the fabric.