Speaking Of Herman Rambow

[One Pocket Ghost]

Thier must be more then one Herman the German. The real Herman the German I new was RAMBO The Cue Maker And he would talk too any one.

And if someone would have gotten too Herman The German RAMBO before he died the could have been filty rich.

Not only with his buisness making cues. But he had hundreds off pictures off all different pool players.

I never seen that meny pidtures any were. He had pool Trophes Magaziens. And old cue sticks from old players. It would have been like King Touts Mind. But he had everything even old pool shirts.

I use too go and see him down town with Al Fuss he Liked Herman the German RAmbo a lott. But I dont no what happened to all that stuff he had. Somebody might have thrown it all in the garbage.

Rambo and Balla Bushca were my favorite two cue sticks. They both played great. But that was the man I new Rambo.

They called him Herman the German. Sweetest and nices man I have ever meet. 100 percent geniuen. God bless Herman The German Rambo. And he spoke fluent German.

To me he will always be number one in making cues. And he didnt have all the teknowloge and knowledge about cue sticks that they have today.

But he was the greatest off his time and thier was no number two. He was in a class all by himself. But all things come too a end. No matter good or evile.

We are all hir on earth just PRACTICING. And maybe just maybe we will learn and understand what life is all about. And why we are realy her?

A tribute to Herman the German RAMBO.

Ok, thought I'd share a little related story, to Artie's post....

When I was a kid about 17 yrs. old, myself and a buddy made a trip on the subway to old downtown Chicago to Herman Rambow's cuemakers shop....we were really psyched to go there and see the cues and maybe see how they were made.....well, like Artie said, Mr. Rambow was a real nice guy, he was friendly to us, talked to us awhile and showed us some of his cues, machinery, a little about how he built them, etc....we thanked him and said we'd be back for a cue before too long when we played a little better, and scraped up the $$$....I always remember that day........now here's one more part to the story...

As I left his shop that day, I took one of his business cards with me - and 40 yrs. later I still had it sitting in a box with old mementos and things....Well, at that time, a few years ago, I heard that Victor Stein, the originator and publisher of the huge, excellent, history of pool/billiards book - The Billiard Encyclopedia, was looking for any old pictures, memorabilia, etc. re. old cuemakers for the book, and I wound up lending him the business card to photograph for the book...

So any of you who own a copy of The Billiard Encyclopedia, or get a chance to look at a copy...that's my old Herman Rambow business card, that you'll see a pic of in the book...

- Ghost

PS, And, let's not forget, Mr. Herman Rambow made great cues...

[ace]

OK...That really was a great story Mr. MOMN.

[One Pocket Ghost]

OK...That really was a great story Mr. MOMN.

Thanks ace.

[Artie Bodendorfer]

Ok, thought I'd share a little related story, to Artie's post....

When I was a kid about 17 yrs. old, myself and a buddy made a trip on the subway to old downtown Chicago to Herman Rambow's cuemakers shop....we were really psyched to go there and see the cues and maybe see how they were made.....well, like Artie said, Mr. Rambow was a real nice guy, he was friendly to us, talked to us awhile and showed us some of his cues, machinery, a little about how he built them, etc....we thanked him and said we'd be back for a cue before too long when we played a little better, and scraped up the $$$....I always remember that day........now here's one more part to the story...

As I left his shop that day, I took one of his business cards with me - and 40 yrs. later I still had it sitting in a box with old mementos and things....Well, at that time, a few years ago, I heard that Victor Stein, the originator and publisher of the huge, excellent, history of pool/billiards book - The Billiard Encyclopedia, was looking for any old pictures, memorabilia, etc. re. old cuemakers for the book, and I wound up lending him the business card to photograph for the book...

So any of you who own a copy of The Billiard Encyclopedia, or get a chance to look at a copy...that's my old Herman Rambow business card, that you'll see a pic of in the book...

- Ghost

PS, And, let's not forget, Mr. Herman Rambow made great cues...

Thats great. Thats a real winner. I wish you would have gotten all his pictures he had with the card. I no you would have had the greatest old time book ever.

And you would have even gotten some great pictures of Herman. And all those pictures. Its hard for me too let go off all those pictures I seen.

You dont happen too no what happened too those pictures? Or his old cue sticks. I guess that old saying is true.

We dont no what we have till its gone. Rambo was the pionner for the cue makers of today. And he always took time from his work too answer any qouistions.

His life was making cues and thats what he did and he would make you a great cue with two shafts. And his price was not expensive.

And he would make you a cue acording to the way you wanted him too make it. If you were not satisfied he would do whatever you wanted him to do.

Or start all over and make you a new cue again the way you wanted. Thier are some real good people in the world who do the wright thing and he was one off them.

And he was a happy go lucky man. Thank you Herman the German Rambo.

[lll]

just curious what did a rambo or ballabushka(sp?) go for back then.
what did other high quality cues go for as a comparison.
was palmer ever a good cue?

[NH Steve]

Good story, Ghost!

[lll]

Ok, thought I'd share a little related story, to Artie's post....

When I was a kid about 17 yrs. old, myself and a buddy made a trip on the subway to old downtown Chicago to Herman Rambow's cuemakers shop....we were really psyched to go there and see the cues and maybe see how they were made.....well, like Artie said, Mr. Rambow was a real nice guy, he was friendly to us, talked to us awhile and showed us some of his cues, machinery, a little about how he built them, etc....we thanked him and said we'd be back for a cue before too long when we played a little better, and scraped up the $$$....I always remember that day........now here's one more part to the story...

As I left his shop that day, I took one of his business cards with me - and 40 yrs. later I still had it sitting in a box with old mementos and things....Well, at that time, a few years ago, I heard that Victor Stein, the originator and publisher of the huge, excellent, history of pool/billiards book - The Billiard Encyclopedia, was looking for any old pictures, memorabilia, etc. re. old cuemakers for the book, and I wound up lending him the business card to photograph for the book...

So any of you who own a copy of The Billiard Encyclopedia, or get a chance to look at a copy...that's my old Herman Rambow business card, that you'll see a pic of in the book...

- Ghost

PS, And, let's not forget, Mr. Herman Rambow made great cues...

gee ghost ,what a great story. i hope you still have that card.
did you ever get to buy a rambow??

[fred bentivegna]

Herman the German

The secrets died with him

Rambow made cues well into his 90's. I had many of them. I also spent a lot of time talking to the old man. He had a million stories of all the old great players like, Hoppe, Jake Schaefer, Cochran, Layton, and others. He had made cues for all of them. I, like Artie Bodendorfer was introduced to Rambow by his fellow German, Al Fuss. Even though I was just a
ham n' egger speed, pool player at the time, Fuss told Herman that I was a top player and needed a cue stick for an upcoming big tournament. That was the only way you could get Rambow to rush out a cue for you. He could knock one out in a week if he wanted to. The usual waiting time for a cue for an ordinary customer was from four to six months.
The price for a Rambow then, was $39.95 for a cue with two shafts. He eventually kicked it up to $49.95. The thing was, once you had a new Rambow you could immediately turn it over for a quick profit, to a variety of afficianado's for a minimum of $100. Keep in mind, there were only 2 or 3 other cuemakers in the country at that time.

Rambow was very paranoid about his helpers ever discovering his secrets, and then taking them, and going out on their own. He only allowed his help to work on certain projects. When it came to balancing a cue, he would go in the back, lock the door, and do the balancing in secrecy. All I could ever get out of him was that he never used any metal to balance a cue, only different weight woods. There are no lead weights in the butt of an original Rambow cue.

Rambow only made one type joint, and it was brass. The billiard champions that played with Rambow cues all had to use a brass joint. His cues all played pretty much the same, since he used the old Brunswick, Willie Hoppe house cue for his butts. About the only input you could put into your order was the millimeter of the shaft size, and cue weight.

I haven't had a Rambow in my hand for over 30 years, so I can no longer venture an objective opinion on playability. However, he died never revealing his secret of cue balancing. He may have had an edge there.

Another little bit of trivia: Rambow would engrave his name into your cue if you requested it, and the ones he signed are worth a little more today. However, the most valuable cues that show his signature were those actually done by Charles Kimmel. The difference is obvious. Charlie Kimmel was for years the official scorekeeper for the PGA tour. He kept up the official tournament scoreboards by printing the scores in his own hand. His handwriting was world famous, and he got big money to personally write and print things.
Rambow died in the shop. He had no brethren, and most of the stuff in the shop got thrown into the garbage. A Chicago cop I met later who had had a downtown beat (where the shop was located on Wabash ave.), said he was called to the death scene. The building manager told him everything but the heavy equipment was headed to the dumpster. Mounted on the wall behind the counter were about seven old monogramed cues. They had belonged to Hoppe, Mosconi, Johnny Layton, Schaefer, etc. The manager told the cop if he wanted them he could have them. However, all the priceless memorabilia that filled the glass case at the counter got heaved out.

About 20 years later I met the cop at the Billiard Cafe in Chicago, and he told me the story and said he was going to try and sell the collection, and how much did I think it was worth. I think he wanted about seven thousand dollars, and that's as far as I go with this story. I don't know what happened to the cues after that. Today I would have to think those cues would be worth from 50 to 100k.

Beard

[One Pocket Ghost]

gee ghost ,what a great story. i hope you still have that card.
did you ever get to buy a rambow??

Yeah Larry, I did...but it took a little while longer - I think I was about 20-21 when I got it.

- Ghost

[blackeee]

Ok, thought I'd share a little related story, to Artie's post....

When I was a kid about 17 yrs. old, myself and a buddy made a trip on the subway to old downtown Chicago to Herman Rambow's cuemakers shop....we were really psyched to go there and see the cues and maybe see how they were made.....well, like Artie said, Mr. Rambow was a real nice guy, he was friendly to us, talked to us awhile and showed us some of his cues, machinery, a little about how he built them, etc....we thanked him and said we'd be back for a cue before too long when we played a little better, and scraped up the $$$....I always remember that day........now here's one more part to the story...

As I left his shop that day, I took one of his business cards with me - and 40 yrs. later I still had it sitting in a box with old mementos and things....Well, at that time, a few years ago, I heard that Victor Stein, the originator and publisher of the huge, excellent, history of pool/billiards book - The Billiard Encyclopedia, was looking for any old pictures, memorabilia, etc. re. old cuemakers for the book, and I wound up lending him the business card to photograph for the book...

So any of you who own a copy of The Billiard Encyclopedia, or get a chance to look at a copy...that's my old Herman Rambow business card, that you'll see a pic of in the book...

- Ghost

PS, And, let's not forget, Mr. Herman Rambow made great cues...

There is a guy from Oklohoma city called Herman The German. Probably in his 70s. Used to be a good snooker player. He is a friend of my best friend. They used to go to Laughlin Nev. every year to bet the baseball. Herman's wife passed several years ago and he stays home now, I've been told.

[demonrho]

The secrets died with him

... Rambow only made one type joint, and it was brass. The billiard champions that played with Rambow cues all had to use a brass joint. His cues all played pretty much the same, since he used the old Brunswick, Willie Hoppe house cue for his butts. About the only input you could put into your order was the millimeter of the shaft size, and cue weight..

My brother bought a Rambow cue around 1966 for $50.00. I just looked at it -it definitely looks like a Hoppe butt and has a brass joint. Rambow wrote an elaborate "Rambow Cue" near the joint on the butt and my brother's name opposite it. It came with two shafts 12-1/2 and 13 mm with my brother's intitials near the joint. Wonder if it is worth anything?

[ace]

My brother bought a Rambow cue around 1966 for $50.00. I just looked at it -it definitely looks like a Hoppe butt and has a brass joint. Rambow wrote an elaborate "Rambow Cue" near the joint on the butt and my brother's name opposite it. It came with two shafts 12-1/2 and 13 mm with my brother's intitials near the joint. Wonder if it is worth anything?

I will personally give you a $100 for it right now, with out even seeing it first.....LOL

[fred bentivegna]

Didn't you read my post?

My brother bought a Rambow cue around 1966 for $50.00. I just looked at it -it definitely looks like a Hoppe butt and has a brass joint. Rambow wrote an elaborate "Rambow Cue" near the joint on the butt and my brother's name opposite it. It came with two shafts 12-1/2 and 13 mm with my brother's intitials near the joint. Wonder if it is worth anything?

In all probability, your brothers cue was signed by Charlie Kimmel not Rambow. Rambow had an ordinary signature. Kimmel's Rambows are worth a lot more than the ones Herman signed.

Beard

[demonrho]

In all probability, your brothers cue was signed by Charlie Kimmel not Rambow. Rambow had an ordinary signature. Kimmel's Rambows are worth a lot more than the ones Herman signed.

Beard

Beard, thanks for all the background information. Must have been Kimmel's signing because the lettering is in that fancy curly-que style. My brother bought it when he got the straight pool bug back in high school in Illinois and has kept in very good condition - just a little fading on the linen wrap but the shafts are still true and straight. I should try it out at the pool hall just to see what the hit was like back in the day.

[SJDinPHX]

Beard, thanks for all the background information. Must have been Kimmel's signing because the lettering is in that fancy curly-que style. My brother bought it when he got the straight pool bug back in high school in Illinois and has kept in very good condition - just a little fading on the linen wrap but the shafts are still true and straight. I should try it out at the pool hall just to see what the hit was like back in the day.

Don't expect too much. I'm sure Mr. Rambow tried his best, but he was, after all, a pioneer. I don't remember any of the ones I played with being exceptional "hitting" cues.
I'm certainly no expert, but Brass never became the metal of choice for joints. (maybe too soft ?)

A modern day production cue (like a McDermott, or even cheaper)...will most likely hit as well, or better. They are certainly a collectors item though,... much like a hickory
shafted golf club.