Many of the pioneers to trap collecting were into antique steel traps long before the trap collecting clubs were ever thought of. All of these old timers have since passed away and a wealth of knowledge went with them, other than the small miniscule amount of knowledge they gifted to the lucky ones that were close to them, and payed close attention to what they said.
I was fortunate enough, from the time I was four or five years old, to be associated with a gentleman who more than likely put more traps in peoples collections than any other,John Barbee.
John was a wealth of knowledge and his main love as many of us was Newhouse Traps, and the history that surrounded the Newhouse Trap and the Oneida Community. From a very young age I was always fascinated by the different styles, designs, and history of antique Traps, and with my father and John being best of friends and the two a very instrumental part in starting the Missouri Trappers Association back in the late 50s, I was blessed with having known John from the time I was Four years old until John passed away on Feb, 1st 2010. With us only living 70 miles apart, there were very few weekends that passed where John was either down here, or Dad and I was up there. John was like my second father. and I learned a tremendous wealth of knowledge from him.
The way one learns traps is to handle as well as scrutinize many many traps. It is something that is gained over many years of collecting, and one never stops learning, as there will always be something new and exciting surface that was never seen before.
I look back at Alfred Williams and Dick Gerstell and it is utterly amazing to even fathom what they accomplished when you take into consideration their books, as this was back in a time when if you needed information you wrote letters, made phone calls, or drove many miles and put in many long days in doing research. Now with the advancement of modern technology as well as the computer and internet, it has made it so very easy for all of us now to find out just about anything with the stroke of a few keys.
When one gets into the trap collecting guides, and there have been many published over the years from Frodelius & Bert, Donnie Bush, Vances books, and Toms guide, there is one common denominator that everyone must realize, and that is these books are exactly "GUIDES", not Bibles and prices will vary considerably, on any given day when selling from one collector to another, depending on how bad the buyer wants it, and how reluctant the seller is to get rid of it, and the condition of the item. But, in another sinister aspect, there are a few out there that have published articles, guides, and books, some of which plagiarized other peoples work, that are virtually a waist of the paper and print used to manufacture them.
We constantly learn something new about the field we collect in everyday, I know I do. When it gets to the point that an individual feels like they know everything there is to know and even when they feel as though they do not know the answer, and make something up and believe it to be fact, then you have a problem.
Greg (Cascade) and I have talked many times about writing an informative book on Newhouse which would include pictures,history, but no prices as prices are always fluctuating up and down.
as between the two of us, there is not much out there that one or the other of us do not have, but like Dean (Snakecollector) said, time is of the essence, so maybe sometime in the future.
