Boomerang.

Collection type: Object
Description: Boomerang.
Long description: Made in England. Flat, strongly curved, almost at right angles, with three lead rivets, one in each end and one in the middle.
Geographical reference: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Cultural groups: English
Person: Maker Unknown Maker; Field collector Henry Balfour; PRM source Henry Balfour
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1939
Date collected: By 1939
Acquisition information: Bequeathed: 1939
Materials and processes: Material Ash Wood Plant, Material Lead Metal, Process Carved, Process Riveted, Process Steamed
Dimensions: Length: max 503 mm, Depth: max 8.5 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1938.35.1362 Other numbers: 2032
Research and responses: This boomerang was studied by Harold Hoogenboom during a research visit in June 2025. He notes that, to his knowledge, no toy boomerang was ever sold with lead weights around the time this was made. The addition of lead weights was done by experiment to increase the range of the flight of the boomerang. The date is extremely difficult to estimate but all boomerangs being totally flat underneath at the tips that have no undercut (a part sanded to an inclination) are from before 1925.

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