Quirt

A whip usually consisting of a long tapered flexible length of braided leather attached to a stiff handle; used for driving livestock. When given a sharp snapping action, the tip of the whip can exceed 760 mph, producing a small sonic boom. Whips were thus the first man-made implements to break the sound barrier. Also called a stock whip.

Quirt -- (c. 1935) from noted California saddlery firm, Visalia Stock Saddle Company, California. Alvin Miller, photographer; courtesy of the Library of Congress.