Old Town Sealer?

[Ric Altfather]

I recently responded to an inquiry for build record...I noticed something that I have not seen before "Smith's Sealer".Any idea on what this was and how it was used? The entry on the build record indicated that this was the last step before shipping.

Inquiring minds....

Ric

 

[MikeCav]

Ric,
I've noticed the same thing on a couple of the scans you sent me a couple of weeks ago, Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[Benson Gray]

Starting around 1941 the "Smith's Sealer" started to appear on that line and "Orange Shellac" started to appear there slightly later. By 1945 this would also occasionally have "Murphy's" noted there. "Dolphinite" or "Pettit's" appeared there occasionally after 1949. These notes stopped after about 1952. My guess is that they were experimenting with ways to save varnish.

Benson

 

[Ric Altfather]

Old Town's rsponse

To quote a representative from Old Town..."Smith's Sealer would have been a wood sealer/protectant used before varnishing became the standard practice. Not a lot else is known about it other than this."

Ric

 

[Wetweasel]

Now my OT was built in 41-42 and at the bottom lists sealer,without specifying Smiths. There were also entries listed for varnishing. When I was stripping the seats and thwarts I was surprised that it looked like they had only been varnished on the tops. Maybe at some point they had tried saving on the costs of varnish and just sealed the bottoms ? I just love these little bits of obscure history.