Another question for you "Old Timers"

[bigiron]

hardware store in Arlington Washington in the 50s.

[mangonboat]

Toledo was the closest city when I was getting started in the late 60's and early 70's and got most of my stuff at The Tackle Box and Trilby Sporting Goods, both now closed, and some odds and ends at Netcraft, a fishing supplies wholesaler. I bought a very nice bow, a 1969 Bear Polar  lefty that I recently sold, at a big discount store, Bargain City...it was back in a corner the sporting goods section for a couple years and I finally talked the sporting goods manager into marking it down to $35!

[Pat B]

I got my first couple from garage sales and flea markets Back then(early 1980s) $5 was the going rate for old Bears, Shakespeares, etc.

[Sixby]

Local hardware stores.
I never was in an archery shop until the early seventies.
God bless, Steve

[Dan bree]

Got my stuff from two guys in Harrison. Pearson recuves  and if you had the money you would buy the best arrows they had . Ceder 23/64 with turkey flech  69cents apiece !  When you busted one hunting rats you would tape it up !   Hey hi low  I went to butts and bows  from 1970  to about 1978  then Montclair archery when John lefty ran it.   Both shops are   Gonenow.  Man they were good shops and great  guys. . Herters.  Paul Bruner  silver arrow.  McCann.   Now the web

[reddogge]

In 1955 my parents went to a sporting goods store to buy my Ben Pearson longbow kit. I bought my second bow, a solid glass bow, from a local sporting goods store. My first real hunting bow I bought in 1967 and bought that from a sporting goods store along with bow quiver, arrows, broadheads.

Later in the 60s and early 70s we bought almost everything from a local guy who ran a small archery shop in the basement and I'd do runs up to Kinsey's Archery in PA to pick stuff up for my friends and me.

[Ray Lyon]

In the late sixties it was a little hardware store. In the early seventies, a Bear Archery dealer opened and I got my first Bear 76'er from there. I also got some arrow building supplies and stuff from the Kittredge Bow Hut in Mammoth Lakes, CA during the seventies. In the late Seventies it was Howard Hill Archery/mail order.  Early 1980's I was getting arrows mail order from Kustom King Arrows(this is when they were doing arrows only). Mid 80's I started going to GLLI archery shoot and started getting bows and supplies from those shoots. Also met Ron LaClair at that time and started 'hanging out' at his shop when I was working in his area (3 hour trip).

[Kevin Hansen]

There was a guy in town by the name of Ken Burgaard. Had an archery shop in the basement of his house. Before I went to college I bought my equipment there (bought way less back in those days than I do now). Later, after graduating from college and getting my first "real" job I bought my archery equipment from Charlie Bledsoe of Sioux Falls, SD, who also had his shop in the basement of his home. Charlie was one of the founders of the SD Bowhunters Association.
I am grateful to and miss both Ken and Charlie...

[JamesV]

Herters

Got my first set of aluminium arrows from them 1966. They were silver and very soft, didn't last like my wood arrows did.

James

Back in the 60s, when I was in 7th and 8th grade, I had a little archery business.  I sold a bunch of Root recurves to the older guys.

[elkken]

Northwest Archery, started shopping there in 1969 … didn't have a clue who Glenn St Charles was at the time.

[Eric Krewson]

Pretty sure my first recurve came from Sears or JC Penny in the early seventies, it was a Bear Kodak Hunter, not sure about the arrows.

[bruinman]

My first bow was given to me. The first one I bought myself was from a little archery shop in Lolo Montana. It was owned by Dick Robertson. Actually I traded my mom's coffee pot for it,lol. I spent just about all of my free time in that shop, if I was not hunting or fishing.

[slowbowjoe]

I only started with any real bows in the 90's, when I was 41. I did have one of those yellow fiberglass bows in my adolescent years (the 60's), and had a blast with it.

Got the bow and arrows from the little local toy store where we had our summer camp. I remember being really excited when I went from the regular target points to field points. They were serious business to me back then!

Kinda wish I'd stayed with it since back then, but it's great to have a new passion for the rest of my years.

[Bernie B.]

My first purchased bow came from Anderson Archery (Michigan I believe) back in 1968.  I purchased my arrow components from Herters (Farbenglas shafts) and Centaur Archery in Fort Dodge, Ia.  My first aluminum shafts (Easton 2020's ) came from Centaur.  That goes back a ways!  

Bernie

[woodchucker]

Gee Skipper... I haven't thought about Wolf's, or Arlington Sporting Goods, in years!!!!!

[Babbling Bob]

There was an archery shop in 1961 where I first saw recurve bows and I bought a new Bear K Mag later (1962) from another local dealer who owned a Hobby shop with model airplanes.  The same shop sold me my Tamerlane in December that year when they were going to order some based on Bear anouncing them and shoing hem in Archery Magazine (the NFAA publication). It arrive in January of '63.  Don't recall when Bear started to sell to discount houses, but I do remember that it was a big topic and we knew it would bring on some members at our two Clubs in Oklahoma City, and it sure did. Seemed like the boom started in 1963 when Hoyt had weird stbilizer balls on their top of the line trounament bows and a lot of [people were shooting them instead of the black or ****e painted risered Black Widow bows, even though the Wilson Brothers were showing up at the big shoots.  After that, it seemd the Brazilian rosewood Bear used was never as tight grained or good looking in their bows as it was in those Kodiak Specials ('59 to 62) and the Kodiaks as we had seen. This was especially the case with the Tamerlanes which by then had that plate in their risers.  Being an Instinctive Division shooter, just did not care for the side plate in the '64 on Bear bows not the  rosewood used in their better bows.

Seemed like specialized shops were our source for the best bows.  The discount houses hurt them, but the big companies like Bear and Pearson provided bows that increased our sport to people who wanted to hunt, thus they joined our clubs to be with like minded colleges, so the discout houses really helped to promote archery.   Now the specialized shops can be the best sources again as in the past as they support our questions and care for our business.   I buy from specialized stores that support trad archery, watch the list of vendors here who support us, and those craftsmen who custom make things I need (like a real cool custom quiver Hidehandler made for me).

[BigTimber]

Got my first Bow from Dad.  Don't know where he got it.  I think we were both shooting Bears.  I think I was 8 to 10 yrs. old at the time.  58 now so I guess that's 50 years.

[mahantango]

Not all that old at 55, but have been shooting since the mid-60's. My first bow was a green fiberglass Bear recurve from the S&H Green Stamp catalog (remember them?) Mom would let me have them if I pasted them in the books. Arrows came from the local Sears, Woolworths or hardware store. The Herters catalog was my bible through the '70's. Seems like we sent an order out monthly. Later on I remember K-mart carrying Bear Razorheads and accessories. Once I started driving I discovered the world of mom and pop archery shops and there was no turning back.

[BAK]

Gambles hardware store.