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PLEASE ALLOW AT LEAST 2 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY OF DIY ITEMS AS WE'RE WORKING FROM HOME A LOT.

PLEASE NOTE: WE ONLY SHIP WITHIN THE UK

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Stickmaking materials
and Accessories
FOR DIY STICKMAKERS.
(Finished sticks further down).

Adhesives
Alpine Spikes
Aluminium crook
Animal head Blanks
Antler
Badger blank
Bird head blanks
Blackthorn shanks
Brass collars
Brass ferrules
Buffalo horn
Cane holder
Carving blanks
Carving glove
Carving tools
Carving wood
Cock pheasant blank
Collars
Crook blank (wood)
DIY Materials
Dog blanks
Duck blanks
Engraved collars
Epoxy resin
Epoxy putty
Eyes
Ferrules
Fish blanks
Fox blanks
Glass eyes
Glue
Grouse blanks
Hazel shanks
Heron blanks
Hen pheas't blanks
Hiking stick blank
Horns
Horn spacers
Horn Polishing kit
Horse blanks
Kevlar glove
Knife
Leather lace
Lyre blank (wood)
Magnetic Ferrules
Partridge blank
Pins
Polishing Kit
Rams horns
Roe buck antlers
Rubber ferrules
Salmon blank
Shanks
Shrink tube
Spacers
Stag horn
Stick press
Swan blank
Thumbstick blanks
Trout blanks
Wading staff kit
Walker blank
Woodcock blanks
Wrist loop straps

FINISHED
Sticks & Crooks
normally made
to order see waiting times on each page.

These are Not normally
available outside
the UK -
email for details!

 

Animal sticks
Antler thumbsticks
Antler walkingsticks
Beating sticks
Bird head sticks
Buffalo horn crooks
Buffalo horn thumbsticks
Carved sticks
Derby sticks
DIY Materials
DIY Stickmaking
Dog sticks
Engraved collars
Gen purpose
Hiking stick
Horn crooks
Horn sticks
Knob sticks
Lyre thumb stick
Nanny McPhee stick
Rams horn sticks
Regency stick
Resin head sticks
Staffs
Thumbsticks
Wading convert kit
Wading Staffs
Wading Sticks
WALKING STICKS
Miscellaneous

Gift Vouchers
Cane History
Stickmaking class
Cane holder
Straightening sticks
Why use a Stick?

 

The history of walking canes

 

Canes were, for a period of at least three centuries, as crucial a part of the male wardrobe as a pair of trousers is now. Indeed, men were likely to have several canes, to be used on different occasions‚ at the office, going out in the evening and at the weekends.

They were carried, not as a walking aid, but as an ornament and an indication of the owner's wealth and status. Canes originated out of the male psyche, which associates carrying a stick with power. Kings carry sceptres, Black Rod carries a rod, Merlin carried a wand and Moses used a staff to part the waves. And in the 17th century, when men had just put down their swords, they started carrying canes

They continued to do so until the 1940s, when, sadly, they seemed to lay down their canes. But until then, some spectacular and unusual canes were produced, which now cost between £500 and £5,000. They could be classified into categories: for example, defence canes that contained hidden swords or blades; automaton canes that had heads that moved at the touch of a secret button; marine canes, made by sailors, frequently using whalebone; and folk art canes, carved and used by shepherds and farmers.

When canes first appeared, in about 1650, the most common was the ivory-handled malacca cane, the wood of which came from the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia. The wood was brought back to Britain as an exotic item, the equivalent now of buying something from the moon. The early canes had long brass ferrules to protect the wood against being dunked in the mud, while the handles were ivory with silver-pique work. These cost in the low thousands now.

By 1700, men and their canes were being dandified. The wood was the same, but the handles were often gold and decorated with tassels. Men would pose with them, rather than swing them around. Such canes can be found in Gainsborough portraits. Then came the Victorian age and the Industrial Revolution, in which the newly rich middle class would display their wealth through an extensive collection of highly decorative canes.

Cane factories opened all over Europe: in London, Paris and Vienna. The handles, meanwhile, became increasingly idiosyncratic. Many had animal heads, including mice, eagles and a variety of dog breeds. Increasingly exotic materials were used as decoration, such as jade or amber, and this continued until the Art Deco period, which produced some of the most spectacular canes of all.

A gentleman would have a number of canes - there would be a rustic cane, perhaps made of a stout wood such as ash, for walking the dogs and a more sober cane for the office. Then, for going to dinner and to the opera, a man would carry a lighter cane with a shaft made of an exotic wood, perhaps rosewood, with a gorgeous handle made out of something such as tortoise shell.

Whoever you were, there was a cane for you. If you were a Duke, there were canes that reflected your status in the richness of the wood. Peasants would carve their own canes and illustrate them with country pursuits, such as shooting, fishing and hunting. Sailors would use whalebone with whale teeth for the handles. Ebony and ivory, transported to Britain from the colonies, also ended up on canes. Some of these canes had additional functions. For example, defence canes could turn into a sword or a mace at the click of a button. There were also canes that could turn into umbrellas or could entertain. For example, automaton canes in the form of a duck‚head or a bulldog, cunningly designed so that the mouth could open to hold gloves while the owner was at the opera.

It is a great pity that canes are no longer seen on the street!