Rambow Question
- Thread starter Mr. Bond
- Start date
I'm no authority, but none that I know of.
Where is Mr. Hoppe when you need him.
Rick G
Rick G
If I recall correctly, Herman Rambow worked for Brunswick from 1915 to 1950. During that time, there was one period in which Rambow left Brunswick, created the Hub cue, and was persuaded to return and again work for Brunswick. I don't recall how long that departure was, and I don't know if he simply worked by himself during that time, or worked at another shop. Of course after 1950 Rambow made cues under his own name until his death in 1967. If there was any time that he worked with/for someone else, it would have been during that "sabbatical" from Brunswick before he retired from there and went out on his own. There was also a mentoring relationship between Rambow and Ray Schuler, but I know of no actual cue collaborations that came out of that relationship.
As far as the question of the oldest Rambow cue, that one needs a little clarification. Herman personally made many cues while working at Brunswick, so you'll need to qualify the question with "Brunswick era" or "post Brunswick era." In either case, probably the best person to answer that question is Deno Andrews. Deno owns the most extensive Rambow cue collection in the country, and also performs authentication services on Rambow cues. I will PM you Deno's contact info. Paul Rubino also authenticates Rambow cues, and currently owns Rambow's lathe and hand tools. One hint is that Rambow's earlier cues had the pin in the shaft rather than the butt. I have one example of these cues myself with the signed forearm.
As far as the question of the oldest Rambow cue, that one needs a little clarification. Herman personally made many cues while working at Brunswick, so you'll need to qualify the question with "Brunswick era" or "post Brunswick era." In either case, probably the best person to answer that question is Deno Andrews. Deno owns the most extensive Rambow cue collection in the country, and also performs authentication services on Rambow cues. I will PM you Deno's contact info. Paul Rubino also authenticates Rambow cues, and currently owns Rambow's lathe and hand tools. One hint is that Rambow's earlier cues had the pin in the shaft rather than the butt. I have one example of these cues myself with the signed forearm.
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Thanks for the responses. I'll give Deno a shout too - I have his number somewhere in this mess..
Mr Hoppe what you've said more or less jives with what I know to be true so far...he worked for Brunswick as a kid, went away at some point, and then eventually went back to Brunswick more or less full time until 1950...
I've dug up some interesting details pertaining to his 'away' time...I'll be posting it up in the history forum if you wanna keep an eye out for it
Mr Hoppe what you've said more or less jives with what I know to be true so far...he worked for Brunswick as a kid, went away at some point, and then eventually went back to Brunswick more or less full time until 1950...
I've dug up some interesting details pertaining to his 'away' time...I'll be posting it up in the history forum if you wanna keep an eye out for it
Herman Rambow left Brunswick and started the Superior Cue Mfg. and Billiard Supply Company in 1921, because he felt that Brunswick was not giving him credit for his idea's. Now between the years of 1921 and 1926 Herman worked on his own, since he left Brunswick and since Brunswick challenged his design of the Hub Cue, Herman had little choice but to sell cues and merchandise either to private individuals or to Brunswick's competition.
In 1925 the dispute between Brunswick and Rambow ended when Herman was awarded a Patent from the US Patent Office (Patent Number 1,527,748), shortly after this also in 1925, Herman signed his Patent Rights over to Brunswick for unknown reason's. Then in 1927 Herman was back working for Brunswick as the Head Foreman for all cue operations, until his retirement in 1950.
During the the Six Year's that Herman worked on his own from 1921 until 1927 documentation of his activities are very scarce, however, cues that were his trade mark appear, made in the same fashion and using the same construction techniques that Herman was known for. One cue style in particular shows up with the name imprints / manufacturing marks of J.E. Came of Boston, and O.L. Briggs Company and that is the Rambow Hub cue. It is certainly possible that these companies purchased these cues from Herman unmarked and that they added their name stamps to them, or it is also possible that they made these cues themselves, however, when you consider that Patent thief was as much a crime then as it is now I would suspect that Herman was involved in some manner. In addition all the Hub Cues I have seen with the Name stamps of other companies appear to have been made during the 1920's, this is due to the location of the weight stamp, and the materials used for joining and building these cues.
Hopefully more information will come to light in the future, and this is the only way to close the book on this conversation.
JIMO
In 1925 the dispute between Brunswick and Rambow ended when Herman was awarded a Patent from the US Patent Office (Patent Number 1,527,748), shortly after this also in 1925, Herman signed his Patent Rights over to Brunswick for unknown reason's. Then in 1927 Herman was back working for Brunswick as the Head Foreman for all cue operations, until his retirement in 1950.
During the the Six Year's that Herman worked on his own from 1921 until 1927 documentation of his activities are very scarce, however, cues that were his trade mark appear, made in the same fashion and using the same construction techniques that Herman was known for. One cue style in particular shows up with the name imprints / manufacturing marks of J.E. Came of Boston, and O.L. Briggs Company and that is the Rambow Hub cue. It is certainly possible that these companies purchased these cues from Herman unmarked and that they added their name stamps to them, or it is also possible that they made these cues themselves, however, when you consider that Patent thief was as much a crime then as it is now I would suspect that Herman was involved in some manner. In addition all the Hub Cues I have seen with the Name stamps of other companies appear to have been made during the 1920's, this is due to the location of the weight stamp, and the materials used for joining and building these cues.
Hopefully more information will come to light in the future, and this is the only way to close the book on this conversation.
JIMO
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Great info Craig.
Do you know any info on when and why the pin migrated from the
shaft to the butt? The Encyclopedia shows a photo of Hoppe's
personal Rambow. The pin is in the shaft.
Dale<who knows he could have looked it up>
Man, do we have a wealth of information here or what?
AzBilliards is GREAT!!! I love this place.
AzBilliards is GREAT!!! I love this place.
Do you know any info on when and why the pin migrated from the
shaft to the butt? The Encyclopedia shows a photo of Hoppe's
personal Rambow. The pin is in the shaft.
Dale<who knows he could have looked it up>
Actually, I don't have any more info on this, but it's a bit interesting that Burton Spain did the same thing: early cues had the pin in the shafts, then he changed his mind and settled on the pin in the butt.
I knew Burton built a few cues with the pin in the butt, but I thought he kept mainly putting the pin in the shaft until he passed away. I always attributed his cues not catching on as well as they deserved to the fact he built them that way.
That has also been my understanding, now if he received a special order I have been told he would put the Pin in the cues butt. I also know that in his early days of cue making he did experiment with different pin's and the pin's location but, at some point his preferred method was to put the pin in the shaft and to my knowledge he continued to do so until we lost him.
JIMO