The Alcock's Special Cue has an ebony butt machine-spliced onto a maple shaft. The butt has a maple front-splice edged with green veneer.
On earlier Alcock's Special Cues, like the example shown in the photograph, the front-splice is a burr maple. The Alcock's Special Cues with a burr maple front-splice were probably made before the Second World War, when exotic woods were still available.
Far more common are examples of the Alcock's Special Cue with a front-splice that is plain maple. These are later examples, which were probably made after the Second World War, when exotic woods became more difficult to obtain.
It is difficult to convince the Australians but, whilst the Alcock's Special Cue carries the Alcock's name, Alcock's Special Cues were actually made in England by Peradon & Co. Alcock & Co imported them into Australia and sold them locally.
The Thurstons' Museum in Liverpool has a board with butt-plates from many of the cues that were made by Peradon & Co during the later half of the twentieth century. The butt-plate for the Alcock's Special Cue appears on that board.
The Alcock's Special Cue was probably manufactured between the late 1930s and the 1960s. The example shown in the photograph is a pre-war example, with a very attractive burr front-splice.
The Alcock's Special Cue was the younger sister of the second edition Alcock's Champion Cue, which is a hand-spliced cue with a very similar badge.
To view the second edition Alcock's Champion Cue, click on the link to the Previous Cue, which appears on the left.
