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GO READ MY HOME PAGE!
On Collecting
By Tim W
Originally printed in Archery Focus Magazine, Nov/Dec 2002
Hover over picture for description
The simple beauty of a recurve or longbow is something anyone can appreciate. Sometimes I stare at one of my recurves and marvel at how an object so simple and beautiful could perform so effectively. The early recurves and long bows have no moving parts or gadgets yet they provided man with all he needed, food, shelter clothing and the ability to defend himself against more powerful animals. In fact, many historians place the invention of the bow and arrow just behind fire and the wheel in importance. (Hmmm, would a burning compound bow be considered all three?).
I truly have a love affair with archery
in all its forms. But recurves and longbows hold a special place for me. In
fact, after shooting a compound in competition for many years I went back to a
recurve bow in the Olympic style. The joy of watching an arrow cutting through
the air and arcing towards the target inspires me as much today as it did when I
was a youth. Just shooting a recurve, even a modern Olympic one, makes one feel
in touch with the archers of old, and for me, my childhood as well.
My father introduced me to archery in
1970 when I was 11. By age 12 I was competing in local and state archery
tournaments in Florida. Even then I admired the beauty and graceful lines of my
fathers 1969 Hoyt Pro-Medalist. In the early 70's, the tournaments were
dominated by recurves, both one piece and take-downs. The compound was a
curiosity but in a few short years it would dominate and push the recurve aside.
Only the PAA (Professional Archers Association) and NAA would resist. By the
early 80's, recurve bows were showing up in pawn shops, garage sales, and flea
markets everywhere. Initially, my collection consisted only of old bows I had
shot in competition or hunted with. Then one day in 1984 I happened into a pawn
shop where I spotted an old Bear
Initially, I collected everything I could find and in the beginning, this wasn’t a problem since most old bows were cheap, but as time went on I learned that buying a bow in only “fair” condition wasn’t worthwhile. I also soon learned that just storing and caring for all my bows was a problem. I started revaluating what I wanted to collect. I decided to concentrate on the bows I enjoyed the most and for me this was Bear bows and take-down target bows of the 60's and 70's. They brought back good memories and in my opinion were some of the most beautiful bows of any era. I also tried to limit myself to only buying bows that were in “good” or better condition. I even wrote an article on grading the condition of bows which is on my web site (see the URL below). I also enjoy collecting the oddball metal bows of the 40's and 50's. Of course this didn’t mean I would pass up a good deal on another type bow if I saw it.
The craftsmanship and complexity of
some of these bows truly makes them pieces of art and I consider the early
bowyers to be artists. I love the laminations and exotic woods they used. Some
so complex I wonder how they ever made a profit for the amount of time it must
have taken to construct them. During the 60's, nearly all manufacturers
constructed bows using these methods trying to outdo one another and catch the
eyes of buyers. Bear, Pen Pearson, Wing, Damon Howatt were major bowyers just to
name a few. There were also many small bowyers as there are now. I especially
admire the work E. Bud Pierson used in their Sultan bows.
As my collection grew, my desire for knowledge about these bows and items grew also. I started to collect any information I could about them. Company catalogs are a wonderful source of information but can sometimes be hard to find. Generally when a new catalog came out people threw out the old one, so finding old catalogs today can be difficult and expensive. Luckily there is a CD available that has all the old Bear catalogs in picture format and is much less expensive than buying the originals. Old archery magazines are a wonderful source of information too and are generally easier to find. People tended to keep old magazines since they may have articles of interest that they may want to refer to later. Ads in these magazines can date bows and help identify them plus the articles would often talk of models or have accompanying photographs.
As the internet became more popular I
tried my luck there, nothing. Nowhere could I find any information on collecting
archery items in cyber space. In January 1998 I decided to start my own web site
that might help collectors find each other and relay some information for other
collectors desperately looking for it like I was. My nephew has a Web design
business called Neoreality.com and graciously allowed me to host it there. The
full web address of my web site called "The Archery Collector" is
www.neoreality.com/archery/collect.htm. There you will find articles written
by knowledgeable collectors like Joe St. Charles, Al Reader, and Gene Hopkins,
People have a natural curiosity about
wanting to know the value of an old item they own. I do too. We find an old item
we own like an old baseball card and we immediately think, "Gee, I wonder
what that’s worth?" I get a lots of email and I would say over 90% of it
are people asking me what the value of their bow is. That is not to say they
want to sell that bow, they just have a need to know its value. Its fun to show
off our collection and to be able to say "That bow is worth about
$150." But there are a lot of folks who just want to sell them. Personally,
I don’t worry too much about the value of my collection other than for
insurance reasons. I tell people not to worry too much about value if they plan
on keeping it-just shoot it, or display it, and enjoy! As a general rule, most
bows fall into the $50-$150 range. Only very few command higher prices but,
certainly, some exceed $1000. I've always said something is worth what someone
else will pay for it. If that is true then the best place to find a bow value is
to search eBay.com. Searching through the Archery section will give you a
feel for what people are paying for old bows.
As for shooting old bows, I do all the time. If it is a fiberglass
laminated bow in good condition, I have no problems shooting it. I enjoy seeing and feeling how a 40 year old bow shoots and comparing them to one another. Some are surprisingly fast and accurate, others aren’t. I have several favorites that I like shooting in local traditional competitions. It gives me great satisfaction to beat other traditional shooters using $600 modern longbows with my 40 year old flea market bow! Older fiberglass bows can develop slight stress cracks that may cause concern, these are typical of older bows, especially Bear bows, but they should not keep you from shooting them. These are mostly superficial and do not compromise the integrity of the bow. Of course, if it is a deep crack, don’t shoot it. The main thing is, use your common sense, if you think it may be unsafe to shoot, don't. If you do decide to shoot an old bow, be sure not to use modern string materials like fastflight. Old bows can not take the energy these strings impart on the limbs and could cause you bow to fail or break, Dacron is best for these old bows. Remember, bows were built to be shot. I'm pretty sure the early bowyers had no idea their masterpieces would be collected.
It’s nearly impossible to collect
bows and not collect related items. In fact, some of these are my favorite
things to collect. As beautiful as bows can be, arrows can be too. It takes just
as much, if not more, skill to make a set of footed, tapered target arrows,
match them and properly crest and fletch them as it takes to make a bow. Some
old arrows I have really show their craftsmanship, especially those that are
naturally finished with a modest crest. The fletching can be all shapes and
colors with some designs and cuts that might make you think Pope or Saxton
themselves hunted with them.
Old arrow heads can be very interesting too. Field points were often just reshaped pistol cartridges, .38 cal seemed to be a favorite. Broadheads are an area of archery collecting all to themselves. The variety seems endless, often showing that the ideas of today were really old ones just reworked. In fact there is a separate club, with a very active membership, dedicated to just collecting broadheads
called the American Broadhead Collector’s Club (ABCC).I also like old target tabs and gloves, armguards, sights, etc. I also collect old linen strings, the feel is so different from what we are used to today that you know this is something old. Finding strings in their original packaging is really special. Bear strings had neat plastic tubes with different color tops for different lengths and before that a small clear pouch. Back when I started shooting, using release aids was a hotly debated issue. It seems strange today but most people didn’t want them in competition. It’s even stranger to think that they were being used with recurve bows! Some of these releases can be very collectable. The one piece, solid plastic ones came in a variety of colors and shapes. The
y simple were a hook placed on the string and rotated on one finger then released by the another. Others involved straps like the Wilson product. Old bow quivers can be extremely diverse too from simple foam cut outs you slip onto the limbs to complex custom made quivers. Fred Bear patented the bow quiver in 1946. Bears original bow quiver was made of sheepskin and made from 1946 to 1956.I
f you collect archery bows
and equipment then collecting archery books and magazines are a natural. As I
said before these can be a great source of information for the collector. Some
old archery magazines were Ye Sylvan, Bowhunter, Archery, Bow and Arrow and
T.A.M just to name a few. Many old archery books can be found in old book stores
and antique shops and of course the internet. These old books can provide you
with hours of entertainment and can teach you many new ideas are just recycled
old ideas. There was a great reprinting series of old books several years ago
called "Legends of the Longbow". This series reprinted many of the old
great archery books and the Ye Sylvan magazine. To buy the original books today,
even if you could find them, would cost you several thousand dollars but the
reprints can still be found today. Gene Hopkins has an excellent article on
collecting books and magazines on his web site, visit my web site for the link.
Collecting old bows and archery equipment can be very rewarding and fun. In the nearly 30 years I have been collecting, it has given me great satisfaction and along the way I learned something about our great archery history. Just remember to collect what you enjoy most, dont worry about value to much and by all means, if it is in good enough condition, shoot it!