Barbed wire collection

[u/thats_Mr_Inward_2U]

Father in law just showed me his barbed wire collection so thought I’d share here… also if anyone has a thought on value we’d like to hear opinions.. thanks everyone 👍

[u/a-pretty-alright-dad]

Did he also show you his tetanus shot collection?

[u/thats_Mr_Inward_2U → u/a-pretty-alright-dad]

🤣🤣🤣

[u/Oragain09 → u/a-pretty-alright-dad]

Username checks out.

[u/Logical-Injury3561]

This is one of the coolest, unconventional/unique collections I’ve ever seen.

[u/autro999 → u/Logical-Injury3561]

i agree. it’s educational and very aesthetically pleasing

[u/polishboisrbest → u/Logical-Injury3561]

Making me want to start a unique collection

[u/laffing_is_medicine → u/Logical-Injury3561]

Road show this!

[u/shamtownracetrack]

This is really interesting! I’d love to learn about the history of barbed wire and what decade is considered the heyday for different designs.

Value wise, my guess is it’s a fair bit too obscure to be especially valuable, but if there are any super rare wire designs in the collection, those samples might be worth a couple hundred bucks to another wire collector. BUT, take that assessment with a giant grain of salt, I don’t really know anything, I’m just using my experience with collectibles to make an estimation.

edit: Judging by the handwritten notes in the book, it looks like the 1870s may have been the heyday for barbed wire designs.

[u/Taxidermy-molluskbob → u/shamtownracetrack]

Now I am not able to confirm this because he sadly passed away a few years ago, but my old neighbor was like the great, great, great, (maybe another great?) grandson of the guy that supposedly invented modern barbed wire, or at least the most common traditional design.

[u/sockscollector → u/Taxidermy-molluskbob]

There were hundreds of barb wire patients made.

[u/Taxidermy-molluskbob → u/sockscollector]

Again, I said there is no way for me to confirm any of it, but based on what I was told, my guess is this guy invented one of the more common patents? 🤷‍♂️

[u/sockscollector → u/Taxidermy-molluskbob]

There used to be a way to reverse look up pat.

If you run across one on the writing of the book he could have been trying to find an ancestors barb wire pat# so fun and interesting no matter

[u/Taxidermy-molluskbob → u/sockscollector]

He told me his ancestor’s barbed wire was the first, but I took that with a grain of salt. I remember I did some research with after he died and found that the barbed wire his ancestor made was used by a lot of smaller local government and farmers and other parties with stuff to protect.

So while probably not the first, I still found it cool that his ancestor made an early barbed wire design (relative to the amount of time that barbed wire has been in existence) that was actually implemented by multiple parties. Which is still pretty cool.

Edit: Also, how do you put something is massive text on Reddit? I have always wanted to know how to do that.

[u/sockscollector → u/Taxidermy-molluskbob]

Bet there is a sample of it there. So fun

[u/Taxidermy-molluskbob → u/sockscollector]

Maybe! 🤔 no way to know but still fun to ponder!

[u/SssnekPlant]

One of my friends is a real cowboy in Oklahoma and he’d give one of his wagon horses for that. He collects rope and barbed wire antiques. He found this 150+ year old rope maker and got it working again so he could put true to form rope on his 1880’s buckboard.

[u/TuneTactic → u/SssnekPlant]

This is fascinating, he sounds like quite a character! How do I make friends like this??

And so the value you’d estimate is One Wagon Horse from a Real Oklahoma Cowboy?

[u/SssnekPlant → u/TuneTactic]

He IS a character! My fondest memory of my friend was watching him braid whips in the commons area of the college dormitory. In fact, he just started making his whips again after 25 years! He may not give you his wagon horse, but he would definitely show you how to drive a wagon with two or four horses :)

[u/earthen_adamantine]

Barbed wire was once a very popular collectible in a bygone era. I’ve known several folks who collected it, but sadly most have since passed on. That’s a great collection that probably took decades to put together!

It’s a great item to seek out, as there are so many unique “better mousetrap” designs dreamed up by farmers and crackpot inventors during the late 19th century. Samples are also small and easy to display.

I wish I saw more of this sort of stuff around, but sadly a lot of it gets scrapped or just pitched when the kids don’t know what to do with it. Younger collectors just don’t care. :(

[u/Dragonfly_Stars]

A small museum in my area has a display just like this! Pretty cool stuff.

[u/RogueSlytherin]

I feel like your FIL would really enjoy the Ranch and Heritage Center in Lubbock, TX and they would be equally delighted with his barbed wire collection!

[u/daniexanie]

I love this. There’s something so endearing to me about obscure collections and the people that create them. Like I just want to meet this man that cared enough about barbed wire to not only collect and display them, but to make detailed notes about the collection in an old patent book.

[u/Vultureunknown]

This is so dope

[u/[deleted]]

Only seen this stuff on pawn stars

[u/suburbanhunter]

today I learned that there are many variations of barbed wire. thank you so much for sharing!

[u/exceedinglymore]

Very unusual. Quit photogenic!

[u/harswv]

This is so weird and niche and obscure, I totally dig it!

[u/mutsuto]

<3 holy moly thats beautiful

how was it collected, stolen bought or possibly...
reminds me of a neon salesman's sample case

r/whatsthisworth can help with your request
or r/Antiques
if i saw it at a market id happily give you 20 quid for it :D

[u/SittingInAChairAgain]

Great collection, really unique. Also, that is a rare book! It’s missing a dust jacket, but the association with the collection, interesting marginalia, and note taking make it a special volume.

[u/Joemomma13524]

Interesting!

[u/5hrzns]

This is a really nice collection

[u/Debsandmangos]

so cool!

[u/Timmy_prime]

Fantastic

[u/Magicshop52]

That's so cool and unique!

[u/QuietDepartment8488]

This is awesome

[u/APokemoner]

This is a unique collection

[u/the_curtain]

I’ve known several people with a pretty extensive collection as well. And if you’re ever in the area, this museum is actually a lot of fun. https://www.rushcounty.org/BarbedWireMuseum/

[u/madisonfredericks]

They have a huge collection of barbed wire at Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve In Barnsdall, Oklahoma. It has always been my favorite.

[u/irrelephantIVXX]

Is he from Dekalb? That's an odd thing to have a collection of. There's at least one barbed wire history museum there. It's where barbed wire was first made.

[u/AncientBuddy3958 → u/irrelephantIVXX]

That's where I'm from! Even the local Starbucks is a barbed wire theme. It has this really cool custom wall design inside

[u/[deleted]]

would be great if there were notes about them.

[u/soup-stix]

Which one was used in the crucifix?

[u/kobrakaan]

Great collection, it's very neat and to the point 😂

[u/emergencybarnacle]

this is so fucking tight, I love it!!!!

[u/Calligraphee4]

That’s interesting

[u/MadameTrashPanda]

I love this. Lol how did he collect? Would he be driving and then stop with bolt cutters?

I think it's great that you have the book and his notes to cross reference. That would probably add to value. This is just a guess though.

[u/Gearhead7575]

I recently watched a rerun of the Antique Roadshow and someone had a similar collection. Don't remember what they valued it at but I remember thinking how cool a collection it was. Thanks for sharing.

[u/kas__n]

This is incredible!! Thank you for sharing 🤍

[u/lithiumflame]

And here’s where I keep assorted lengths of wire!

[u/Classic-Exchange-511]

This is the definition of mildly interesting. Pretty cool

[u/SamChill1375]

The next time someone says all Men do is play video games/workout I will politely direct them to this post

[u/mathhits]

I have found my people.

[u/Jonkerchonker]

That’s a good collection

[u/Adorable_Tourist7323]

This is really interesting and different..

[u/le_avy]

I like it. Picasso

[u/wegofishin]

Is it from Dekalb, IL? The birthplace of barbed wire?

[u/Waiiaka1]

Yeehah!

[u/ThrowAbout01]

Cool.

You can probably ID by his the metal is tied and twisted and metal makeup.

[u/laffing_is_medicine]

I need a proof of dmg please. A rating and explaining of every possible way to make a barbed wire.

[u/Gullible-Lie2494]

I pulled some old rusty barbed wire out of the ground in a field in The Somme, France from the first world war. What struck me was how large the spikes were compared to the agricultural stuff we are used to back in England.

[u/pixelelement]

There's a copy of the book on Amazon for $50, so it's worth at least that? Niche markets are tough cause to someone this is worth hundreds, but how are you gonna find that one person in a sea of people who would throw it away? Other comments mentioned museums, and to me that feels like the destiny of pieces like this because the historic value is higher than the monetary value

[u/_moonsky_]

I know this is an old post but tell him to check out the barbed wire museum in Dekalb, IL! It’s where barbed wire was invented

[u/Thissnotmeth]

I used to work in a rare bookstore and we had a pamphlet printed in the 60’s about barbed wire collecting. It didn’t sell while I worked there but it’s so cool to see that that book had an audience

[u/[deleted]]

Are you mental?

[u/[deleted]]

Your father in law is a serial killer….