Palmer Model B

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9/10/2019 7:52:00 PM

Palmer Model B

If we were able to enter the wayback machine and transport ourselves back to Upstate NY in 1975 we might find ourselves on Lake Street in Elmira, NY and Erie's Pool Hall. It was in a dilapidated building. I don't think there was even a sign outside. Patrons just knew it was there. Erie had a good number of tables in the place and it was a real pool hall. There might have been a juke box but no food, no alcohol, maybe sodas. I don't really remember.

But I went there to buy a Palmer cue. I basically knew what I wanted because everyone I knew that was even partially serious about the game shot with a Palmer. Fifty dollars would get you a Model A which I went halves on the year before with a friend. Fifty dollars in 1974 was a good amount of money.

Anyway, that partnership passed and I was buying my own cue. For some reason I decided to spend an extra $15 and spring for a Model B. I thought long and hard about that because it was basically the same cue. But a friend had one that he ordered with a 12mm shaft in the catalog colors with a wrap of red and gold. Wild. A bit too wild for me. I opted for black. A black wrap. I didn't specify anything else.

Two weeks later, I received a call from Erie that my cue was in. It had a black wrap and black and gold rings. It was a nice cue. I paid Erie the balance and walked out with the cue that would be my only cue for the next twenty five years.

I still own that cue and still shoot with it. Tips have been changed and it eventually needed to be rewrapped, but it is otherwise original.

That cue is the basis of my interest in the Model B. I am fascinated that they were made in such a variety of colors and wrap configurations. They take on a different look because of this. Some were wrapped in nylon and others in linen for an upcharge. The nylon wrapped cues were available in a single color or a three-stage wrap.

They are simple cues with no veneers and are either house cue conversions or were made from blanks supplied by Katz in NY.

It was a no charge option to have the label embossed with your name. I chose not to do so. I was already ordering a stealth cue.

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Palmer Model B

Replies & Comments

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1. billiardsforum on 9/11/2019 4:02:05 AM

   Great back story, and great collection you have there.

   Those Model B cues look really nice all lined up like that. Great photos.

2. Chopdoc on 9/11/2019 8:26:53 AM

   Great story, thanks for sharing.

   Cool pics too.

   I got my 70's Joss used in 1985 with two shafts and a Fellini. I got a McDermott for breaking a few years later, but no other cue until 2007.

   I still have the Joss. Still play it.

Palmer Model B

• Title: Palmer Model B
• Author: Type79 (Jay Fishbein)
• Published: 9/10/2019 7:52:00 PM