Indiana Jones’s whip, the sole survivor out of six that were crafted for Raiders of the Lost Ark, will go up at auction on June 26 via Bonhams in L.A.
Unsurprisingly, estimates claim it could fetch somewhere in the neighborhood of about $80,000.
According to the Indy fan site, theraider.net, the whip was owned by stunt coordinator Glenn Randall (whose stunt work goes all the way back to Ben Hur), and was crafted by master whip builder David Morgan.
Can’t afford the steep price of the original?
You can get an exact replica from David Morgan himself.
At Morgan’s website, you can buy a 10 foot long, natural tan whip for $955, shorter length whips for less, and as Morgan writes on his site, the Indy movies have “led to a resurgence in interest in whips in movies, stage performances, and in sport whipcracking.”
Morgan writes in his online bio that he’s been interested in whips and crafting with leather since he went to Australia in the early ‘60s.
Whip building was a big trade then in the country, and Morgan started a leather import company when he came back to the States, and in the mid ‘70s, he started crafting his own whips out of calf skin leather. (He couldn’t use kangaroo skin anymore when the US imposed a ban on importing it from down under.)
When a lot of theatergoers fell under the spell of Raiders, they often went out, bought the hat and the leather jacket. For example, my dad still has pictures of himself somewhere where he’s dressed up like this, calling himself Indiana Konow.
The whip will of course complete the ensemble, just make sure to learn a few tricks in handling one before you lacerate yourself, or break the table lamp.
