No new acquistions...?

[Jiggered]

1 hour ago, Brian1862 said:

My newest acquisition isn't a golf club. I hope you'll pardon the diversion.

 

 

These are FootJoy Classics Dry Premieres. The date code says they were made in February 2003, probably at the Brockton, MA plant.

 

FootJoy made the last Classics of this style in 2004, the final Classic Tour models in 2009 (the plastic-soled ones), and closed their last US manufacturing site, at Brockton, that year. 

 

 

I found these on eBay back in August. They were barely worn but needed some work due to age. I've conditioned the leather, replaced the rotted TPU rubber sole sections, and installed new soft spikes.  These have the old style metal threaded sockets.

 

I'm obviously no cobbler, but they came out ok, and I hope I'll get years of use from them. I'm $68 all-in on these - $46 shipped, $8 in sheet styrene rubber, $14 in spikes.

 

These are wonderful to walk in, very stable - flat and wide underfoot, and are comfortable through the round. The leather conforms perfectly to my oddly shaped feet. At almost 20 years old. 

 

Nice!

I hope you have more luck than I've had with old shoes though, mine all seem to crack across the sole.

[bcstones]

Found this set of John Letters clubs...a Titanium driver (circa 2000??), 2 thru 9 JL Bench Craft irons, & 4 JL putters.....I remember posting here about a set of JL SwingMaster 2 irons & was told it was retail sold, perhaps these are also...would love to find out more about them - Classic Golf Clubs on YouTube has great info on the John Letters Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

they are blades & beautiful, this is the 7 iron...

 

 

the ferrule is long as well as the hozel 

 

 

the top putter is a Golden Goose & the bottom is a Golden Goose Crook

 

 

 

The top I think says "Cara Mia" & the bottom one is a flang putter....the site refused to download the last pic (over the 50 limit)

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by bcstones

[Jiggered]

2 hours ago, bcstones said:

Found this set of John Letters clubs...a Titanium driver (circa 2000??), 2 thru 9 JL Bench Craft irons, & 4 JL putters.....I remember posting here about a set of JL SwingMaster 2 irons & was told it was retail sold, perhaps these are also...would love to find out more about them - Classic Golf Clubs on YouTube has great info on the John Letters Compan

 

they are blades & beautiful, this is the 7 iron...

 

the ferrule is long as well as the hozel 

 

the top putter is a Golden Goose & the bottom is a Golden Goose Crook

 

The top I think says "Cara Mia" & the bottom one is a flang putter....the site refused to download the last pic (over the 50 limit)

 

 

 

Nice find!

 

Can't help much with the driver but there was a model called Trilogy 2000, iron shown below.

 

 

I haven't seen that iron before and wonder if it was shipped to America and stamped up there, is/was there an American company called Bench Craft? Is it a dot face club?

A similar club shown below with Harry Adams stamp, this is a coated shaft, dot face iron.

(There wasn't really such a divide in the UK between store-line and pro-line clubs, the same models could be sold by either.)

 

 

Of the putters, the first is a standard Golden Goose which was in production from 1946 until the end of the John Letters company, the earliest examples will have the bridge cleek mark as on your irons and the examples below, these are both 1940s coated shaft versions.

The second is as you say a Crook version, which I think copied an idea by JH Onions in their Crookshank range of clubs, a putter by JH Onions shown below.

 

 

Of the last two, the first is a Cara Mia, which is Italian for my love. But this putter I find a very difficult putter to play well with, you need to be right on top of your game to putt well with it!

The flange putter is I think a late 1940s early 1950s model, I have a similar one as below, it's much easier to use than the Cara Mia!

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Jiggered

[bcstones]

25 minutes ago, Jiggered said:

 

Nice find!

 

Can't help much with the driver but there was a model called Trilogy 2000, iron shown below.

 

 

I haven't seen that iron before and wonder if it was shipped to America and stamped up there, is/was there an American company called Bench Craft? Is it a dot face club?

There wasn't really such a divide in the UK between store-line and pro-line clubs, the same could be sold by either.

A similar club shown below with Harry Adams stamp, this is a coated shaft, dot face iron.

 

 

Of the putters, the first is a standard Golden Goose which was in production from 1946 until the end of the John Letters company, the earliest examples will have the bridge cleek mark as on your irons and the examples below, these are both 1940s coated shaft versions.

The second is as you say a Crook version, which I think copied an idea by JH Onions in their Crookshank range of clubs, a putter by JH Onions shown below.

 

 

Of the last two, the first is a Cara Mia, which is Italian for my love. But this putter I find a very difficult putter to play well with, you need to be right on top of your game to put well with it!

The flange putter is I think a late 1940s early 1950s model, I have a similar one as below, it's much easier to use than the Cara Mia!

 

I'm an idiot! Or perhaps just an old duffer fat head.....forgot to send the face of the irons & I retook a pic of the back...the shaft band is a thin band w/TrueTemper Dynamic "S".....the flang putter had no name other than John Letters, made in Scotland, & the bridge cleek mark....the Golden Goose putter on the sole, does not have the bridge cleek mark, just "Golden Goose by John Letters Scotland" & does have a beautiful leather grip (only missing a butt cap of some kind...oh, the grip has that flat front down the top of the shaft....

As far as I know, no company in the US w/that name "Bench Craft", there was a early golf maker - GolfCraft, I have a couple of old persimmon woods w/that name, no insert but metal shafts...not sure who they merged with waaaay back

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by bcstones

[Jiggered]

1 hour ago, bcstones said:

I'm an idiot! Or perhaps just an old duffer fat head.....forgot to send the face of the irons & I retook a pic of the back...the shaft band is a thin band w/TrueTemper Dynamic "S".....the flang putter had no name other than John Letters, made in Scotland, & the bridge cleek mark....the Golden Goose putter on the sole, does not have the bridge cleek mark, just "Golden Goose by John Letters Scotland" & does have a beautiful leather grip (only missing a butt cap of some kind...oh, the grip has that flat front down the top of the shaft....

As far as I know, no company in the US w/that name "Bench Craft", there was a early golf maker - GolfCraft, I have a couple of old persimmon woods w/that name, no insert but metal shafts...not sure who they merged with waaaay back

 

 

 

A mystery on the Bench Craft then, thanks for the additional pictures.

As far as I know the True Temper Dynamic was introduced in 1942 with a series of flexes – a black band signified stiff, a red band meant regular, a yellow band was for ladies. Later these designations became S for stiff, T for regular (eventually changed to R), and L for ladies.

The True Temper Rocket replaced the Dynamic around 1954 so I'd say your irons date between 1946 and 1954. (There was no golf club production in the UK to speak of during WWII)

Edited October 10, 2022 by Jiggered

[bcstones]

47 minutes ago, Jiggered said:

 

A mystery on the Bench Craft then, thanks for the additional pictures.

As far as I know the True Temper Dynamic was introduced in 1942 with a series of flexes – a black band signified stiff, a red band meant regular, a yellow band was for ladies. Later these designations became S for stiff, T for regular (eventually changed to R), and L for ladies.

The True Temper Rocket replaced the Dynamic around 1954 so I'd say your irons date between 1946 and 1954. (There was no golf club production in the UK to speak of during WWII)

Love it - "mystery clubs" LOL! 
the shafts on the irons is black...so they're stiff (kinda feels like it). Yeah, don't think anyone anywhere made golf clubs during WWII...then again, you just said that the Dynamics were introduced in '42, for you Brits that was some 3-4years into WWII.
Hmmm, so actually these could be from 1942 - 1954, minus the WWII years....or has my vacant space between my ears screwed up again LOL!!! Probably

oh, forgot to mention....the grips have obviously been replaced, they are all KARMA - which means I did the regriping, cuz I like the "Karma"    LOL!

Edited October 10, 2022 by bcstones

[Jiggered]

18 minutes ago, bcstones said:

Love it - "mystery clubs" LOL! 
the shafts on the irons is black...so they're stiff (kinda feels like it). Yeah, don't think anyone anywhere made golf clubs during WWII...then again, you just said that the Dynamics were introduced in '42, for you Brits that was some 3-4years into WWII.
Hmmm, so actually these could be from 1942 - 1954, minus the WWII years....or has my vacant space between my ears screwed up again LOL!!! Probably

 

I think that the Dynamic was introduced in the US in 1942, in the UK the war effort meant that pretty much all production was switched over to war work for the duration. I don't think the same happened in the US, at least not in the early stages, America entered the war in Dec 1941 I believe.

I'd estimate the date for your irons as between 1946 and 1954.

 

True Temper shafts were made under licence in the UK by Accles & Pollock but I'd guess that those in your clubs would have been imported unless they say "Made in England" on them.

 

The John Letters advert below from the 1947 Open mentions supply issues and shows how long it took for production to get back to normal in the UK. 

Some of the clubs mentioned are, I'm pretty sure, carried over from pre-war designs, pictures of those I've come across shown.

 

 

[Foozle]

23 hours ago, Brian1862 said:

My newest acquisition isn't a golf club. I hope you'll pardon the diversion.

 

 

These are FootJoy Classics Dry Premieres. The date code says they were made in February 2003, probably at the Brockton, MA plant.

 

FootJoy made the last Classics of this style in 2004, the final Classic Tour models in 2009 (the plastic-soled ones), and closed their last US manufacturing site, at Brockton, that year. 

 

 

I found these on eBay back in August. They were barely worn but needed some work due to age. I've conditioned the leather, replaced the rotted TPU rubber sole sections, and installed new soft spikes.  These have the old style metal threaded sockets.

 

I'm obviously no cobbler, but they came out ok, and I hope I'll get years of use from them. I'm $68 all-in on these - $46 shipped, $8 in sheet styrene rubber, $14 in spikes.

 

These are wonderful to walk in, very stable - flat and wide underfoot, and are comfortable through the round. The leather conforms perfectly to my oddly shaped feet. At almost 20 years old. 

Nice shoes, great find! I have found myself looking at old shoes recently in the vain hope of finding a pair of NOS Dexter golf shoes. I had a pair back in the late 80's which were without question the most comfortable shoes I have ever had. They had a full leather sole with steel spikes. First time I wore them on a damp dewy morning the soles moulded exactly to my feet and became supremely comfortable. They got very heavy when wet and were not exactly light weight when dry but none of the new superlight,  super dry shoes come close in terms of comfort.

 

[bcstones]

13 minutes ago, Jiggered said:

 

I think that the Dynamic was introduced in the US in 1942, in the UK the war effort meant that pretty much all production was switched over to war work for the duration. I don't think the same happened in the US, at least not in the early stages, America entered the war in Dec 1941 I believe.

I'd estimate the date for your irons as between 1946 and 1954.

 

True Temper shafts were made under licence in the UK by Accles & Pollock but I'd guess that those in your clubs would have been imported unless they say "Made in England" on them.

 

The John Letters advert below from the 1947 Open mentions supply issues and shows how long it took for production to get back to normal in the UK. 

Some of the clubs mentioned are, I'm pretty sure, carried over from pre-war designs, pictures of those I've come across shown.

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting...the MacGregor and the H&B Kaplan guides just skip from '42 thru '47 for the most part. The Wilson Kaplan guide states that the '42 catalog was identical to the '41, there were no clubs produced "43, "44, "45 due to WWII and finally no catalogs were made in '46 &'47 cus club production was limited & what there was produced was same as '41 & '42....

the country of orgin on these iron shafts make no mention of where....there just isn't room on that little band...fyi, the flange putter, the Cara Mia putter, & the Golden Goose Grook putter have a red band w/Master Model series by John Letters, the Golden Goose putter has no band. Also, the driver shaft is an Aldila TGw60 (ASO fiber) & still has a price tag on it ($9.95 USD). I'd have thought I might have shafted an old head I found, but the grip

is a Golf Pride, still in playable shape....so I guess I might have bought it at Golfsmith used section....waaay back

 

[bcstones]

19 minutes ago, Foozle said:

Nice shoes, great find! I have found myself looking at old shoes recently in the vain hope of finding a pair of NOS Dexter golf shoes. I had a pair back in the late 80's which were without question the most comfortable shoes I have ever had. They had a full leather sole with steel spikes. First time I wore them on a damp dewy morning the soles moulded exactly to my feet and became supremely comfortable. They got very heavy when wet and were not exactly light weight when dry but none of the new superlight,  super dry shoes come close in terms of comfort.

 

thanks to a MVA some 30+ years ago, my right leg is 1" shorter than my right so I have a 1" addition built on the my shoes...most of contemporary shoes, especially golf shoes can't be split or separated. So cuz I prefer leather to anything else, I found a pair of ECCO w/gortex lining that fit my bill....and quite comfortable

[Jiggered]

33 minutes ago, bcstones said:

Interesting...the MacGregor and the H&B Kaplan guides just skip from '42 thru '47 for the most part. The Wilson Kaplan guide states that the '42 catalog was identical to the '41, there were no clubs produced "43, "44, "45 due to WWII and finally no catalogs were made in '46 &'47 cus club production was limited & what there was produced was same as '41 & '42....

the country of orgin on these iron shafts make no mention of where....there just isn't room on that little band...fyi, the flange putter, the Cara Mia putter, & the Golden Goose Grook putter have a red band w/Master Model series by John Letters, the Golden Goose putter has no band. Also, the driver shaft is an Aldila TGw60 (ASO fiber) & still has a price tag on it ($9.95 USD). I'd have thought I might have shafted an old head I found, but the grip

is a Golf Pride, still in playable shape....so I guess I might have bought it at Golfsmith used section....waaay back

 

 

Sounds like things in the US were more similar to the UK than I'd imagined.

 

Hopefully this picture of a couple of Dynamic Ladies flex shafts shows what I mean, you can just about make out parts of "Made in England" below the True Temper Dynamic.

 

[bcstones]

12 minutes ago, Jiggered said:

 

Sounds like things in the US were more similar to the UK than I'd imagined.

 

Hopefully this picture of a couple of Dynamic Ladies flex shafts shows what I mean, you can just about make out parts of "Made in England" below the True Temper Dynamic.

 

now I gotta go and get my magnifying glass & increase the light....humph - on most the top of the band as I looked was fine, but the bottom of all were ragged, I'd have expected it to be the other way 'round....anyway, I'm thinking they were made in Scotland & somehow made their way over the pond (almost said Eastern pond, but to you it'd be the Western pond...LOL)

oh, yeah....couldn't see anything resembling any part of "made in England"

Edited October 10, 2022 by bcstones

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

5 hours ago, bcstones said:

Found this set of John Letters clubs...a Titanium driver (circa 2000??), 2 thru 9 JL Bench Craft irons, & 4 JL putters.....I remember posting here about a set of JL SwingMaster 2 irons & was told it was retail sold, perhaps these are also...would love to find out more about them - Classic Golf Clubs on YouTube has great info on the John Letters Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

they are blades & beautiful, this is the 7 iron...

 

 

the ferrule is long as well as the hozel 

 

 

the top putter is a Golden Goose & the bottom is a Golden Goose Crook

 

 

 

The top I think says "Cara Mia" & the bottom one is a flang putter....the site refused to download the last pic (over the 50 limit)

 

 

The original Cara Mia was a hickory shafted socket head wooden headed putter of some considerable beauty. I had one and sold it to France. A later version of this had a steel shaft, also gorgeous. Photos may exist somewhere in my archive, if so I'll dig them out.

I fear the one shown here is but a sorry example of an unfortunate and inappropriate extension of a classic brand name

[Jiggered]

9 minutes ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

The original Cara Mia was a hickory shafted socket head wooden headed putter of some considerable beauty. I had one and sold it to France. A later version of this had a steel shaft, also gorgeous. Photos may exist somewhere in my archive, if so I'll dig them out.

I fear the one shown here is but a sorry example of an unfortunate and inappropriate extension of a classic brand name

 

Was that original Cara Mia also by John Letters?

[bcstones]

23 minutes ago, Jiggered said:

 

Was that original Cara Mia also by John Letters?

yeah, what/who were the makers of the hickory shafted Cara Mia? (that came out a wee bit agressively, didn't mean it that way...just asking)

Edited October 10, 2022 by bcstones

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

11 hours ago, Jiggered said:

 

Was that original Cara Mia also by John Letters?

No, I'm pretty sure it was Gibson. Also from memory it had a Danga Wood shaft.

Let me guess the next question? How did JL get the rights to Cara Mia? Danga wood was around 1935, and I had a later steel shafted variant, guessing 1940s.

[dcopp7]

Cara Mia is "my darling"

Mi Amore is "my love"

[bcstones]

6 hours ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

No, I'm pretty sure it was Gibson. Also from memory it had a Danga Wood shaft.

Let me guess the next question? How did JL get the rights to Cara Mia? Danga wood was around 1935, and I had a later steel shafted variant, guessing 1940s.

nope....my next questions were - Who is Gibson? & What is Danga Wood?.....and since you mentioned it - "How did JL get the rights to Cara Mia?"?   LOL

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

30 minutes ago, bcstones said:

nope....my next questions were - Who is Gibson? & What is Danga Wood?.....and since you mentioned it - "How did JL get the rights to Cara Mia?"?   LOL

William Gibson of Kinghorn, Fife was the most prolific manufacturer of clubs worldwide from pre WW1 to the end of WW2. His designs were legendary both woods and irons. The shafts were graded between 'good', 'bloody good' and 'outright fabulous' and are much sought after by hickory players.The Maxwells you most covet were most likely Gibsons, with both an outline star and indented star motif. Danga wood was an African exotic wooden shaft, the origins of which were lost in a fire. He worked closely with Thomas Cochrane of Edinburgh who had a close association with Walter Hagen. Lots on here in the archive, Tad Moore is the expert.

[bcstones]

49 minutes ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

William Gibson of Kinghorn, Fife was the most prolific manufacturer of clubs worldwide from pre WW1 to the end of WW2. His designs were legendary both woods and irons. The shafts were graded between 'good', 'bloody good' and 'outright fabulous' and are much sought after by hickory players.The Maxwells you most covet were most likely Gibsons, with both an outline star and indented star motif. Danga wood was an African exotic wooden shaft, the origins of which were lost in a fire. He worked closely with Thomas Cochrane of Edinburgh who had a close association with Walter Hagen. Lots on here in the archive, Tad Moore is the expert.

Thanks…I’ll check the archives (the “problem” is that there is sooo much info there, I can lose hours, if not the day 😂 )

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

57 minutes ago, bcstones said:

Thanks…I’ll check the archives (the “problem” is that there is sooo much info there, I can lose hours, if not the day 😂 )

That's rabbit holes for you lol.

[Jiggered]

7 hours ago, dcopp7 said:

Cara Mia is "my darling"

Mi Amore is "my love"

 

I got it slightly wrong as I was going from memory, but I believe it's actually "my beloved".

 

But they're all variations on a theme and a translation can usually be made in several ways.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Jiggered

[Jiggered]

4 hours ago, bcstones said:

nope....my next questions were - Who is Gibson? & What is Danga Wood?.....and since you mentioned it - "How did JL get the rights to Cara Mia?"?   LOL

 

Back then I doubt that rights could be had for phrases so anyone could use the Cara Mia name.

[bcstones]

3 hours ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

That's rabbit holes for you lol.

yuppers....sure are LOL

[bcstones]

1 hour ago, Jiggered said:

 

Back then I doubt that rights could be had for phrases so anyone could use the Cara Mia name.

another question for you....have you heard or seen or used a Slazenger Lion putter?

[Jiggered]

2 hours ago, bcstones said:

another question for you....have you heard or seen or used a Slazenger Lion putter?

 

Irons are what I primarily look for so I don't have much info on Slazenger putters (other than that people pay silly money for Ping Slazenger putters, they're not that rare at all), the Slazenger trade mark is a panther so there are quite a few Slazenger Panther clubs but I can't remember seeing a Lion other than on your Bench Craft clubs.

[bcstones]

1 hour ago, Jiggered said:

 

Irons are what I primarily look for so I don't have much info on Slazenger putters (other than that people pay silly money for Ping Slazenger putters, they're not that rare at all), the Slazenger trade mark is a panther so there are quite a few Slazenger Panther clubs but I can't remember seeing a Lion other than on your Bench Craft clubs.

Well, That animal on the Bench Craft could be a fat Panther ( LOL )...hadn't thought of the Slazenger Panther icon, hmmmm. Anyway, here some pics of the putter..I'll keep it with the "Lion" clubs..it does have a nice squared leather handle in very good shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by bcstones

[Greggle]

Wow, what a bunch of obscure clubs. Here's my latest thrift finds... Pro-Shop Power-Pakt irons.  Only found the 3, 5, and 7 irons, shafts have a worn 'custom' band 'made in USA' and brown leather wrapped grips. They've got a nice feel, but doubt i can hit 'em so well. 

 

And speaking of unhittable, this gem was also in the bin, a Macgregor Tourney M75T 1 iron. All odds today. 

[Wham49]

In the newer vintage cat. I was very happy , talked them down to $80. Seller thought they needed new shafts. I didn’t see it in the pics. Looked just like it developed that white mildew stuff from hanging in the basement for so long, I was right. A little spit shine and they are shining 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Wham49

[Swingingk]

2 hours ago, Greggle said:

Wow, what a bunch of obscure clubs. Here's my latest thrift finds... Pro-Shop Power-Pakt irons.  Only found the 3, 5, and 7 irons, shafts have a worn 'custom' band 'made in USA' and brown leather wrapped grips. They've got a nice feel, but doubt i can hit 'em so well. 

 

And speaking of unhittable, this gem was also in the bin, a Macgregor Tourney M75T 1 iron. All odds today. 

While I doubt the Power-Pakt irons ever came anywhere near a real pro shop they do look super nifty.  I'm diggin' those space-age golden ferrules!  😁