Before Clay, Trap Shooters Used Glass Target Balls (2024)

Before Clay, Trap Shooters Used Glass Target Balls

If you happen to find a small glass ball in your attic or barn, it might be worth a bit of money. Before trap shooters shot clay targets they shot glass target balls, about 2 3/4 in. in diameter. The first balls were made in 1876 and became very popular at shooting exhibitions and events during the 1880’s in the U.S. and overseas. Slightly smaller balls, called gallery balls, were used for traveling shows. The glass orbs were made up until the 1920’s, when someone figured out that clay disintegrated, unlike glass, which left fields unsuitable for livestock or human use.
Still, glass was preferable to the live pigeons used before that, says Ralph Finch, a target ball collector and publisher of the On Target newsletter, who is writing a book detailing the history and value of target balls from the 1870’s to the1890’s.
The shortage of pigeons and distaste for seeing dead pigeon parts littering bloody fields after an exhibition led to the change to glass. The first record of shooting them was in an English newspaper mentioning blue glass orbs at a shooting exhibition.
“Glass balls provided an even match, because they were thrown by glass ball traps so everyone was shooting equally,” Finch notes, whereas live pigeons flew erratically.
The target balls sold for just over a penny each and were commonly amber or blue. They were typically shipped in barrels of 300 orbs packed with sawdust.
Some shooters had special glass orbs made. Famous shooter Ira Paine used feather-filled target balls - his substitute for shooting at live pigeons.
“Annie Oakley was said to have had silk ribbons in her target balls,” Finch says, adding other balls were filled with confetti, sawdust, water - anything cheap.
“Most any glass company could make them, although the Bohemian Glass Works, circa summer 1878, boasted selling ‘one million and a quarter’ since the previous August,” Finch adds.
Manufacturers embossed different designs on the balls, with the most famous being the pigeon target ball, for which Finch paid nearly $30,000, when it was thought there was only one of them. Later, two more were discovered.
Prices vary greatly depending on the rarity, but even common blue and amber balls are worth $100 to $150 to collectors who live all over the world. Target balls can be found for sale on eBay and through the American Glass Gallery (www.americanglassgallery.com).
Through his target ball and trap collecting and research, Finch discovered many stories about how orbs were shot placed on people’s heads - usually the wife of the shooter. One graphic account relates how a man missed and shot his wife in the forehead at a matinee exhibition with families present. Another story revealed the wisdom of one woman who filed for divorce when her husband wanted her to place target balls on her head.
Target ball enthusiasts appreciate the colorful history, and Finch invites readers to contact him for more information.
“I admit that I have no idea how or why target balls took over my life,” Finch says. “But one has to accept one’s fate!”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ralph Finch, 34007 Hillside Court, Farmington Hills, Mich. 48335 (ph 248 476-4893; www.targetballs.com; rfinch@twmi.rr.com).

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