J.FLOWERS TRIBUTE SERIES

Important Notice:  We have seen counterfeit J.Flowers brand cases entering the market.  For more information please go to this blog post, Nothing Like The Real Thing.

J.Flowers is a trademark owned by John Barton and Sterling Gaming for the USA and Europe, The Jiasen Company for China.  If you are offered a case that you cannot verify came from one of these three sources or their authorized dealers then it is likely a knockoff or counterfeit.  Many people would love to profit off off our brand names and designs.  As a consumer you lose whenever they can defraud you into buying a case based on your expectation that we made it.  Verify, then buy. 


In the USA there is no authorized distributer for this brand other than Sterling Gaming, John Barton and their dealers.

The easy way to tell if a J.Flowers brand case was made in our shop is to see if there is a serial number inside the maker's mark.  Cases made in our shop have the year of manufacture and a three digit  number.  You may email us at Flowers@jbideas.com if you need to have a serial number authenticated before purchasing.    Production cases do not have any number in the maker's mark.  Those were made by the Jiasen company in accordance with my specifications.

Jiasen does make many cases that are outside the orignal western tooled theme that defined the old J.E.F. Q Case style.  (see below for more information)  These cases do have the J.Flowers brand but they are not authorized to be sold in the USA and are not covered under any warranty given out by John Barton or Sterling Gaming.

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Jasper "Jay" Flowers was a pioneer in cue case business.  He was an inspiration to myself and many other case makers.  Jay sold cases under the J.EF. Q Case brand. Jay stopped selling cases in 1994 and left us in 2005.  I have created this line to preserve his legacy and classic style.  I have made upgrades and added a few modern touches while retaining Jay's basic western saddle theme.  In the coming year we will be adding more patterns to emulate the variety of tooling designs that Jay was fond of using.



This is the J.EF Q Case logo.  Under it you can see the maker's mark.  For years many of us have wondered who "NH" is.  Well recently I received an email informing me that the logo is not NH but instead is NVH and it's for Nora Van Horn.  According to Nora's grandson Michael, Nora was the actual case maker and Jay was the marketing arm.  I am in conversation with Michael to find out more and see if we can't showcase Nora Van Horn more and get some background.



To see more of Jay and Nora's cases please look at the Flowers' case gallery.

Excerpted from Chris Tate's excellent online mueseum, The Palmer Collector, "Jay Flowers was a pioneer in the design of the tooled leather cue case.  These type of cases have become very popular and provide the ideal combination of good looks, durability, and protection for cues. The interior consists of felt-lined PVC tubes. "  


Chris goes on to say at a later time on a public message board in response to a debate whether I should even do this line or not;

"I spoke with Jay shortly before he passed away. His life had come full circle and he went from a raging bull to a sickly, elderly man with lung cancer. He was honored that someone wanted his story and thought the pool world had forgotten him. At one time, he rolled with the best of them including Buddy Hall and others. He was, at one time, a hard guy. I would say he was even feared. Jay did a lot he wasn't proud of in his life, but he redeemed himself through religion and his relationship with his dedicated wife.

When I called him, he was flattered that his name was remembered in the pool world, that someone wanted to know about him and his story. I felt he was on the verge of tears. I was nervous because I knew he was very ill, but I asked at least a few decent questions. If I could go back, I would have asked a lot more.

I honestly think that Jay would be proud that someone, one day, would make a case to tribute his style, and put his name on them. "

Chris

We have modernized the basic design of the case to include a longer lower pocket which is fairly standard on cue cases today.  I pretty much pioneered this size pocket on cue cases due to the invention of the jump cue and 14" jump cue handle.  While with Instroke I lengthened the lower pocket to 15" and added a zippered compartment on the side to hold a jump cue handle.  Within a few years this length pocket and jump cue compartment were fairly standard on most cases sold.  In addition I have added my signature super-protective interiors.

 Now, on to the cases......