Item PA04
This Item was Sold for
$181
Other collectable boomerangs for sale can be found on the
Collectable Boomerangs or Hardwood
Boomerangs or Art Boomerangs links.
Historical Pricing information for this and similar collectable
boomerangs can be found on the Boomerang
Pricing Guide
Al Gerhards is America's most famous pioneer in the
development of long distance boomerangs. Al was an active
thrower, designer and competitor in the 1970s and early
1980s. His most popular model is the Standard Hook which was
made out of strip laminated hardwoods. It was occasionally
made without weights, but the majority of these boomerangs
had a single lead weight on each tip with a unique serial
number stamped in the weight on the lift arm tip. Early
examples (1970s) had an additional half weight inserted into
the underside of the elbow, but this was not put into hooks
made in the 1980s because the elbow weight was often the
source for strip delaminations following a hard landing. Al
also made strip laminated large hooks, small hooks, omegas,
traditionals and Big "U"s. The large hooks were called
"White Lightning" hooks and Al used one of these to set a
World Record in the long distance event with a documented
throw of more than 125 yards back in the late 1970s. This boomerang is a very early "Standard Hook" with a
very low serial number of 25. It is made out of Red Oak
strip laminations. It has a single weight inserted into each
blade tip and a half weight on the underside of the elbow.
This boomerang is nor signed nor dated, but it was made in
the mid 1970s. This hook is in very good condition with some
minor flaws in the wood strips and a small amount of
abrasion on the edge of the lift arm tip. It also has the
initials "HV" burned into the surface midway up the lift arm
on the underside. This boomerang is being offered by the
estate of Hugh Vandergrift, thus the "HV" initials. Gerhards
boomerangs is a premium collectable that is rarely offered
for sale. Most of the throwers and collectors who have them
will never let them out of their collection. I do discourage
the throwing of this fine collectable unless it is thrown
under carefully controlled conditions because of it's
collectable value and the possibility that the glue may have
degraded over the past 20+ years.