Walter Dean decals

[Murat V]

Wondering if members have any photos of Walter Dean related items they'd be willing to post? I've searched through the forums for images and have seen a few. Specifically hoping to get closeups of the decals that appeared on some of their accessories like paddles, oars, etc. I obtained a vintage Dean paddle back in 2023 and wanted to compare decal styles.

 

[Benson Gray]

I don't have a better example, so I clearly need to be spending more time in Canada. It is similar to the one shown at the link below from his 1920 catalog as you probably know. Good luck,

Benson

Walter Dean 1920 | Wooden Canoe Museum

woodencanoemuseum.org

 

[Murat V]

Thanks Benson. That logo on their c.1920 catalog appears on other literature too, like this price list...

It seems the logo went from text containing "WALTER DEAN CANOES & BOATS" to "WALTER DEAN CANOE & BOAT CO"

 

[Michael Grace]

As you can see, Murat, your decal is considerably different from the logos on these printed materials. Perhaps yours predates these documents. I'm sure you've seen this one:

Walter Dean | Wooden Canoe Museum

woodencanoemuseum.org

It appears very much like yours with the"TORONTO CANADA." and "TRADE MARK" on an arc in the lower part of the maple leaf, plus it has the green in it that your decal has. It is in better condition, though, with more of it still intact.

As simple as this logo is, it is one of my all-time favorites - beautiful!

 

[Dan Miller]

Here are a couple on paddles.

 

[Murat V]

Thank you Dan!

Also came across one of their older style logos on a promotion pin. It is cited as c.1900 and is in the Baldwin Collection housed at the Toronto Reference Library

https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/objec...anoes--boats-1751-queen-street-west-toronto-c

From what I can tell, they switched their logo style to a slightly different leaf design. The earliest example I could find was an ad that was referenced as appearing in the 1904 ACA Yearbook...

This style matches my paddle and the other logos posted so far but none of them have the "1751 QUEEN ST. W" text. I was hoping perhaps someone has a surviving example with this address info to confirm it was in usage

 

[Dan Miller]

This postcard has the Queen St logo, and is dated 1907.