Item RP02
This Item was Sold on 30 October
2009 for $104
Other collectable boomerangs for sale can be found on the
Collectable , Hardwood
or Art Boomerang links.
Historical Pricing information for this item and similar
collectable boomerangs can be found on the Boomerang
Pricing Guide
Samuel Bristow was the first person in America to mass
produce a boomerang and to make boomerang throwing a popular
sporting activity. Samuel obtained his patent on 4 February
1902 and his factory in Topeka, Kansas manufactured about a
million cross sticks in 15+ different models. Manufacturing
ended at the beginning of World War I. All of the Brist
boomerangs had advanced airfoiling features such as a bevel
on the underside of the leading edge to enhance turning
torque and camber on the underside of the narrow blade
section to increase lift and reduce both drag and inertia.
Many years later, all of these design features were
eventually used on advanced Fast Catch boomerangs and many
top boomerang designers claimed that they were the first to
use these advanced design features. They were unaware that
this had been done 75+ years earlier by Samuel Bristow. Some
of the Brist boomerangs were also weighted on the tips.
Again, many manufacturers of longer range boomerangs in the
1970s claimed that they were the first to add weights to
increase distance. Again, this technique had been invented
much earlier by Samuel Bristow and incorporated into many
different Brist boomerang models. At one time, Brist
boomerang throwing was more popular than croquet. The Brist
game was very similar to the present day Australian Round
event. The throwers had a target with concentric circles on
the ground and points were awarded for how close you were to
the center when the boomerang was caught. Catching was done
with a large net, called the "Rakah". A world boomerang
championship was even held in the city of St. Louis during
the mid 1900s. Samuel Bristow sold the factory around 1910
to a man named Bailey and the new owner's daughter painted
most of the boomerangs that were made after that date. The
daughter became a famous model many years later and when
magazines displayed her picture, she always had a Brist
boomerang in one of her hands and this was long after the
company had ceased manufacturing the product. Sadly, the
beginning of World War I started a decline in America's
preoccupation with games and the Brist boomerang slowly
disappeared from store shelves. This Brist boomerang cross stick is an unweighted model (
number 5 ). There is a rivet holding the two sticks
together. The blades all have camber and beveling as
expected. There is a single band of red on each blade and
the tips are painted blue. This boomerang is in used, but
very good condition. The paint is chipped in several places,
but the amount of paint loss is minimal. This one has more
paint remaining than almost all other Brist boomerangs that
I have seen in used condition.