This unusual plastic traditional boomerang was made by Stephen Silady of the Derwent Tool Eng. and Plastics Co. for Frank Donnellan in the 1940s. This is the first plastic boomerang made for Frank and it was made out of a heavy and inferior plastic called Bakelite. If you look at the grain in the photo, you can see that it is amorphous, like burlwood. It is also heavier than Whalebone. Neither of these characteristics make it a good material for boomerang manufacturing.

There is a funny story that goes with this first boomerang production model. Frank and Stephen made several hundred of these Bakelite traditionals and then they took them on a traveling sales venture. At the first town that they stopped, Frank demonstrated his long range Whalebone models while Stephen sold the Bakelite boomerangs to the general public. They sold more than a hundred of them at the equivalent of $3 each. Many of the buyers took their boomerangs out to a nearby field and gave them a throw. Almost all of them broke on impact and an angry crowd demanded a return of their money and then the pair was run out of town. Only a few of these original Bakelite boomerangs survive and this one was given to Ben Ruhe by Steven Silady in the 1970s for Ben's collection. I purchased it from Ben in 1987. I spoke with Stephen Silady in 1989 and he told me the same story that Ben told me when it was sold to me.

This boomerang is in very nice original condition. I am sure it is very rare. I do not think there are many that have survived in collections. I do not recommend it for throwing. Please keep it as a collectible. It is a piece of history.