Merry Widow
- Thread starter SDPDMDIE
- Start date
I would guess so. Isn’t no points/inlays/adornments the only requirement?
I would say so. I would also say it's a damn good playing cue, as are my D-series!
A Merry Widow is a cue made from one piece of wood. A Plain Jane is a cue with no inlays or other adornments.
With the advent of the internet, these terms have been discarded by many along with the meaning of "conversion" and Sneaky Pete. I once saw a cue described as a reconversion and "Sneaky Pete" cues with fancy collars and inlays.
With the advent of the internet, these terms have been discarded by many along with the meaning of "conversion" and Sneaky Pete. I once saw a cue described as a reconversion and "Sneaky Pete" cues with fancy collars and inlays.
To me the difference between a Plain Jane and a Merry Widow is rings and maybe fancier wood and handle. I would call that cue a "Plain Jane" but really may be either one. Plain Jane, no rings. Merry Widow, rings and maybe fancier wood or several wood types. Say something like this is a Merry Widow to me
Merry Widow butt
Plain Jane butt
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I saw a cue here described as a Sneaky Pete. It had a Phenolic joint and a wrap. I was, ummmm... nope. In-your-face Pete, maybe. Definitely not a Sneaky Pete, though.
When I started playing in the early '70s a merry widow was a cue with no rings or inlays or decoration of any kind. Just a wrap. Forearm and butt sleeve of the same wood. I don't hear the term often today, not as much as the term sneaky pete which I still hear over and over. The internet had nothing to do with doing away those terms, merry widow just went out of fashion for some people.
At some point it would be productive to select a 'glossary of terms' that most are comfortable with.
This one appears to be a good place to start:
http://billiards.colostate.edu/glossary.html
This one appears to be a good place to start:
http://billiards.colostate.edu/glossary.html
Same here. Back in the day Brunswick had a cue in their catalog, the Merry widow, that had same wood front and back with a wrap. Cues like this have been popular ever since.
This leaves the term Plane Jane without a home though since it seems to fall under merry widow. It can't be a sneaky since those are house cue look-alikes with a joint.s
If Plane Jane and Merry Widow are equal, then what do you call a cue without inlays but looking fancier with rings?
I don't know about cue terms much before the 80s and 90s, but I always thought it went from simpler to fancy,
Sneaky
Plane Jane
Merry Widow
Cues with simpler inlays, like those in the butt only or small ones in several positions
Cues with points
Cues with points and veneers = Cues with points and inlays no veneers
Cues with points, veneers and inlays
Is that structurally sound? Aren't butts joined from more than 1 piece to prevent warping?
I've always thought a 1-piece wrapless butt from a nice piece of wood would be cool, but assumed it wasn't practical.
pj
chgo
Well, I'll give a different definition. A Merry Widow is a plain cue without points, with a set of rings or ring of some type in either the buttsleeve or forearm, but only one, not the other. The widow is one, without the other. Sort of makes sense. Opinions vary.
Opinions also vary with respect to Plain Jane. I've heard it referred to sneakys, to just a wrapped maple cue, and to even a four pointer. Opinions vary on that one too.
All the best,
WW
Opinions also vary with respect to Plain Jane. I've heard it referred to sneakys, to just a wrapped maple cue, and to even a four pointer. Opinions vary on that one too.
All the best,
WW
Years ago when the DCC was still an old school pool tournament instead of the novelty it is now, I remember Pat Diveney bringing a snakewood cue there. It was sweet, snakewood bow to stern and thats one very finicky wood...
On a side note, ill be listing some more of these for sale in the near future and am curious what people think...plain jane or merry widow, maybe merry widow maker :grin:
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I'd call those Plain Janes. No rings, basic colors.
I have a Brunswick merry widow. From the research I did, using Brunswick catalogs, the merry widow had a 14 inch forearm and a matching 14 inch ebony spliced shaft. Mine has an ebony butt and forearm and maple/ebony shaft. I have seen it in one other exotic wood. I believe a brazillian rosewood. "Merry Widow" at that time was a model that only Brunswick made. I believe they stopped making it around 1936. After Brunswick stopped making the "Merry Widow", I believe the two terms became interchangeable. Of course, Brunswick wouldn't call one of their cues "Plain Jane", when "Merry Widow" sounds so much better. Marketing 101.