Chinnick's

Manufacturer: Shenango China
User: Chinnick's
Date of platter: 1927 – circa 1950

Chinnick's
Chinnick's-detail
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Notes: Following his father's lead, William C. Chinnick owned a number of businesses in Grand Rapids, Michigan, including two popular cafeterias, two billiard parlors and bowling alleys. His father's cafe originally opened in 1895 and was listed at 63 Pearl St. in Grand Rapids, Mich., according to a 1907 Kent County Patron's Directory.

In 1924, W. C. Chinnick's Stag Cafeteria was located at 41 Ionia St., NW and the Chinnick Cafeteria, Billiard Parlors and Bowling Alleys were located at 119-121 Pearl St. He also owned a second Billiard Parlor at 91-93 Monroe Street.

The Billards Digest described Chinnick's as "a poolroom that was really much more than a poolroom. With its restaurant on the first floor, pool tables on the second and bowling on the third, Chinnick's became a favorite haunt of world-class sports stars and visiting celebrities. There, Worst likely rubbed elbows with heavyweight boxing champions Jack Dempsey and Gene Turney. Middleweight champ Mickey Walker also frequented Chinnick's."

Click here to view a 1950 Chinnick's Pool Hall photo.

Among his many business ventures, W. C. Chinnick also ran a barber shop and a retail liquor business.

Sources:
1907 Kent County Patron's Directory, A-H
St. Clair County, Michigan, Marriages, 1887-1898, Book 4, Volume 2
Historic Michigan, Land of the Great Lakes: A Third Volume Devoted to Kent County, Edited by Arthur S. White, Dayton, Ohio: National Historical Association, 1924
Billiards Digest: Untold Stories

Inca Ware tan body with Chinnick's topmark in black, featuring a horse-drawn buggy or hansom cab, lamp post with sign, Pearl St. and buildings. Chinnick's is written above in black.

Photos contributed by lady*bird
ID contributed by singhsvgm, lady*bird and apPaul