A picture, it has been said, is worth a thousand words, but neither a picture nor a thousand words will adequately describe a Limbershaft.  Only when waggled does a Limbershaft reveal its exceptional flexibility. Suffice it to say, there has never been another shaft like it produced for the world of retail golf clubs.  Think of this Limbershaft brassie as a 9-piece buggy whip with a golf club on the end of it. Really!

The soleplate is marked "Swingrite, Jimmy Thompson, Tarpon Springs, Fla, Brassie." The shaft consists of 8 lengths of rattan surrounding a square hickory core. A cross section of all these pieces can be viewed at the butt end of the shaft.  Varnish coated, braided thread completely encases the shaft between the grip and head.  Some of the original Limbershaft decal remains on the 43" shaft near the original grip.  Limbershafts were covered under a US patented issued in 1931 to Carl F. Mensing of Tarpon Springs, Florida. 

Limbershafts proved to be a flash in the pan, a here today gone tomorrow story.  But the beautiful example up for auction is still here today! Thankfully!! For more on Mensing and his Limbershaft, see TCA2 v2 p641-642.