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The following letter was recently received by one of our members.  Hope you enjoy the nature of the content.

Dear NMBWCA ;

My 100 year old step-father recently gave me a framed collection of barb wire and I’m not sure  exactly what to do with it.  I don’t know if the  pieces are valuable and I should insure it or what.  On the back, each piece is labeled by name, patent date/ inventor (including location, sometimes).  I’d like to have it appraised, but don’t want to spend lots of money if the collection is just a nicely mounted set of common wire.  How do I begin?  Where do I begin?

My husband and I are both school teachers (he is the Ag teacher and FFA advisor at the local high school) and we run sheep and cattle on our 160 acre ranch.  We  are the third generation to live on the family ranch and sometimes I think the fences around HERE are the real antiques!!

Anyway,  I’m hoping that you or someone you know can direct me on what to do with this framed, 23 x 19 inch collection.  Each piece is at least 18 inches long, there are 13 different samples and the  identification information on the back includes:

A description of 9 of the 13 barbed wires were included here.

I can send a photo if that would help.  If you and your wife are not able to help me, could you forward this to someone in your society that could?

Thanks so  much for your help and expertise.

Sincerely,

DRG

Here is our member’s response.

Hi DRG,

Thanks for your note inquiring about several pieces of antique barbed wire you received from your stepfather.

The 9 wires listed in your email are very common wires and most all collectors already have these wires in their collections.  On the presumption that the remaining 4 wires in the display that were not listed in your mail are of comparable value, it would be fair to say the value of any one individual wire would be nominal at best, and certainly would not warrant having them insured.

There is no doubt that this collection would be worth more to you and members of your family as a memento of your stepfather than you could expect from a collector.  If your are truly interested in selling the collection, at best it could be worth $25.00 to $35.00 if you could find an interested buyer.  An antique dealer might be willing to pay you 25% of that amount.

My suggestion would be to proudly display the collection on your wall for others to see.  If not, then you might consider donating it to a local museum.

I hope this provides you with some idea as to the value of your collection.

If you would like additional information or have other questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.  If we don’t have the answers we certainly can refer you to other collectors that will be able to help you.

Sincerely,

NMBWCA

RARE WIRE OR NOT

By Jim Goedert

The 1998 Symposium defined a rare wire as: “A wire is considered rare when it is extremely difficult to obtain because of limited availability.”

This stated definition mentions nothing about the value of the wire, the attractiveness of the wire, or whether it needs stars to be considered rare.

The collecting trend seems to be gravitating toward the star wires as they are pretty to look at.  While indeed they are attractive, and some are very rare, having a star on the line does not necessarily make it a rare wire.

Let’s look at some of the star wires that are found in many collections.  The 704B Shellaberger Four-point Star is valued at $100.  It is a very attractive wire and could be considered rare.  It came from a large find in south Texas.

Now take a look at the 210B Reynolds Cast Star, which was found in Nicaragua and many pieces were brought into this country.  The person that found it risked his life getting it here.  It is a well made beautiful wire and is currently valued at $200.

Compare these two wires with the 467B and 468B Perry Welded Barb valuedat $50 each and the 463B and 464B Nadelhoffer Gull Wing Barb valued at $100 each.  There were very few of either of these wires ever found, yet anyone that has one to trade or sell can hardly give either of them away.  All of these wires can be considered rare wires but the Nadelhoffer and Perry are certainly more scarce than the Shellaberger or the Reynolds wires.  They are not as appealing to look at and that surely is the reason why collectors do not appreciate the Perry and Nadelhoffer wires as much as the Shellaberger or Reynolds wires.  What’s the reasoning?  Could it be “Star Power?”

Keil Rail

Now let’s take a look at the 749B Phillips Cocklebur.  It is known that at least thirty-five of these wires exist and are valued at $500.  Compare that to the 1024B Keil Twisted Rail wire where only two are known to exist at $500, or to the 300B Edenborn Wide Webbed Strand where only three are known to exist at $500 each.  All three of these wires are certainly rare wires, but once again, they are not valued according to scarcity.  For collectors, the cocklebur is certainly the most desired of the three.

Finally the most desirable rare wire of all, in my opinion, is the 204B Nebraska Dodge Star.  Sixty-two of these wires were found in the late 1960s.  It is valued at $300 and is a quite rare wire.  I will go out on a limb and say that when you have this wire, your collection can be considered complete.

In conclusion, the list could go on and on as to what is rare and what isn’t. We have covered the scarcity of a wire, but that doesn’t seem to apply to the rareness as witnessed in the Value Guide.  Wires that are eye-appealing definitely hold more credibility with collectors. And the star wires look to be the most desired whether they have been found in large quantities or not.

It seems that the stated definition from the 1998 Symposium is probably the best answer we can give for a rare wire. What it all boils down to is, if you the collector, deem a wire in your collection to be rare, then so be it!

The advantages of wire fence are easy to see: “It takes up no room, exhausts no soil, shades no vegetation, is proof against high winds, makes no snowdrifts, and is both durable and cheap.”……taken from an old wire advertisement in the 1870s.

The records of the U.S. Patent Office show that up to 1881 there had been issued 1229 fence patents. The first was issued in 1801, the first with barbs attached was in 1867. In noting the distribution it should bear in mind that in the earlier period the settlements were not approaching the Plains. Up to 1857 only about 100 patents were issued. Between 1866 and 1869 there were 368, or more than 122 a year. Sectionally, the patents were distributed according to origin as follows:
New England states………………40
Middle states………………………372
Southern states………………….. 108
Western states………………….. 696
District of Columbia…………….. 8
Canada……………………………. 5

Despite the fact that the Western states were the newest, they took out more patents than all the rest of the country put together, including Canada.

Although these figures are for fences of all sorts, an examination of barbed wire litigation indicates that practically all barbed wire inventions or claims to inventions originated in the prairie states or in the prairie region of the Plains states.

As a special note, barbed wire was accepted, though reluctantly, against man during the Spanish American War in Cuba in 1898 and has been used in every war since. It’s use resulted in the development of the TANK as the only effective counter weapon.

(worth repeating, taken from the December 1995 NMBWCA’s “Wire Barb and Nail” newsletter.

1. Thou shalt not cut thy neighbor’[s fence in order to increase thy collection, without first obtaining his permission.

2. Thou shalt not manufacture wire to sell to thy fellow collectors.

3. Thou shalt not sell a one dollar wire to thy fellow collector for three dollars.

4. Thou shalt not alter or change wire in any fashion in order to increase thy collection.

5. Thou shalt not take unfair advantage of new or young collectors, even thee was once a beginner.

6. Thou shalt not tell of finding wire when thou knowest very well it was bought from a wire dealer and delivered to thee by U.S. Mail.

7. Thou shalt not question thy fellow collector about the location of wire, then mount thy vehicle and take it all without asking him to journey with you.

8. Thou shalt not boast of a 500 piece collection to friends when thou knowest very well thou hast only 100.

9. Thou shalt not keep to thyself names and addresses of infidels who sell fake and bogus wire.

10. Thou shalt not mount on thy board, the same wires, three times, in three different places in order to convince the layman of thy tremendous collection.

11. Thou shalt not twist two wires together and say unto thy friend “Behold, I haveth a factory splice”.

12. Thou shalt not hock the family jewels in order to purchase an 18 inch stick of wire for they collection. Thy wife and children canst not eat barbed wire.

(reprinted from NMBWCA’s “Wire Barb and Nail” newsletter, February 1995).

An alphabetical listing of all past and present barbed wire organizations.

* Indicates a still active organization.
Date indicates first show.

1. American Association of Barbed Wire Collectors ~ 1966
2. American Barbed Wire Collector’s Society ~ 1987
*3. Antique Barbed Wire Society ~ 2002
4. Arkansas Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1968
5. Arizona Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1971
6. Australia Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ ??
7. Blue Valley Barbarians Wire Club of Marysville, KS ~ 1971
8. Bourbon County Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1972
*9. California Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1969
10. Chisholm Trail Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1968
*11. Colorado Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1968
12. Dakota Territory Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1974
13. Emporia Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1971
14. Hatchet Gang Barbed Wire Collector’s Association of
Richardson, Texas ~ 1970
15. Hawkeye Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1974
16. International Barbed Wire Historical Society ~ 1968
17. Iowa Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1967
*18. Kansas Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1967
19. Land of Lincoln Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1968
20. Lone Star Rangers Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1973
21. Missouri Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1970
*22. Nebraska Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1967
23. Nevada Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1968
*24. New Mexico Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1972
25. Northern Rocky Mountain Barbed Wire Collector’s
Association ~ 1971
26. Northwestern Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1971
27. Oklahoma Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1967
28. Ozark Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1969
29. Sooner Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1967
30. South Dakota Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1974
*31. The SYMPOSIUM ~ 1994
32. Texas Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1966
33. Washington Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1970(?)
34. Wichita Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1970
35. Wisconsin Barbed Wire Collector’s Association ~ 1971

{Original list courtesy of Harold Hagemeier of the ABWS; additions and updates compiled by NMBWCA, December, 2011}

Whether you’re an avid collector of barbed wire or simply a history buff, here are some interesting facts about…The Wire That Won the West.

Of all the wire products marketed, none has been as subject to varied design, litigation, and volumes of words as barbed wire.  It all started in the mid 1800’s when homesteaders found they required a means of protecting crops from large herds of wandering cattle.  Since many areas did not have enough natural materials for effective fencing, several men developed barbed wire in designs which each felt was the practical solution.

Two early U. S. patents for barbed wire were issued to Lucien B. Smith and William D. Hunt in 1867.  Smith’s patent was for the first wire fencing armed with projecting points or barbs, however he could not test his ideas after Hunt won priority rights over him.  Hunt’s fencing consisted of wire equipped with spur wheels.  Financial difficulties discouraged Hunt and he sold his patent to Charles Kennedy of Hinckley, Illinois.  It was said that “probably not more than a half mile in length was ever produced – and that, by hand.”

Other designs consisted of flat metal strips with very long “barbs” inserted at intervals; flat strips with sharp pointed notches along the edges; and wooden strips with metallic points projecting from the top and bottom surfaces.  In all, over 200 styles were developed by imaginative men, but it was not until Joseph Glidden obtained his patent in 1874 that barbed wire took on the form as we know it today.

Glidden, encouraged by his wife, made barbed wire on a machine fashioned from a coffee mill from the kitchen of his DeKalb, Illinois farm home.  Along with parts from an old grindstone, Glidden improvised until he was able to successfully twist a wire strand around another wire strand which already contained wrapped barbs at specified intervals.  The result was a double strand of cable having barbs secured along its entire length.

It was at this same time that Jacob Haish presented a similar barbed wire fencing design, and thus began the first in a series of suits concerning the product.  The patent office subsequently rendered its decision in favor of Glidden.  Although bitterly contested by Haish and others, this title was never attacked in the courts with more than temporary success.  During the ensuing years, “moonshine” wire made its appearance, mergers were effected among many inventors, and suit upon suit was fought in the courts.  It was not until Washburn & Moen Mfg. Co. and Mr. I. L. Elwood had purchased over 90 patent rights by 1892 that litigation over barbed wire became a thing of the past.

Barbed wire at first got opposition from farmers and cattlemen who refused to believe the wire was strong enough to hold in livestock.  They also feared that barbs or spurs would injure the animals.

John W. “Betamillion” Gates broke the initial opposition of the cattlemen to barbed wire.  At 21 Gates became a wire salesman for his uncle, Isaac L. Elwood, a hardware dealer in DeKalb, Illinois who had bought ½ interest of Glidden’s patent for $265.  Elwood had been unable to crack the Texas market for barbed wire.  Warehouses were filled with carloads of rusty and unsold barbed wire.  When Gates reached San Antonio he found the ranchmen unwilling to accept a demonstration for barbed wire effectiveness.  He hit upon the idea of publicity, proving the value of his product by staging a demonstration in the military plaza of the city.  Cattle were driven into the barbed wire corral by yelling cowboys.  The cattle broke in all directions, charging the fence.  But the eight strands of barbed wire held firm and the steers, after one experience, stayed away from the steel barbs.  The cattlemen needed no more persuasion.  Gates was unable to supply all the orders that poured in.

This is the brief story of a product that played a vital part in shaping the course of history, for barbed wire is as much American as Wild Bill Hickok or apple pie.

This article was published by Northwestern Steel and Wire Company. It is shown here as a  historical reference.