Jay Flowers Cases
Jay Flowers cases pioneered 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. Jay Flowers' real name was Jasper Meeks Flowers, Jr. He was born in 1932 and was a Korean War veteran. He also played in many professional pool events. The fancy letters on his cases, "JEF", stood for Jay E. Flowers, basically a name he thought sounded snazzy. Jay knew all the pro players and took orders for the cases, handling the business end of the company.
Nora Van Horn was a talented leather crafter who had trained at Tandy and American Leather in Tampa before opening the Leather Station shop in Tampa. Nora designed and built the Flowers cue cases and Jay was the salesman, bringing in orders. These cases were unique using PVC tubes lined with felt to protect the cues. Jay had approached Nora for a repair on his cue case, then asked her to make him a case. Soon, all the pool players wanted one and Jay Flowers cues cases were born.
Jay started selling cases in the early 1980's and they quickly became very popular. These cases typically retailed for $250 in those days. His back orders quickly piled up. The cases were built and hand tooled by Nora Van Horn in her garage shop for nearly 15 years and her initials can be seen on the cases. The cases were produced until about 1994 when Nora retired
Nora's most famous case was the Miller Lite Case she designed for Steve Mizerak. Below is a photo of the logo she designed (photo courtesy of Michael Van Horn).
Once Nora retired, Jay decided to go into another line of work. He passed away in 2005 and is survived by his wife, Shirley. In the samples shown below, the designs are over 20 years old and the leather is still soft and supple showing the talented leathercraft work of Nora van Horn.
Shown below are two 1X2 cases and a pristine 2X4 case., as well as a case made for Buddy Hall.
(This page was re-written June 13, 2010 based on information provided by Michael and Hal Van Horn - thanks guys!)
Below, a black leather Flowers case, (thanks Jim Hendrickson)
Above, Jay was friends with Buddy Hall who owned this case. John Showman, the talented cue-maker, sent in this photo. Cases like this are highly collectible.
Left, an ad with Buddy Hall from the early 1990's . Thanks, Macguy.
JEF Q Cases logo in the handle area
note Handcrafted by NVH - Nora Van Horn
Above, this case is a beautiful example of a 2 X 4 Flowers case. The finish work is amazing and the leather is still soft today.
Left, a sketch of the Miller Lite, Steve Mizerak logo Nora Van Horn designed for the Flowers Miller Lite Cue Case.
Photo courtesy of Michael Van Horn.
