These bow and arrow props were used by American Odd Fellows lodges to teach the lessons of friendship in the First Degree of the group’s rituals. The biblical story of the friendship between David and Jonathan, related in the Book of Samuel, was adapted and recounted, explaining that the bow and arrows were used by Jonathan to warn David of danger in returning to King Saul’s court. After 1882, when the group revised its degree structure, the Odd Fellows used the bow and arrows and quiver as symbols in the Second, or Love, Degree. The bow is understood as an emblem of authority, and the arrows symbolize uprightness and truthfulness. The use of three arrows together represents the Odd Fellows’ central values of friendship, love, and truth. 

These brightly painted props could be ordered from numerous regalia houses around the country during the late 1800s and early 1900s. They were available in different sizes and arrangements, as well as at different price points, to serve the needs of lodges with either modest or extravagant budgets.