Item SG1
This Item was Sold on 29 September
2016 for $65
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This large strip laminated boomerang was constructed out of thick Oak strips, similar to the technique used by Al Gerhards, This boomerang is similar in size to the Gerhards Big "U", but it is a more open arc. Nice airfoiling and crudely decorated with paint. The lift arm has incised lines on the face and ridges cut into the tip to improve the grip. The elbow also has some writing in small black print " 202 gm ; .566 ; .741 ; .767 ". I am not sure of the meaning of the numbers, other than the weight. I am unable to test this boomerang. It looks strong enough to throw. There are some shallow tip dings from use but there are no cracks. It is at least 80 years old and I do not know if the glue strength has deteriorated with age. This is a fine collectible that was made in the USA during a time when there was little boomerang activity, so it is rare and a valuable piece of American heritage.
Bill Pemberton is not a well known boomerang maker or thrower. In the mid 1990s, someone bought a collection of approximately 25 boomerangs at a yard sale in the Bay Area of California and they sold the boomerangs on eBay. Two collectors purchased most of these boomerangs - Dan Neelands and Dain Torguson. The majority of these were made out of hardwood strips or homemade plywood and the designs and construction techniques were wild. Some even had Aluminum sheet as a layer, similar to the construction technique of Oscar Cuartas. A few years after these were sold on eBay, Dain Torguson passed away and I purchased some of Dain's boomerangs from Dain's mother. After I acquired these, Dan and I decided to do some detective work and find out who made them and when they were made because none of the boomerangs were signed or dated. There were two big clues that helped us find this information. First, the boomerangs had been wrapped in newspaper dated in the early 1930s. Second, there was a single Aboriginal hunting boomerang in the lot and that artifact had Bill Pemberton's name, some notes and a date in the mid 1910s. Using the notes on the throwstick, we figured out that Bill Pemberton had traveled to Australia nearly 100 years ago. He purchased at least one boomerang and then he returned home to California and made boomerang construction and throwing his hobby. I assume that he passed away or became disabled in the early 1930s and his family packed them away with newspaper, only to be taken out of storage in the mid 1990s and sold at a rummage sale. Therefore, all of the Pemberton boomerangs are 80-100 years old. Quite a story! |
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