Howard Hill Bow markings

[Strawstalker NM]

Hi - I have a 1952 Howard Hill longbow. The bow is LH 89# @28" bamboo with lime colored glass on the back and dark green glass on the front. The marking on the bow are 6999 followed by what looks to be a attached TJ ? Howard hill appears under the dark green glass. Any clue to what the 6999 TJ is?

[aromakr]

Strawstalker:
How do you know the bow dates to 1952? Does the belly glass bend over the back of the handle? Is the back glass woven?
Bob

[Strawstalker NM]

Bob  I friend of mine had a lady friend. Her and her deceased husband bowhunted together. She told me her husband purchased the bow in 1952.I bought this and about six old bear bows from her in 1979. The back of the bow is woven lime green glass. Any idea on the markings? Dan

[Danny Rowan]

Contact Craig Ekin(sp) at Howard Hill bows, bet he can tell you.6999 could be a serail # and TJ could be the owners initials???

Danny

[aromakr]

Dan:
without seeing the bow I can tell you, it was made in 1952 or 1953 as the woven glass was only used those two years. The bowyer that made it, name was "Dale Phillips".

I don't believe Craig will be able to shed any light on those numbers as they don't have records going back that far. Keep in mind Craig was a pre-teen in the 1950's. He did not know the name Dale Phillips, Dale was a personal friend of mine and his son is one of my best friends.
I would be real surprised that those numbers were the serial # unless it was some kind of code.

I have some copy's of letters between Hugh Rich and Bob Stotler dated in the mid 80's where Hugh was trying to date some Hill bows in his collection. Even then Bob was not able to date or explain inscriptions. So much of this is speculation, as most of the parties involved have passed on an those remaining don't recall. I know of one other bow made by Dale that his son has, I'll check to see if it has numbers on it, maybe that will shed some light on them. There was another bow for sale on e-bay a few months ago that Dale made. I don't know if I saved that item or not. The bow that was on e-bay is marked "L5830"
Bob

[Danny Rowan]

Thanks for the info Bob, very interesting. You are a wealth of knowledge and I for one appreciate it.

Danny

[lbshooter]

I have a Hill bow from the same period.  Green woven back and solid glass belly.  Perfect condition!  The numbers on the bow are 6841L. I think these are serial numbers.  It also has the poundage and Hill's name on the bow limb.  I have been told that while Hill did not make these bows himself, he did personally sign them.  Who knows?  The signature on 6841L is similiar to the signature on one of my bows that has been authenticated to have been made and signed by Hill.

[aromakr]

Dan:
The numbers on Kurt's bow of his fathers is 5605, no letters before or after, so your guess is as good as mine.
This is a quote from Bob Stotler's letter. "Originally we did not put the weight, date, length or serial nos. on them. Then when Howard joined hands with Garver and Ekin he started putting the weights on them and personalized them with his signature and named them after some indian or animal. We finally had a real struggle coming up with new names. I do not remember of ever putting on serial nos. ( my memory is getting bad anyway. we might have put nos. on.)
Howard got tired of putting his name on bows so he taught Wayne (Stotler) how to forge his name on them, Wayne got so good that you couldn't tell the difference. This came after about 200 bows were made. I believe that Shawnee Archery must have put on there serial nos. I sure we didn't."

So don't believe that Howard's signature is authentic, because it may not be. And those that MIGHT know for sure are gone!
Like I said in a previous post, so much of this is speculation and guess. It is fun though.
Bob

[aromakr]

Dan:
I was just thinking about this. These woven glass bows are way before the Stotler's were making bows for Hill and they have numbers on them. This would also be before Shawnee Archery involvement. ??????
Bob

[Strawstalker NM]

Bob - Thanks for all of your insight and help. I am in the process of moving back home to Grand Junction Co. and everything is packed. Somewhere in all the mess is a letter Mr. Hill sent out to the owner, with the bow and three 3"x5" index cards Mr.Hill attached to explain how to correctly make arrows, length, fletch and spline, for the bow.I also have a original H. Hill leather arm guard.I will have to dig it all out after the move and put it together. Bob thanks once more for all of your help. Sincerely, Dan Bromley

[Strawstalker NM]

Ibshooter - Does the "L" your serial # look fancy as done is script and looks like a TJ conjoined as in a brand?