[meteorite-list] Hammer fall term

From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:27:51 -0400
Message-ID: <CAKBPJW_fdsPLYRikWTdoQmHsgLF9oopujYcjti6MLcEj8pgbYw_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Regine,

I agree in principle with what you are saying here, I really do. No
meteorite fall should ever be pigeon-holed or categorized solely
because a stone struck something, and therefore that stone has a
higher financial value. That completely defeats the purpose of
collecting meteorites.

Let me clarify a few of the points you raised :

" agree with the "hammer fall" term being misleading, and so far haven't met
> anyone who is very fond of it
> except those who actually see it as a market opportunity."

I know of several collectors who use it, and they are not dealers and
have no financial interest in using the term "hammer fall". Before I
became a dealer, I was using it to describe my personal specimens. I
still use it because of what it means to me, and some other
collectors, not because it is marketing. Maybe others use it for
marketing purposes - I would not argue against that.

"On the flip
> side I have met a few who were seriously confused by the term: The
> Sylacauga police chief for example, who sent me a link to an Ebay
> auction, thinking the speck pictured was a piece of the rock which hit
> Mrs. Hodges "

I would expect our dear police chief to be confused - he is not a
meteorite collector, he is a policeman. Police officers use lots of
terminology that is confusing to people who are not a part of the
law-enforcement community. Criminals are often referred to as
"actors" - that is confusing to me. Is a man a bank robber, or is he
pretending to be one?

" "Hammer fall" on the other hand is simply a sales term which
> does the opposite of creating historical awareness: It completely
> overshadows all the other aspects (historical or other) of a meteorite
> shower."

I suppose it could, for some people. I don't see it that way.

" I'd find it fairly irritating if anyone used the term "L'Aigle
> hammer fall", because one of the pieces (presumably) hit a man on the
> arm. "

I agree 100%. In my mind, L'Aigle is a "historical fall" if one must
label it. L'Aigle will always have supreme importance that goes far
beyond anything (or person) that may have been struck by a stone. Of
course, it's still a "hammer fall" to some collectors, but I think
most hammer-heads would agree that L'Aigle is a fall of great
historical importance first, and a "hammer fall" in the least.

" A more recent example is Sutter's Mill - is it an important fall
> because one of the rocks struck a garage door? "

Indeed not. Sutter's Mill is not defined as a hammer, and never
should be. But, to some collectors, the stone that struck Officer
Matin's garage has additional value because it did strike a mandmade
construct. Of course, this additional value is entirely secondary to
the real value of the fall, which is scientific first, cultural
second, and hammer a distant third (if at all).

I agree completely with your sentiment here. But to say that a
segment of the collector community is engaging solely in shameless and
misleading marketing because we choose to use a certain term to
describe a fall is not true. We can strike the term "hammer fall"
from human memory forever, and that does not change the fact that a
Sutter's Mill stone struck a garage, or a Park Forest stone penetrated
a house. Somebody will come along and create another term to
delineate such falls from a fall like Tamdakt that fell in a remote
area. That new term may or may not sound like "hammer fall", but the
meaning will be the same. And people would then argue over the
semantics of it.

Best regards,

MikeG

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On 6/12/12, Regine P. <fips_bruno at yahoo.de> wrote:
> Sorry to come up with the subject
> matter again, but I keep thinking about this every now and then and
> would like to add my two cents on it this time.
>
> I agree with the "hammer fall" term being misleading, and so far haven't met
> anyone who is very fond of it
> except those who actually see it as a market opportunity. On the flip
> side I have met a few who were seriously confused by the term: The
> Sylacauga police chief for example, who sent me a link to an Ebay
> auction, thinking the speck pictured was a piece of the rock which hit
> Mrs. Hodges (it was instead part of the one found by Julius McKinney,
> which has an interesting story by itself and, as far as I'm concerned,
> deserves more attention than a footnote).
>
> I'm quite keen on the stories
> behind hammer stones and the idea that something ancient from out there
> is hitting something random and creates a connection between the sublime and
> the mundane. "Hammer fall" on the other hand is simply a sales term which
> does the opposite of creating historical awareness: It completely
> overshadows all the other aspects (historical or other) of a meteorite
> shower. I'd find it fairly irritating if anyone used the term "L'Aigle
> hammer fall", because one of the pieces (presumably) hit a man on the
> arm. A more recent example is Sutter's Mill - is it an important fall
> because one of the rocks struck a garage door? I feel these falls
> deserve different attributes in their headline, something which is
> perhaps attributable to all or most of the specimens of the fall, such
> as the historic significance, the classification, characteristics or man
> hours included in searching for the pieces in the strewn field. As
> mentioned before, I'm not referring to the actual stone which hit
> something, as the
> designation is significant in identifying the rock as being the single
> piece falling on something man made.
>
> Cheers,
> Regine
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Received on Tue 12 Jun 2012 01:27:51 PM PDT