This Just In-I Believe a 1940 Willie Hoppe Professional

cuesblues

cuesblues

cue accumulator
Silver Member
I'm thinking this was the first year but not sure
Titlist veneers are exotic woods, possibly the first generation Willie Hoppe professional.
Still straight, and the ivory Hoppe ring has no cracks which is rare.
Also my first with the horseshoe weight stamp


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The only
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Curious as to why that is called a horseshoe weight stamp?
Shield or badge weight stamp maybe?
Horseshoes are open like a letter u;)
 
alphadog said:
Curious as to why that is called a horseshoe weight stamp?
Shield or badge weight stamp maybe?
Horseshoes are open like a letter u;)
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There is actually a little horseshoe in there with some additional design above and below the horseshoe.
The basic part of the stamp is a horseshoe
 
Very nice. Sticker looks right. Horseshoe stamp is older than the burned # stamp. They started making them in 1941-45 for the first run I believe. My grandfather's is very similar but without the horseshoe stamp and I believe it's a 1942. Here's some picts to compare. :thumbup:
 

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dbgordie said:
Very nice. Sticker looks right. Horseshoe stamp is older than the burned # stamp. They started making them in 1941-45 for the first run I believe. My grandfather's is very similar but without the horseshoe stamp and I believe it's a 1942. Here's some picts to compare. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention it but I'm interested in when they got away from the exotic wood veneers.
My Rambow Titlist colors are like yours, and 2 of them are 1942 as well.
 
Willie Hoppe endorsement started in the 1940 catalog, I've seen these stamps on all sorts of cues with both 1940s logos
 
cuesblues said:
I'm thinking this was the first year but not sure
Titlist veneers are exotic woods, possibly the first generation Willie Hoppe professional.
Still straight, and the ivory Hoppe ring has no cracks which is rare.
Also my first with the horseshoe weight stamp


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The only
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I had this cue in my possession from a friend! I sold it to Bill Grassley from CornerStone for him. It was made in France for Brunswick before 1945, that is what the crest on the forearm showing the weight denotes.
 
cuesblues said:
I forgot to mention it but I'm interested in when they got away from the exotic wood veneers.
My Rambow Titlist colors are like yours, and 2 of them are 1942 as well.
Click to expand...

I have never seen the exotic veneers past the ~1950 logo, and never seen the dyed veneers on the curly or straight B logo cues
 
mr3cushion said:
I had this cue in my possession from a friend! I sold it to Bill Grassley from CornerStone for him. It was made in France for Brunswick before 1945, that is what the crest on the forearm showing the weight denotes.
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If it was made in France before 1945 was it made during the Nazi occupation?
If not it was made prior to 1940.
Maybe the 1930's?
 
measureman said:
If it was made in France before 1945 was it made during the Nazi occupation?
If not it was made prior to 1940.
Maybe the 1930's?
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Good point, we feel it was made in 1940 or 1941, made in the first years for the Willie Hoppe professional signature cues.
In that I am asking for help I accept any advice and appreciate the participation.
I've owned quite a few of these cues but found this one unusual and seemingly rare, especially in this condition.
Maybe it was hidden away in a wine cellar in France for 70 years, uncovered when the house was sold, and sold on French Ebay a few years ago.
 
dbgordie said:
Very nice. Sticker looks right. Horseshoe stamp is older than the burned # stamp. They started making them in 1941-45 for the first run I believe. My grandfather's is very similar but without the horseshoe stamp and I believe it's a 1942. Here's some picts to compare. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

As primo as they get, I'd cherish this cue

I've seen the shield stamp on cues with the early and late 40s logos, and the 1942-43 wartime cues. I suspect one random production line in their organization used it, but all the harebrained theories continue to abound.

France, pffff
 
cuesblues said:
Good point, we feel it was made in 1940 or 1941, made in the first years for the Willie Hoppe professional signature cues.
In that I am asking for help I accept any advice and appreciate the participation.
I've owned quite a few of these cues but found this one unusual and seemingly rare, especially in this condition.
Maybe it was hidden away in a wine cellar in France for 70 years, uncovered when the house was sold, and sold on French Ebay a few years ago.
Click to expand...

If it can be proved that it was made in France during the Nazi occupation and possibly hidden away until after the war it could add a lot of value.
also if it was made during the occupation and the Nazi knew they most likely would have insisted a swastika be on it .
But thats a tough road to follow.

Just a wild guess have you looked under the bumper to see any marking or better yet a note?
 
measureman said:
If it can be proved that it was made in France during the Nazi occupation and possibly hidden away until after the war it could add a lot of value.
also if it was made during the occupation and the Nazi knew they most likely would have insisted a swastika be on it .
But thats a tough road to follow.

Just a wild guess have you looked under the bumper to see any marking or better yet a note?
Click to expand...

I was joking about being hidden away.
Chances are one of the facilities here used that stamp.
Apparently there were several facilities making cues for Brunswick.
My choice would be the one in Chicago where Herman Rambow worked made this cue.

Until this cue I envisioned a shop headed up by Rambow making all of these cues.
Now I've heard possibly 10 shops made them..
There isn't much out there about it, other than what I've read about Herman Rambow and his time at Brunswick
If fron France, it's a true survivor
 
The gentleman, my friend that asked me to help sell the WH cue has a reputation in the Pool & Billiard world beyond reproach! I'm not going to mention his name, because He's been very ill for quite some time now, this is why He engaged me.

A revered, collector/seller, Dick Abbott has concurred that the WH cues with the crest/shield on the forearm were indeed produced for Brunswick in France in the early to mid 40's.
 
mr3cushion said:
The gentleman, my friend that asked me to help sell the WH cue has a reputation in the Pool & Billiard world beyond reproach! I'm not going to mention his name, because He's been very ill for quite some time now, this is why He engaged me.

A revered, collector/seller, Dick Abbott has concurred that the WH cues with the crest/shield on the forearm were indeed produced for Brunswick in France in the early to mid 40's.
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That's exactly why I started this thread
I remember calling Dick before I knew anything about AZ Billiards about 3 fairly expensive Josswest cues I wanted to buy, just to get his opinion.
He told me it sounded like a good deal
Probably about the time AZB started, 2003.
Would love to see him posting on AZ again

Dick is also the guy who originally posted the catalog and price sheets for the National-Gandy cues we have all referenced so many times, signed by Ricco Cervantes
 
Indeed. Dick Abbott knows cues. I had the pleasure of some email exchanges with him and bought an ebony Titlist conversion from him. Smart dude, I like that. :smile:

I have heard these cues with the shield logo on the forearm are French. I have heard the splice was made in France and the cue completed here. I have also heard the entire cue was made in France. I think it may have varied.

Then there were also the Brunswick Canada cues. I have one example.

I do not yet have a French example. I was outbid on Brunswick France "propeller" logo cue and another AZB member got it.

.
 
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