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Anybody Know Who Nels Gumley Was

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    Anybody Know Who Nels Gumley Was

    I ran across this on another site. The clipping is from around 1934.
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    #2
    I left an R out of the title. Its Nels Grumley.

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      #3
      Heard of him, LOL

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        #4
        Stickbow has all the info on this.

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          #5
          Originally posted by White Falcon View Post
          Stickbow has all the info on this.
          I read that.

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            #6
            No.

            However, funny article MrFields. I wonder if Nelson shot the cat as a perp or as meat replenishment. Thanks for sharing.

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              #7
              He was Fred Bear's bowyer.

              I thought the same about the cat. As punishment or as meat replenishment.

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                #8
                Originally posted by M.E.B. View Post
                He was Fred Bear's bowyer.

                I thought the same about the cat. As punishment or as meat replenishment.
                Yep. Nels was the first bowyer hired by Fred Bear, in 1938. Before Nels was hired Bear did not have bows in his product line. The bows built by Nels were stamped (in early years) or signed by Nels Grumley. He designed several bows including a static recurve. Many collectors consider Nels to be one of the greatest American bowyers. Nels left the company in 1948, despite Fred offering substantial financial inducements for him to stay. The reason Nels left was because Bear was going to start using machines to build bows and Nels felt bows should be built by hand. Sadly, he stayed in the bow business only a couple of years after leaving Bear.

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                  #9
                  YUP, quite a neat history with Mr Grumley and Mr. Bear and Bear archery. I got a call from a friend who lives in Kentucky who asked me to keep an eye out for a "couple" of Grumley bows to add for his bow collection. He thinks because I live in Michigan that Grumleys can be found at yard sales. Of course that's not the case.

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                    #10
                    That is pretty cool. What was the result of the trial?

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                      #11
                      I don't know the results of the trial.

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                        #12
                        Shot the cat that ate his food that's funny.

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                          #13
                          Interesting history on Grumley. Since there was no internet back then, he was probably only fined at most for the cat-killing. Couldn't locate info on a trial.

                          However, trying to learn more about him led me to also learn more about Fred Bear. Didn't know that Bear became interested in archery from seeing a movie about Art Young bow hunting in Alaska; subsequently he met Young and learned about bow making. Most surprising was -- if I understood the information correctly -- that it took Fred Bear six years of trying before killing a whitetail deer with a bow.

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                            #14
                            Yes, I know about Nelson (Nels) Grumley. I watched one of his bows sell for $1800, if my memory serves me correctly, on Ebay about a year ago. Nels parted ways with Fred when Fred insisted on using fiberglass as a backing material. Fred made a good decision on that. Nels went on to build some more all wood bows but was not successful enough to stay in business. Times change and those that do not keep up get left behind.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by 60 Deluxe View Post
                              Yes, I know about Nelson (Nels) Grumley. I watched one of his bows sell for $1800, if my memory serves me correctly, on Ebay about a year ago. Nels parted ways with Fred when Fred insisted on using fiberglass as a backing material. Fred made a good decision on that. Nels went on to build some more all wood bows but was not successful enough to stay in business. Times change and those that do not keep up get left behind.
                              My research indicates the dispute was more over using machines to mass produce bows rather than the use of fiberglass. But I have been known to be wrong. The following is an excerpt from an excellent article on collecting Bear bows.

                              Nels left Bear in 1948 when Fred made the decision to begin mass production of bows at the new factory in Grayling. Nels felt strongly that bows should be individually crafted, and not made by machine. So Nels left, even though Fred tried to convince him to stay with some handsome financial offers, and struck out on his own to make bows. However, his private venture into the bow making business lasted only two years before he took a job in an appliance manufacturer as a model maker. These "Grumley by Grumley" bows are marked with a simple stamped signature "Grumley" either on the limb or on the riser, and are very scarce and excellent collector items.[/I]

                              Last edited by Phillip Fields; 12-19-2017, 07:17 AM.

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