Howard Hill Bow - Find

[adb]

Cool. Very cool.

[Josh]

That is the coolest thing I have seen all day!!!!  Thanks for sharing.   -josh

[hotrod99]

The one in my right hand looked like Osage...not 100% sure.  But the black one in my left hand... was bamboo backed for sure.  The man said the black one was used by Howard and the orange was built by howard for the mans dad.

[staveshaver]

That's what I thought also,but at 70 years old I would think it would be darker than that.  Could you estimate the dimensions of the Osage bow please? I am definitely going to build myself a Hill bow after seeing this post. Thanks again hotrod99

[hotrod99]

Here is my shoot at the dimensions...   

It was about 66-68" tip to tip, I'd say at least 2" wide at the fades and about 1/2 - 5/8th " at the tips.  the handle was about 1 1/4" wide and I guess at 1 1/2 - 2" deep.   The bamboo one was about 6" longer!

I'm gonna call the guy and ask him to give me the details...  all he can say is no.   

[woodstick]

i got well yall know. nice even if they were for sale dang who has that kinda money. luckey to hold em.

[xin]

Staveshaver, I'm with you.  All  the bows I've seen that were not even close to 70 yrs old were allmost black.  My Osage bows that are not much more than 10 yrs old are very dark.  Maybe this bow has some finish that prevents oxidation from taking place.

[staveshaver]

It is possible that it is an exotic , I'm sure H.H. had access to all kinds of wood. Maybee it spent 60 of 70 years under a bed ,or in a closet somewhere , if so, that would be an American tragedy . Those bows should be making meat !

[Pat B]

The wood could be lemonwood(Digame), a very common bow wood for that era. Hard to tell from the pics but that would be my guess.

[Canyon]

Just saw this. I have had my eyes on those bows for years. As the patrol Deputy there I did regular business checks at that Trading Post. It is run by the son of Don Carson. Don Carson was a friend of Howard Hill and Ted Fry has a book about Howard Hill written by Don for sale at Raptor Archery. Guess I need to swing by and make sure he remembers me as I had also asked about the possibility of getting those bows maybe for inclusion in a museum type setting.

[stickbender]

  Ooooooooh do I see an auction getting ready here?   Now taking bids.......

                                                                    Wayne

[JW_Halverson]

At auction, items like those two bows with their provenance and history intact always sell for significantly higher prices than the run of the mill "dunno where it came from" items.  And when you add in our love for history, Howard Hill, and and fine workmanship, the bidding can get pretty bloody unreasonable. 

A friend of mine split the price of a recurve with his dad when he turned 16.  He still has the bow (in pristine condition) AND the receipt from the store where he bought it.  The receipt is signed, "Happy Hunting, Fred Bear".  His son has dibs, the rotten little blankety-blank!

[stickbender]

     Yeah, I know when my neighbor's sister got one of the first Barbie Doll's, I thought what a piece of crap.    Uh, huh, wish I had bought a couple for myself, and kept them in the box......  Man, that bow is something to have!    Signed receipt and all!  I still have a Bear, Grizzly.  I got it for Christmas, when I was 14 years old.  It is 45 lb.s but very fast.  Yeah, I see things like this with old guns, and I just want to go buy crack and give it to them.......   My Cousin had my Uncle's Gibson guitar, that he had, since the late 40's, and kept it in the old dilapidated case, in the closet that leaked !  I wanted to bitch slap her!  I tried to buy it from her, nope!   :(I tried to buy her an air tight case for it.....nope!  Arrrrgghhh, she passed away a little while ago, and now her sister has it. At least she will take better care of it.  I haven't seen it since the last time my uncle was alive, which is about 20 yrs. ago.  That thing had a sound to die for!   I would dearly love to have it.  Not only for the sentimental value of it, but for the sound it produced! You just have to wonder how many things like that are just sitting in a closet, or garage, or old barn.  I know when I was a teenager, my Mother, Father, and Brother, and I were driving home from my Aunt and Uncle's farm in Wisconsin, and I can't remember if it was Indiana, or Illinois, but my Brother, and I looked at an old barn, near the road, and inside, was a pile of hay, and peaking out was the grill, and the huge head lamps of an old car !  Nope, can't stop, we will have to make a trip some other time.......uh, and oh, look, the farmer has flying pigs....... But they are out there.  I was working with a friend of mine for the summer, when I was in high school, and his family worked the packing house circuit, and I was in South Carolina, and next to the little motel we were staying at, was an antique shop, and they had all kinds of  stuff.  There was a samurai sword, with leather scabbard, and the colored tassels, and the bamboo pin that kept the wrapped handle on, and the makers name stamped in the handle, and the price was $28.00 !!!!!   I only had about twenty dollars at the time, and I still had to go to North Carolina and work there, and then get a ticket for a bus to come home.   It is like Fate is just toying with your emotions.....  Sort of like being a little kid and looking in the front window of a bakery store, and inhaling all the smells,.....and not penny in your pocket!

                                                                                           Wayne