Hey Chris,
I took a look at your site. Very nice! You sure have a lot of great information there. Convinced me I almost certainly have a Palmer. I’ve attached several photos.
I spent my freshman & sophomore years at Rutgers (Sept 1970- May 1972) and bought the cue from one of the 2 best players who used to play in the pool room in the student union there. I don’t know his name, probably didn’t know it even then, since he was way out of my league, skill-wise. He was a 9 ball player, always had money on his games. If I remember correctly he sold me the stick because he lost big and needed the dough. After I bought it I never saw him again. I don’t really remember when I bought it exactly, but it would have been in the later part of my stay there, since I remember playing a lot more pool as a sophomore. I’ve had the cue for the 33-34 years since then, but quit playing when I graduated from college. I started playing again a few months ago and use the stick regularly. It’s been kept inside my home, in a closet the entire time.
I have the case I bought with it, just a cheap vinyl job without any pockets or pouches or anything. I never saw any other case. When I bought the cue it had a leather wrap glued over top of the (probably Dacron) wrap you see in the photos. The job was poorly done and made the cue look bad so I got it cheap, $25 if I remember correctly. Anyway, I removed the leather (or vinyl, I’m not sure now) and it came off relatively easily, without damaging anything underneath except for some discoloration of the wrapping.
The stick is very heavy, 23 oz. There are 5 slightly raised circles barely visible, and slightly feelable, under the top area of the wrap. My guess is that they are lead weights, added to the stick to make it so heavy. In the last two photos you might be able to see them, but it’s hard to get the angle of the light right so they show up. There are four lined up on the same axis near the top of the wrap, and one more at 90 degrees to them, below them. There may be more but that’s all I can see. I have no idea as to whether they were done at the factory or were modifications done afterwards. If the wrapping were removed there might be additional clues.
I have never removed the wrapping or had any work done to it, but it could benefit from refinishing and certainly from rewrapping. It should probably also have the weights removed and the holes plugged too, though I’ve always liked the heft. The black ferrules were on the stick when I bought it, but I don’t know if they’re original. I don’t even know how long the cue was owned, or by how
The handle is 28 ½“ from the flat part of the joint to the bottom of the cap . Add another ¼” for the black rubber bumper. The two shafts are 27” and 27 7/8“ from the flat part of the joint to the top of the ferrule, not including the tip. Other players cues seem to be an inch longer than my cue with the longer shaft. Were cues shorter in the late 60’s?
Thanks for your taking the time to answer my questions, I appreciate it.
John
