Lot # 150: 1904 Arlington Pyralin Driver

Starting Bid: $100.00

Bids: 5 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Spring 2023",
which ran from 4/5/2023 12:00 PM to
4/22/2023 8:00 PM



Stamped "Arlington 'Pyralin' Pat Appl'd For" on its crown, the head on this driver is made from Pyralin, a type of vulcanized rubber. Clubs made with Pyralin heads occurred through the efforts of Willie Dunn Jr., who received a 1903 US patent that was behind the club offered here. Dunn assigned his patent to the Kempshall Manufacturing Company of Arlington, New Jersey, the company who made this driver.

A review of Dunn's pyralin clubs was published in the April 1904 issue of Golf (NY), which reads in part:

"[Willie Dunn's] rubber-headed club drives a very long ball, and works equally well with gutta-percha and rubber-cored balls.  The head is beautifully proportioned, impervious to wet and virtually indestructible.  It would seem as though the new club were especially adapted to the needs of players who really prefer using the solid ball, but who cannot afford to give distance on every tee to their proponents of the rubber-cored tribe. The club will be on the market shortly."

Despite what was said in the 1904 review, this 45" driver with its original sheepskin grip is not "virtually indestructible."  The pyralin has a few thin hairline cracks on the heel and the underside of the neck. You need to have the light just right in order to see them, but they are there. The head is actually a few pieces of pyralin laminated together, and the laminations can be seen running parallel with each other across the back of the head.  This phenomenon can also be seen on some of the Kempshall black pyralin putters as well.  It's nothing to worry about, just part of the process used to construct these rare heads. 

Pyralin putters are around, but pyralin drivers?  Nope, they are particularly rare. As mentioned, there are a few hairlines on this head, but considering the scarcity of this club and its general overall attractive nature, they are not the end of the world.  The club still looks great and is a true rarity.  Just don't take it to the range.

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