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Q & A and Talk Column

Hi Chris,

Attached are some pictures of my Palmer Original and my first stick, a plain cue that I got from Pete Margo at Palmer Billiards in Elizabeth when I lived there in the late 60’s or early 70’s. I saw him win the Stardust Open. I really think I got that plain stick (Merry Widow) for $35 new in 1969.

The Palmer Original is the stick that I have questions about. I can’t find it in any catalog. I won it from a guy in the early to mid 70’s. He told me he used to work at Palmer Billiards and that one of the mother of pearl rings cracked during production so they never put in the rest of the inlays. He said that the just finished it off plain and that he used it as his own stick.

I used that stick until recently when I bought a Ray Schuler Cue from Ray before he died. I now live in the Chicago area.

I would be happy to hear from you about this cue. You can put pictures up if they are up to your standard. I can send you higher quality images if you would like. 

I am 68 years old and still shoot with the seniors. My tournament days are over since I start to fade after 1AM.

Thanks,

Allen

January 2, 2006 Allen writes...

Hi Allen,

You may think 68 is a good excuse to knock off at 1:00 a.m.  but George Rood could be your pappy and he's going to be playing in a few all-nighters to keep spry at Derby City in the three cushion tournament next week.

Your Mystery Cue was meant to be a Model "L" second catalog. The pearl rings above the wrap slide onto the forearm of the cue on a tenon, followed by the 3/4" piece of ebony above the wrap. This gives the appearance of a solid piece of wood with a ring in it. These pieces are then glued up and machined. Sometimes in the act of turning, the tools would nick the plastic and the rings would develop a hairline split. Often these cues were sold at a discount rather than repaired.

That is one pretty piece of wood! It has a lot of character. It probably is a piece of Macassar ebony but it has a lot of heartwood in it. This gives the appearance of cocobolo or brazilian rosewood which is all very similar wood. 

I just obtained my first "L" cue a few days ago and wrote the page today if you would like to see it:

Mine is from 1968 and it has a black ebony body.  Your cue is definitely collectible and it certainly has a nice story to it. Your other cue is a Palmer Model 1 from the third catalog:

This is a good, solid players cue and was one of Palmer's best selling cues of all time. Would you believe I don't even have one?

Thank you for writing in!

all the best,

Chris

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