From Roger Smith

I hope this photo opens for you. I took it with my cell phone, and sent it to myself to Forward to you--if I did it right. These were Parley's. Kim just gave them to me. Long story, but Kim signed a mortgage she couldn't pay--her inheritance has been gone for years--and she got evicted. I moved her out on 2 "Quit" notices, and she stayed with me for week, before making her current move to Sacramento. Sadly, there is nothing at all to identify whose these hooks may have been. I wondered if by any chance you could recognize them. As you see, I hope, the one at Left was on a Hope, Arkansas cane, and the handle crook seems to have laid open somewhat maybe due to age and heat. The white tape is ragged and partially unravelled. The Center one I think is the nicest. It has a string wrapping, and artisanship that I believe is suggestive of Smokey. The one at Right has tape at the top, then the black and red sections are ordinary paint. The hook is secured in place with horseshoe nails--the first one I've seen like that. Both the Center and Right ones have beautiful hooks, looks like chrome-pkated, and have a finer shape and finish than any I've seen. Being that well turned out makes me think of Smokey's work. There are 2 schools of thought on such relics--keep them just as they are after their use to show the history, or, as I do with Mabel's items, restore them to show quality, as she had me do with her props and buggy whips. Would you fix up these hooks, or leave them be as is? One day Mabel wanted me to shellac her Hope hickory sticks. Red Hartman staggered over and said, "Shit! I ain't never shellacked no f----ing sticks." Mabel set down her can of Hamm's and said, "Red, everyone around here knows what you ain't never done."