Well, Alex, tell you what: you buy me one of those $700 boards, we'll play, and I'll let you croak me, how's that?

A compromise board, perhaps? Could be, could be. Possibly the maker of your board worked with what he had available? That reminds me of the bride who would cut a few inches off of every roast she was preparing. When her husband asked her why, she said because her mother always fixed them that way. Finally, mom was invited for dinner, saw her dau. do that, and asked why. Dau. replied, "Because you always did". Mom said, "That was only because I had a very small roasting pan!"
I did try to look up the history of carom, and kept getting directed to carom billiards sites.