Does this look like a toy? I used to collect handmade slingshots as pieces of utilitarian folk art…but thought of them as mere pea-shooters for boys until I met the king of slingshot collectors in the mountains of North Carolina. He had a striking collection of slingshots. As in big rocks striking a rabbit. His name was Howard and he told me the toys I was lining up on my mantle weren't toys, they were weapons and a good one used with skill was a serious earner. It put food on the table. Up in the hills, during tough times or easy, young boys would hunt with them and more often than not bring something home. Squirrel, possum, rabbit…God's creatures brought down by a piece of inner tube stretched out from a handheld device.
Hand Welded Slingshot, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
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