POTD: Trap Shooting Beginnings – Glass Ball Target
Sam.S 07.20.21
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! I love trap shooting. Many folks do not know that the origins of trapshooting started with shooting literal birds or pigeons that had been trapped; thus, the name trap shooting. It was not always easy to get a hold of some live birds to go release and shoot at. It most certainly was not cheap if you did not trap them yourself.
Maybe you would be the type of sportsman who was not interested in taking a life in the name of sport. Enter the glass ball target! These glass balls would often be filled with feathers or other easy-to-identify materials. The glass balls would be placed in a catapult of sorts and when a string connected to a trigger was pulled the glass ball would be released into the air to be shot.
“Round amber glass target ball, made from three piece mold, approximately 2 7/10 inch in diameter with a 3/4 inch top opening with ground-down pouring lip. No makers or identification marks.
-Rock Island Auction Company”
Lot 37: Two Glass Target Balls [Photograph found in Auction Catalog #49, Rock Island Auction Company]. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2021, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/49/37/two-glass-target-balls
