Item S59
This Item was Sold on 18 May 2023
for $200
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This strip laminated traditional boomerang was made in 1983 out of Oak. It has a tapered strip of Walnut running the length of both blades. It is signed and dated. This is the last traditional in my personal collection and it is my favorite. It is in excellent condition and a very nice flyer. There is an odd story that goes with this one. Just before the 1985 USBA Nationals (Los Angeles), Jerry Caplan flew from LA to Toledo to get an MTA that he could use in the tournament and to learn the fine points of tuning MTAs. I took Jerry out to the field and it took about an hour for him to learn the fine art of tuning and throwing my Midi-MTA. Jerry finally got his flight of more than a minute and he was so excited that I had to drive him back to my house. He was so pumped up that he went through my kitchen cabinets, found a box of Blueberry Muffin mix and made the entire package. Then he offered me this Gerhards traditional which was one of his favorite boomerangs. I told him that he didn't have to give me anything for the MTA lesson, but he insisted, so I used it in my throw kit for about a year and then retired it to my collection. Again, this is my favorite Gerhards traditional and the last to leave my personal collection, so I hope the new owner loves it as much as I did and takes good care of it.
Al Gerhards is one of America's most famous pioneers in the development of long distance boomerangs. Al was an active thrower, manufacturer and competitor in the 1970s and early 1980s. His most popular model is the Standard Weighted Hook which was made out of strip laminated hardwoods. The standard hook was occasionally made without weights, but the majority of these hook boomerangs had a single lead weight on each tip with a unique serial number stamped in the weight near the lift arm tip. The earliest examples (1970s) had an additional half weight inserted into the underside of the elbow. This was discontinued on hooks made in the early 1980s because the elbow weight was often the source for the initiation of strip delaminations. Al also made strip laminated large hooks, small hooks, omegas, traditionals and the awesome Big "U"s. The large hooks were sometimes 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 in the late 1970s. Only 500 standard weighted hooks with numbers were made. The last one has a silver star inlayed in the dingle arm tip and this one is displayed in Al's living room in a specially made holder that also displays his world record "White Lightning" hook. I visited with Al Gerhards in early 2006 and asked him about the integrity of his boomerangs after 25-30 years. Al assured me that he used strong epoxy glues and that he still throws boomerangs that he made 30+ years ago without any problems. Al recommends that the owners of his boomerangs rub the surface with Tung oil or Gun oil prior to throwing if it has been in storage. The boomerang should be oiled at least once every 3 months if it is thrown regularly. However, I discourage the throwing of old collectable boomerangs unless it is thrown under very carefully controlled conditions. I would prefer that the owner make a copy of this boomerang for his own use and save the original as a fine collectable. |
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