The Current Situation at David Morgan

November 7, 2020

Dear Customers and Friends,

With the ongoing pandemic, we wish to share with you how we are faring, and what we continue to do to minimize the impact on our customers.

Holiday Shopping:  We encourage you to shop early for your holiday gifts.  Delivery times have been extended by the USPS and UPS.  Although most of products are well stocked, some vendors continue to see pandemic-related delays.  Those who shop early will have the best selection, without the worry of delayed last-minute deliveries.

Please note that our guarantee of satisfaction allows returns and exchanges for 90 days after purchase for items in unused condition with all tags.  You can purchase holiday gifts now, with confidence as the recipient will be able to return or exchange gifts through January, if needed.  This is the same guarantee we’ve stood by for more than 50 years.

Extended Hours:  We will be working Saturdays in November and December until Christmas, ensuring your orders are processed as quickly as possible.

Retail Store:  Unfortunately, the pandemic still precludes opening our retail store at this time.  We will re-open as soon as we are confident we can do so safely.

Curbside Order Pick-up:  We are now offering curbside order pick-up for our customers living in the greater Seattle area.  Please call us at 425-485-2132 or check our Retail Store page for further information.

Fall Favorites:  Our Lambswool Scarf is selling well this fall, along with our woolen sweaters and accessories by Devold and Lothlorian.

Thank you for your patience and for your ongoing support of our small family-owned business during these extraordinary times.

 

 

Stagecoach Whips

October 18, 2019

Working at David Morgan is really fun when we can put people together to solve problems and preserve history.

Because of my father’s work in the field of whips — which included writing the book Whips and Whipmaking — I occasionally field general queries regarding whips.

A few weeks ago I took a call from a Mr. Patt Patterson of Missouri who asked me if I knew anything about stage coach whips. He was writing a book on them.  I told him no, nothing past what was in my father’s book. I offered to check David’s list of whips, I checked and found Dad had a couple of stage coach whips in his collection so I said I’d clean them up for him and send him photographs.

A few days later I took a call from Jimmy Wilson in Texas who was looking for someone to clean up and put new falls on his wife’s whips. His wife had been a Wild West arts performer in the fifties and sixties. Jimmy mentioned that, by the way, he ran a business building stagecoaches, see J Wilson Stage Coaches.

I introduced Patt and Jimmy by email and Patt is now busy fixing up the whips and has gained a friend in the world of stage coaches.

After receiving the performer whips, Patt mentioned that some of the whips were made by the J.M. Bucheimer Co.  I found a Bucheimer catalog or three in David’s files that dated from the mid-sixties, when they were in Frederick Maryland. Included with the catalogs was correspondence from David where he mentioned that he was interested in buying the Drovers and Performers whips.  He then bought a couple and responded they were advertised as 12 plait but arrived as 10 plait.  Later Bucheimer catalogs described the whips as 10 plait.  In 1967 the performer whips cost from $10.60 to $31.00 depending on their length, with extra long lengths available on special request.

The stage coach whips in David’s collection were labeled and measure as follows:

 

 

No. 94 Stagecoach Whip, Bert Hill, 1960s.  He had made coach whips for Cobb & Co.  11′ thong 6 plait dropped to 4. 12 plait. Covered handle is about 54″.

( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb_%26_Co  )

No. 95 Stagecoach Whip Bert Hill, 1960s.  9′ thong 6 plait dropped to 4. 12 plait covered handle is about 53″. (No photo.)

 

No. 98

Useless Thong by DWM on a Lungewhip handle by Millowick. Thong lacks weight in the belly. Handle is a bit under 50 inches.

It appears David had made an attempt at copying the stagecoach whip thong and failed.  Thankfully David kept on trying his hand making hundreds of functional whips albeit not for stagecoaches.

Our best wishes to Patt and Jimmy’s respective and collective endeavors!

Will Morgan

Enjoy a few more photos below:

 

 

 

Herons along North Creek

July 28, 2017

At David Morgan, we are fortunate to be surrounded by incredible beauty. A creek meanders through the office park and the City of Bothell does a wonderful job of maintaining it.

Right now, blackberries are ripening and available to anyone walking along the path next to the creek. Wild Roses are finally shedding their last flowers and the rose hips are turning red. Wild Rose hips, by the way, make excellent tea. It’s best to pick them after the first frost, but that won’t happen in the Northwest for at least five months.

Wild Rose in Bloom

 

Willow Tree

 

Herons like to walk along the creek, but are very shy around people. One, we believe, was nesting on a small island. Ducks are also numerous. A family of ducks once crossed the path and didn’t seem to be bothered by the people who stopped to watch.

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Heron Jewelry