Hanging of outlaw "Black Jack" Kethum
The hangman's gallows has a long and somewhat evil history. The gallows began in England but was used widely here in America, mostly in the old American west. Outlaws who got caught found themselves swinging from a tree, a post or, if the town was prosperous enough, from the gallows. Outlaw "Black Jack" Ketchum was hanged by an unexperienced hangman and his head came off. But if the gallows was properly constructed and the hangman had experience in his craft, the execution would go smoothly.
I have always been fasinated with building miniatures of all kinds. So, since I have loads of balsa wood, and some time on my hands, I decided to build a miniature gallows to go with my old west decore. I used the memories that I have from watching a lot of westerns on TV and I remembered a lot of the old photographs that I've seen. So, here's the end result. See what you think.
I have always been fasinated with building miniatures of all kinds. So, since I have loads of balsa wood, and some time on my hands, I decided to build a miniature gallows to go with my old west decore. I used the memories that I have from watching a lot of westerns on TV and I remembered a lot of the old photographs that I've seen. So, here's the end result. See what you think.
The gallows is built completely with balsa wood and wood glue. Nothing else.
The gallows, without the base, measure: 13" tall x 10" wide x 6" from front to back to the bottom step.
The plank boards on the back are spaced haphazardly as the originals would have been on the real thing.
