Bump for the Palmer Collector
ken
Thanks for the PM. I've been really busy with work so I have neglected my pool cue time.
There were no hardcore records kept. Many years ago I interviewed Pter Balner, grilled him for months to get as much information as I could. Most of Palmer's higher production numbers were in the least expensive designs. For example, they may have turned out batches of 300 cues in a week, but they were the plain cues like the 3rd catalog Model 1, or special runs.
Most of Palmer's orders in the first and 2nd catalogs and the fancier cues of the 3rd catalog were made to order. They would make several hundred blanks, complete but unfinished handles with joints, then personalize them with inlays and name labels, wrap to order, fit the shafts and ship them off in a few weeks. Also, the designs had longevity. Most models were sold over as much as a 10 year period. Even in the 1980's you could order a design from the 1960's or 1970's.
The fancy designs like the Model M, the Model J, a lot of the 2nd and 3rd catalog cues spliced with ebony, were hard to produce in quantity because the blanks were made in small shops, Palmer's or Szamboti's.
Palmer bought huge lots of Titlist blanks in the 1960's from Brunswick, crates numbering in the thousands. This gave them the ability to produce Titlist based cues in decent quantity. Before reaching this volume, which enabled Palmer to buy directly from Brunswick, Palmer went to pool rooms and bought house cues for conversions. Palmer also sold blanks, shaft dowels, and wraps to cue makers like George Balabushka.
The fanciest designs and the most collectible Palmer's like the Model M, the J, the Model 11 first catalog, the Model 20 - even though these were popular cues, the numbers were in the 400 to 700 range total for the life of the design. Even in these cues there are a myraid of variations in the designs, customization, etc because they were made to order. Palmer had many one off customs which were based on one design or another.
During the 3rd catalog years, production of the affordable designs hit their peak. These are plain cues that were not made to order and weren't personalized, sold through dealers. The 3rd catalog Number 1, for example , had a total production of 10,000+.
I have never published production numbers because hard core numbers weren't kept and all I have is estimates. So I'll just say something like "about 500" and hope people get something from that. The survival rate is a lot lower than the production rates.
The Palmer PM and PB lines were made by Adam (to Palmer's designs) and distributed by Palmer - these production numbers are high, in the several thousand per design. The Palmer Margo "Bullets" were made in the Palmer shop and had very low production.
Anyway, hope that gives you an idea.
Chris
