The long prairie winter created plenty of free time for workers to idle away, whether they were single or married, residents or itinerants. One place offering solace, company and warmth, as well as a refuge from children or a crowded rooming house, was the local pool hall. When a worker could afford it, he played; if he was good, he gambled on his skill. If he had neither money nor skill the magical atmosphere of illuminated green felt and the precise click of balls colliding and dropping on others in the woven pockets absorbed him. For participants and observers, pool was serious business. In this establishment in Estevan, Northwest Territories, photographed about 1903, a pool hall and a bowling alley in the rear were both presided over by "Dad" Phillio who is standing at the bar.
