The Snap Magazine
By the time the second issue (October/November 1989) was published, a staff of professional editors, writers and contributors had been assembled, complemented by a group of advisors including such pool luminaries as Benny "The Goose" Conway, Ray "Cool Cat" Martin, Mike Massey, David Howard, Floyd Baxter, and Gene "The Glove" Catron.
[4] The magazine grew and prospered until, in its second year, a series of unexpected financial reversals caused it to cease publication in December, 1991.
[5] By the end of its first year of publication, the editors realized they had erred in starting off with an odd-months issue, so they took the opportunity to rectify this and also to redesign the cover and rename the magazine.
In fact, the publishers were so intent on including as much content as possible, a typical issue often contained two to three times the word count of the other billiard magazines of the day.
The publishing of so many names of average players and covering their tournament and other activities, endeared the magazine to thousands around the country, and word of mouth caused circulation to soar.
[13] The eclectic magazine's content ranged from humorous tidbits and trivia, to ground-breaking articles on such taboo subjects as hustlers and gambling.
Led by its four cartoon Mascots, Billiard Billy, Memphis Millie, the Pool Doc, drawn by art director Thomas Pagels; and English Alice, drawn by international and history editor Pauline Masterton,[15] the magazine published humorous news columns, cartoons, rants, bar games & puzzles, and fiction.
The magazine's cavalier and humorous tone was a breath of fresh air in the mostly stolid, conservative world of billiard journalism at the time.
Neither of the magazine's founders had experience in periodical publishing, circulation or promotion, so they had to rapidly put together a group of experienced professionals to handle all the aspects of the enterprise with which they were not familiar.
[16] The popularity of The Snap generated in some players and patrons an emotional loyalty seldom seen in the world of billiard journalism, a fact that eventually led to the development of a line of T-shirts and other promotional products.
In addition, noting an unfilled need in the industry, the editors later developed a line of tournament supplies, including such items as laminated cards for conducting random draws at the beginning of tournaments; pads of signup sheets; scoring materials; rule cards; instruction books; disposable flow charts; and most popular of all, large, erasable, permanent, wall-mounted flow charts.
