Hello Mike:
As a long time collector of display sample canoes, with some extensive familiarity regarding both Carleton and Old Town samples, I would love to see photos of the pieces at the Dayton Club. I have previously known of the 8' Old Town sample #53063, having uncovered documentation of it while doing a deep search of OT build cards some years ago. That sample was shipped on 22 September 1919. It went to the G W Shrayer & Co. of Dayton OH, and was originally described as having a black painted hull bearing an orange stripe with turned down ends. It was lettered "Old Town Canoe" and also "Dayton Canoe Club" (on right bow, left stern). Your post states: "all 3 canoes appear to be the same color". That I find very intriguing and evokes my interest in seeing a photo of the Carleton samples. I have never come across a 42" Carleton sample painted anything other than a typical "Palm Green". While I cannot claim to have seen every Carleton sample made, I have seen quite a few of the 'guesstimated' two dozen or so which may have been made, including those of the 8' size.
When it comes to sample canoes, rather few were ever made (by any North American canoe manufacturers) in the years prior to 1935, by which time the heyday for their production (19-teens through the 1920's) had passed. Old Town made the most: likely about 60 - 70 of the 48" size, and perhaps another 50 of the 8' length. There are only 35 OT build cards known for 4' OT samples, and another 35 for the 8-footers; those records, though, are notoriously incomplete, as samples made both before and after that period of time (1912-1931, when actual records were kept) are known to exist. My personal gut feeling is that Carleton, by comparison, likely made a dozen or so 42" and/or 48" samples, and another dozen 8' items. Again, as a result of delving into early build cards, I can say that records exist between 1911 and 1926, following the take-over of Carelton by Old Town, showing the production of seven 4' samples and five 8' samples bearing the Carelton brand name.
One of the complicating factors in knowing just who built what, and when, and of what size, is the fact that the smaller Carleton samples show up in two distinct lengths - 42" and 48". The post take-over build records for Carleton (under OT management) all describe the samples as being of "4'" length. There are no records of which I am aware which refer to Carleton samples being of 42" length. I differ somewhat from Benson in believing that some of the 42" samples may well have been made by Carleton, in its own right, prior to or just around the time of the take over. That several 42" Carleton-branded samples exist is a demonstrable fact. I recall having seen or handled probably 8 or so. One curious sample I possessed a few years ago was a 42" piece, painted in beautiful Old Town red, bearing the early OT lettering "genuine OLD TOWN CANOE CO. canoes". This was highly unusual in that normally such an OT sample from that time period would have been 48" in length. But, on close inspection, it turned out that it had originally been painted a palm green color. I did not disturb the red OT side paint to ascertain whether there was Carleton lettering underneath; I do suspect it was there. My theory is that this was something of a "hybrid", likely made by Carleton just prior to the take-over, and liveried in typical Carleton palm green color. That it was later repainted in authentic factory-applied Old town red was undeniable, and it was lettered in proper OT brand name along the gunnels. All of which leads me to believe that at least some of these early 42" Carleton-branded samples may date to 1910, or just before. i am the owner of the Carleton sample referred to in Benson's first response above, appearing on "Collector Weekly", rescued from Staten Island. I now believe it to be no later than 1910. At one time, I had another identical item which appeared to be even slightly earlier.
As for the 42" Carleton sample noted in Benson's post above, as sold in the Bonhams Skinner auction in March 2019, all I can say is "Wow!" I did not know of that sale until now; one of the few that I have missed over the past 30-odd years. I have some thoughts: first off, I take issue with the auctioneer's suggestion that it could date as early as the late 1800's. I think it highly unlikely to be any earlier than about 1905, but perhaps is pre-1910. In spite of the fact that Guy Carleton was making boats in the 1870's, full-sized canvas-covered canoes did not widely appear to be commercially available until the 1890's, and smaller, brand name, factory sample models did not make much of an appearance in America until the early 1900's, mostly through their introduction by the Old Town Canoe Co. as a marketing strategy; they were selectively and sparingly awarded to only the very best and largest customer outlet stores as 'premiums' in thanks for their high volume business. I believe Carleton and other makers were more or less forced to introduce similar display samples in order to compete, or were inclined to copy Old Town's marketing efforts. The Bonhams/Skinner sample looks to be quite good overall. I would have expected a more worthy pre-sale estimate to be at least double (i.e., $8000 - $12,000), and would not have been surprised to see it bring $14-$15K, more in keeping with other known contemporary sales. Someone got a half-price bargain!! I do note that one of the photos seems to suggest that there may be breaks through both rails at the starboard end of the thwart just behind the front seat. Other than that, it seems a very presentable, original-looking, authentic piece, my caveat being that reliance solely upon photos can be misleading, and that in-hand examination is the only reliable way to proceed.
Hope this is of some help.
. The “black” paint on the hull of the Old Town as well as the paint used for the lettering to me, looks identical to what was used on the Carletons.
