BYU Library - Special Collections

Report by Brigham Young University folklore student Karen Harrison collected information from her roommate, Beth Rasmusson. Spear-thrower (atlatl) made principally from willow.

Report by Utah State University folklore student Kim Kowallis about information learned from classmates circa 1962. A clothes pin (spring-type) is disassembled, modified, and reassembled to make a device that will propel beans, pebbles, or match heads (igniting the latter). Report includes diagram.

Report by Utah State University folklore student Kim Kowallis about information learned from friends in junior high school. Blowgun made from a paper tube and darts made from straight pins and Scotch tape. Report includes sketch.

Report by Utah State University folklore student Cheryl Carlile, who collected information from her father, Gavin E. Carlile. An inner-tube-powered weapon that projects pieces of coal, used by Gavin in boyhood circa 1943. Report includes a drawing.

Report by Utah State University folklore student Blake Walbeck submitted information he learned from his father circa 1962. A clothes pin (spring-type) is disassembled, modified, and reassembled to make a device that will propel lit matches. Report includes diagram.

Contains explanations of the folkloric significance of weapons. Items were collected by students in folklore classes at Brigham Young University and Utah State University from 1967 to 1985. Most of the items are typewritten, but a few of the older items are handwritten. Many of the items contain a description of how, when, and where they were collected as well as explanations of social and cultural contexts.

Report by Brigham Young University folklore student Shawn Trauntvein about how, circa 1976, he and his peers made darts from pins and thread, to be shot through a straw. Report includes drawings and instructions.

Report by Utah State University folklore student Linda Smith, who collected information from Earl G. Jones during a church Christmas party one year before recording. A wooden gun with a cloth trigger which, when pulled, fires multiple rubber bands or inner-tube strips in succession. Report includes a sketch.

Report by Brigham Young University folklore student Shawn Trauntvein about an elastic-firing weapon triggered by a clothespin, used by collector and his peers circa 1976. Report includes a sketch.

Report by Utah State University history student Chau N. Lam about a design he reinvented in childhood from example of similar items. A rubber-band-powered gun to launch firecrackers, used in pretended wars. Report includes a diagram.