Barbs, Prongs, Points, Prickers, and Stickers; A Complete and Illustrated Catalogue of Antique Barbed Wire

750 Pages·1970·12.52 MB·English

by  Robert T. Clifton

Barbs, Prongs, Points, Prickers, & Stickers;
title: : A Complete and Illustrated Catalogue of
Antique Barbed Wire
author: Clifton, Robert T.
publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
isbn10 | asin: 0806108762
print isbn13: 9780806108766
ebook isbn13: 9780806170701
language: English
subject Barbed wire--Collectors and collecting.
publication date: 1970
lcc: TS271.C38 1970eb
ddc: 681.7
subject: Barbed wire--Collectors and collecting.
Page iii
Barbs, Prongs, Points, Prickers, Stickers
A Complete and Illustrated Catalogue of Antique Barbed
Wire
Robert T. Clifton
University of Oklahoma Press : Norman and London
Page v
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78-88140
ISBN: 0-8061-0876-2
Copyright © 1970 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman,
Publishing Division of the University. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Page vi
To my wife
Page vii
Foreword
Along the trail of American history, there is an endless array of
archival material and artifacts that attract and hold the interest of
scholars and other people who look to the past for their pleasure as
well as for information. When these objects of history lend themselves
to grouping and can be moved, their accumulation becomes the goal
of museums, libraries, and individuals. This collecting has become the
hobby of an ever increasing number of American people who delight
in gathering, exchanging, and hoarding evidence of a former time.
The general trend is to concentrate on objects of inconsiderable size,
such as buttons, bottles, spurs, bridle bits, and even fence wire.
The strong interest in antique barbed wire is indicated by the number
of people who are actively discussing, collecting, trading, selling, and
exhibiting it. So vigorous and impressive is the movement that people
who, until recently, never knew there was more than one kind are
making the various aspects of barbed wire the highlights of their
conversation. Whenever farmers and ranchers gather to discuss crops,
stock, and prices, stories of early barbed wire are likely to become
part of the conversation. Displays can be seen in cafés, filling stations,
and barbershops. Larger and more elaborate exhibits appear in
museums and on the show boards of collectors.
Gripped with excitement, the collector searches farm and ranch lands
for antique barbed wire. His hope is to find a new old wire. He may
never find the elusive treasure,
Page viii
but he is found looking out ghost towns in New Mexico, checking
faint remains of eastern Colorado homesteads, criss-crossing Kansas
plains, or scouting lake shores and new expressway sites.
The men, women, and youngsters who engage in this hobby are
scattered throughout the country. Among them are doctors, lawyers,
engineers, teachers, students, and civil servants. They are determined
that future generations will be able to view the evidence of the past
which they have gathered with such patience and pleasure. Those
possessed by this unusual hobby know the enjoyment it bringsan
enjoyment that is equalled only by the curiosity of the uninformed,
who observe and wonder what it is all about. For those who know
what it is all aboutwho know the rewards of collecting a wire that had
so important a role in the development of our countrythis book is
intended to serve as a helpful guide.
I regret that all who helped me cannot be listed, but I am deeply
grateful to all of them. My greatest indebtedness, however, is to C.
Boone McClure, Museum Director, and his staff, Panhandle-Plains
Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas; Roscoe Rouse, Jr., University
Librarian, and the Patents Section staff, Oklahoma State University,
Still-water, Oklahoma; and the personnel of the Correspondence and
Mail Branch, United States Patent Office, Department of Commerce,
Washington, D.C., for the co-operative and positive assistance
provided when the material for the work was being collected.
I wish, also, to acknowledge indebtedness to the following collectors
for their help and suggestions during the various stages of research
and organization: Leo and Elva Shugart, Hoisington, Kansas; W. T.
Swink, Olney, Texas; Hollis J. Gordon, Independence, Missouri;
Watson W.

Page ix
Davis, Greenwood, Missouri; William Crogan, Cheyenne, Wyoming;
Lorena Ellicott, Van Tassell, Wyoming; Keith E. Hanna, Lexington,
Nebraska; Tom Rawley, North Platte, Nebraska; Niels Miller,
Herman, Nebraska; and Lawrence Long, Bowie, Texas.
And last, especial thanks are extended to Robert T. Clifton II, Denton,
Texas; Leroy and Nancy Lutz, Henrietta, Texas; and Claude and Sarah
Clifton, Flagstaff, Arizona, whose enthusiastic support and evaluation
of the book in its early stages motivated and encouraged its
completion.
ROBERT T. CLIFTON
Page xi
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
Introduction 3
Section I. Wire Fencing
Barbless Wire 9
Plain 9
One Strand (Figures 13) 9
Two Strand (45) 9
Three Strand (6) 10
Half Round (7) 10
Square (8) 10
Undulating (9) 10
Ornamental 11
Braid (Figures 1023) 11
Panel (2437) 15
Loop (3845) 19
Spread (4654) 22
Barbed Wire: Single Strand 25
Single Strand
Onepoint Wire Barbs 25
Loop (Figures 5559) 25
Nail (60) 26
Twopoint Wire Barbs 27
Single Turn (Figures 6170) 27
Coil (7186) 30
Wrap (8794) 35