Club Obi Wan

For anyone interested in whip history or collecting old whips, we are honored to have been chosen to broker the sale of an incredible collection of whips from the 1950's and 60's from the Edward H. Cooley Collection. The web pages for the whips is now live at:

http://www.midwestwhips.com/cooleycollectionsale.html

The collection includes a variety of 28 whips by Cecil Henderson, Zairs, Austral Enterprises (David Morgan), and more...



Even if you aren't interested in bidding or purchasing any of the whips from the collection, I thought some folks on COW here might be interested in having a look at the pictures which include whips that range from 4 plait all the way up to fancy 2 tone 36 plait with patterns and name braiding. There is also a bullneck (no "swing belly" swell) stockwhip, and a 24 plait bullwhip that is plaited entirely in checkerboard! I have also put up scans of some documents from the collection including letters from 1956 written by Cecil Henderson in response to Cooley, old Austral Enterprises (David Morgan) Catalogs from the 1960's, and more.

If anyone has any questions about the whips or the collection, please feel free to send an email to CooleyCollection@midwestwhips.com

Regards,

Paul Nolan

--
Paul Nolan & Lauren Wickline
www.midwestwhips.com
whipmaker@midwestwhips.com

Paul, Thank you for posting this announcement here…

I know Paul put a great deal of time, effort and research into documenting and cataloging this collection and preparing it for sale. I had the pleasure of seeing many of these whips in person last November, simply put many of these whips are works of art and it is a very rare treat to see a collection of this quality and with such historical and well documented significance as a whole. Any one interested in whips, whip cracking or whip making even if your not interested in participating in the sale/auction would highly benefit from looking over these works.


The Henderson whips, part of the E.H. Cooley Collection


Myself, Lion Tamer and Paul Nolan

Dan

Paul that is awesome. I remember being at the QM and drooling over the fact that you had these with you and couldn't wait to see them. It was certainly a treat to be able to see and handle them... Maybe next time we can work on cracking them...

I will have to check and see if there is anything in my price range. I'd love to own a Cecil whip.

Mike

Paul-

WOW! What a historic set of whips and thank you for sharing. I have a few questions:

1. Can these whips be cracked or are they more along the lines of historic treasures that should be displayed only?
2. Have these whips been treated or conditioned sense you have had them?
3. Are there reserves set for the whips?

I am off to the site to keep drooling!! This time I am putting a bib on!!!!

WOW!!

Bob

Those are absolutely awesome!

Do you have any pics of the strand drops on the checkerboard 24 plait whip? If you do I would love to see them? I have always been fascinated by the idea of an entirely checkerboard whip.

Thank you so much for keeping us informed about such an important event, Paul!

awesome!!!

thanks so much for sharing, goooooorgeous!!!


jp

Bob,

I'd say that all of the Henderson whips are in good enough condition to be cracked without falling apart, but I think they're all to rare, valuable, and old to be used regularly.

If you want one for using, I'd recommend having a reproduction made.

I myself have been planning on getting one or two of the Henderson whips for the past year, ever since Paul told me he had them.

-Adam

Man that's a mighty fine collection! Someone will go to the poor house over those!

Thank you for posting this guys!


Crack On!

Allen

Dan,

Thanks for posting the pictures!

Mike,

I'm glad that you were able to get a chance to see them for the last time before they were all split up!

Bob,

No worries, to answer your questions:

1. I would echo what Adam said. They are are almost all in excellent condition with the exception of the bullwhip that was chewed up pretty badly. It doesn't appear that Cooley cracked them all that much. If I owned them all, I would feel comfortable lightly lightly cracking them every once in a while, but like Adam said, they are so rare and valuable I would be extra gentle and careful as not to risk damaging them in any way.

2. They have been treated with care, and have not had any "repairs" done on them since I received them so as to keep them exactly as they were historical wise. The only thing that I did was to give them a treating of leather dressing to keep them from drying out any more since they've been out in the dry desert area after coming in from Florida. I am almost certain that they weren't treated at all since Cooley passed away, and whatever climate situation the owner of the collection kept them in all these years seems to have really helped to preserve them well. Some of them almost look as if they are brand new! (with the exception of the color darkening over time)

3. There is a reserve set between the owner of the Collection and myself, but if the bidding on a certain item is lower than expected, we may decide to accept a bid lower than the starting price or the reserve price, or we may decide to schedule a second auction period for that item instead. It just depends on how it goes. As far as I know there hasn't been a large collection of historic whips like this sold before, so we don't really know what to expect, but I am excited to see what happens!

If you have any other questions, just let me know.

ST,

I have been taking an incredible amount of pictures, notes, etc... over the past year trying to document everything I can, so I would imagine I have a pics of the strand drops, but I'll have to check. And if not, I'll be sure to take some. I still have some more notes on the whips that I want to take, and more pictures as well, one can never have enough, ;-). Also, I will be eventually putting up everything I have on the Cooley Collection, as well as everything I have gathered over the years on Henderson, his whips, etc... That will likely be what the whip history blog will mostly consist of at first. Just have to find the time between everything else to get it put up there, ;-).

Marhala and JP,

No worries, I'm glad you are both enjoying it!

Adam,

Thanks for weighing in! I haven't had a lot of time lately to keep up with the forums, and it's great for someone else who has seen them up close to share their opinions.

Allen,

No worries, and you are quite right, I wish I could afford to just buy the whole collection outright so as to keep the collection all together, and I have to say I will be very sad to see them go. ( I don't want to have to think about that just yet, lol.

Thanks for the comments and questions everyone! The first items up for auction start tomorrow:

H-2: Cecil Henderson - 24 plait 16 foot Bullwhip
Suggested Starting price - $2,100

AE-2: Austral Enterprises (David Morgan) – Wood Handled 12 plait English Stockwhip produced by Zair's of England
Suggested Starting Price - $275

ZE-4: Zairs - 12 plait Steel lined stockwhip crop (handle)
Suggested Starting Price - $35

I'm a bit anxious not knowing what to expect, lol. It's going to be fun and interesting for sure!

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.MidWestWhips.com

BullWhipBorton wrote:Paul, Thank you for posting this announcement here…

I know Paul put a great deal of time, effort and research into documenting and cataloging this collection and preparing it for sale. I had the pleasure of seeing many of these whips in person last November, simply put many of these whips are works of art and it is a very rare treat to see a collection of this quality and with such historical and well documented significance as a whole. Any one interested in whips, whip cracking or whip making even if your not interested in participating in the sale/auction would highly benefit from looking over these works.


The Henderson whips, part of the E.H. Cooley Collection


Myself, Lion Tamer and Paul Nolan

Dan

Dan

This whip with Lion Tamer is 10 foot 24 plait?


Regards.

Gaucho

Hi Gaucho,

The whip that Lion Tamer is holding is H-2, the first Henderson whip up for bid which starts tomorrow. It is 24 plait and 16 foot long.

Regards,

Paul