1937/ 1939 BW Paddle

[Feathers]

I have a paddle like this one for sale on Ebay: Paddle.
Mine has the exact same logo save that the one I have has the date 1937 rather than 1939. I've never been able to find out anything about the paddle. Anyone else have one or have seen one like this? Anybody know why they're dated or if they were actually manufactured those years?

Thanks for any information.

 

[Feathers]

DSC_4477

• Feathers
• Jun 13, 2017

This is mine, and no I didn't pay $460 for it ...

 

[Roger Young]

Given that the horse and rider logo remain the same, while the year changes, I would begin to wonder whether the "B W" refers to an annual event at which an attendee could acquire a paddle as a souvenir. Possibly a place? Maybe even a summer camp, where kids could have done a lot of riding along with paddling? Nice old piece, regardless.

 

[Roger Young]

Meant to add, in elaborating on the horse and rider, that it looks much like a young lad, riding western style, at a gallop - put me in mind of something a related event or boy's summer camp might use as a symbol. If the raised hand held a mallet, it would look awfully like a polo player about to strike a ball. It is also very reminiscent of the early 'Pony Express' symbol. Wondering if there could be a relationship? Good luck in your research.

 

[Craig Johnson]

Boundary Waters?

 

[Rob Stevens]

Another thought, could be from a camp that identified with the cowboys rather than the indians.

 

[Feathers]

Meant to add, in elaborating on the horse and rider, that it looks much like a young lad, riding western style, at a gallop - put me in mind of something a related event or boy's summer camp might use as a symbol. If the raised hand held a mallet, it would look awfully like a polo player about to strike a ball. It is also very reminiscent of the early 'Pony Express' symbol. Wondering if there could be a relationship? Good luck in your research.

Until that Ebay listing I had only my one paddle and thought it was interesting but didn't really know- though the paddle looks like it could be- from 1937. Now, with two of them, and the different dates I feel confident that it likely was made/ sold in 1937. I've done quite a bit of searching for information on the web on this paddle but never found anything. Now at least anyone else with another one of these may find this thread and more information could reveal itself in the future.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Feathers]

Boundary Waters?

That was my first thought too (as I'm fairly close to the BW and have made quite a few trips there), but was it even called the Boundary Waters in 1937? I'm not sure, though it certainly was water on the boundary ever since the border was created. Also, the horse and rider don't seem to have any relationship to the Boundary Waters. Though, the rider does look to represent a teenage boy- so that would fit the idea of some sort of summer camp.

 

[Feathers]

Another thought, could be from a camp that identified with the cowboys rather than the indians.

Hmmm, not sure what to think about this. I don't know where the paddle came from, but 'round these parts we're Packer fans.

 

[Benson Gray]

was it even called the Boundary Waters in 1937?

The short answer is yes. Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness site at http://www.friends-bwca.org/about/history/boundary-waters-timeline/ has a time line that goes back to 1902. The Ngram summary at https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...share=&direct_url=t1;," boundary waters ";,c0 indicates that the phrase "Boundary Waters" was being used in print regularly during the 1930s. This is also confirmed in Google Books at https://www.google.com/search?q="Bo...d_max:1939&tbm=bks&start=10&spf=1497901838708 by limiting the search to the 1930s.

Benson