Feather Golf Ball, ca. 1840
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GUEST:
I found this in an antique store in 1971 in Virginia. And because I was interested in golf and collecting golf items, I not only bought that golf ball, but several wood shaft clubs at the same time.
APPRAISER:
And when you bought it, what did you know about it?
GUEST:
I had read in some antique books about golf, about how they made feathery balls, using a top hat to measure the feathers, and how they boiled them in steamy water and stuffed them in the ball. So that made it very interesting to me at that time.
APPRAISER:
And what did you pay for this?
GUEST:
$200.
APPRAISER:
And you recognized this as a feather ball.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
You bought the hickory-shafted clubs, right? The wooden-shafted clubs, and you bought the ball. Did you play with them?
GUEST:
Oh, I wanted to so many times, but after reading in the books, I found out that they're only good for about six holes of golf, and they would tear and explode.
APPRAISER:
(laughing)
GUEST:
And I didn't want that to happen with a $200 golf ball.
APPRAISER:
That's an expensive round of golf.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISRER: Feather balls were used until about 1850 or so, and they were used with the long-nosed, wooden-shafted clubs that were made in Scotland. And these emanate from Scotland…
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
…because Scotland is considered by many to be the home of golf. You said something about how they made the golf balls. You're absolutely right in many ways. These are leather-covered feather balls. There are literally feathers in the ball…
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
and the leather is usually from bull's hide, believe or not. What you would do is, you would take the bull's hide, cut it into strips, and then you would reassemble three different pieces, and you have a flap, and you would turn it inside-out, and you would measure an actual top hat and put the feathers in. In those days, a good feather ball maker could only make three to ten balls a day. It was very labor-intensive, and because of that, the balls were hugely expensive, so it was a sport only for the wealthy. This feather ball dates from the, probably, 1830s, maybe up to 1850 or so. You know what happened to the feather ball is that they discovered they could use gutta-percha…
GUEST:
Mh-mmm.
APPRASIER: …which was from a gum tree in Southeast Asia. Much more durable, much easier to make, and therefore much less expensive. So with the advent of the gutta-percha ball, it became a sport much more for the middle classes. These balls, you could hit 100 yards, maybe 150 yards. That was about the limit. If you were a really good golfer, you could hit it 200. How far can you hit a regular golf ball today?
GUEST:
I have hit a golf ball 300-plus yards, but typically about 280.
APPRAISER:
And your pros today can hit over 300 yards. They estimate that today, only several hundred of these exist. They're very well sought-after. They're highly desired by collectors. If I were going to put an auction estimate on this today, I would probably put about $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow, very nice.
APPRIASER: The height of the market hit about ten, 15 years ago…
GUEST:
Mh-hmm.
APPRAISER:
…and at that time it could have even been as much as $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRIASER: I know. But still, $4,000 to $6,000 is pretty good.
GUEST:
Still good.
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