As for dating Peterborough Canoe Co. thwart tags, as shown in the photos above, I believe a few points can be made, but not of any truly definitive help with exactitude in timing of use. If memory serves correctly, the Peterborough Canoe Co., founded in 1892, following the fire which destroyed the Ontario Canoe Co., applied for Canadian Trade Mark registration in the summer of 1911. Thus, two definite statements could be made: one, no PCC thwart tag can pre-date 1892; two, any thwart tag containing a reference to "Trade Mark" can only post-date roughly August, 1911. The question then becomes: can any more precise dating be done between 1892 and 1911 for those tags not bearing any TM reference?; and, likewise, can a precise post-1911 date be given to a tag which does bear the added TM wording?
In the photos provided, there are two (one from Dan; one from Benson) which lack reference to "Trade Mark". It would follow that these are each of the 1892-1911 period. But, how early? In looking at Dan's photo, I was struck by the intriguing use of the abbreviation "CO'Y" for the word "Company". This is a curious use or creation of such an abbreviation, as the common form or style is "Co." (no apostrophe y). I made an Internet search to try to find if such an abbreviation was in known usage at any period. I came up empty; it seems such an abbreviated form/style is/was not commonly in use. The best I can suggest is that the creator/engraver of the stamp used to produce these PCC thwart tags took it upon himself to shorten the word "Company" down to "CO'Y" (rather than the more common "CO"). Note also his creative abbreviation of the word "Limited" to "L'T'D." (L apostrophe T apostrophe D period) rather than the generally accepted "LTD." Curious, eh? Perhaps someone not overly familiar with the standard English language forms of the day. I tend to agree with Dan that this thwart tag is possibly of very early issue in the history of the nascent Peterborough Canoe Co., particularly in the scramble of trying to get up and running as soon as possible in 1892, following the demise of Ontario Canoe and hurried birth of PCC.
The photo provided by Benson also shows a likely early pre-1911 (no TM reference) thwart tag stamping. Here, though, it seems to me that more thought, care and attention went into the layout of the wording. An oval or elliptical shaping is present; the overall effect is clean and pleasing to the eye, and rather less 'cluttered' than the one above. I think it comes along a bit later than Dan's example, after factory operations have settled in and management have had time to think about 'improvements' and 'newer looks'. I could be wrong; it's just a gut feeling. What tends to throw such thinking out of whack, though, are two examples of thwart tags from Ontario Canoe Co. (1883-1892) which display similarly elliptical patterns of wording. And, given that much of the staff and management of OCC migrated to PCC, taking along with them intellectual property knowledge and customs, it is not surprising that early PCC thwart tags would mimic prior OCC tags, much in the same way the decals did. I include herewith two photos of the OCC thwart tags as referenced.
As for those metal PCC thwart tags which do include the stamped words "Trade Mark", and must therefore be presumed to be of post-1911 date, I can offer the comment that there is also paper documentation in existence that shows the typical oval clansman's belt design with the words "Trade Mark" printed immediately below, and known to date to 1914 (it is on a French TM registration document). I am advised that the oval design shows up in some 1918-20 PCC catalogue info with the words "Trade Mark" immediately below. Here again, I relate back to the Ontario Canoe Co. which originated the clansman's belt oval design for use as deck and paddle decals. Peterborough Canoe inherited and carried on this usage, changing only the company name. Although PCC registered its TM in 1911, it did not get around to mentioning any such worded reference to "TM registration" within the red oval proper until around 1921. Several iterations followed, using either "Registered" or "Reg'd" TM. That clansman's belt design with red oval interior became its world famous corporate logo. What was essentially protected and claimed by the 1911 Canadian (and subsequent foreign) TM registrations was the three word slogan "The Peterborough Canoe". Those words began showing up inside the red oval of PCC decals in the very early 1900's. Prior to that, the only words inside the red oval of the decal were either "Peterborough, Canada" or "Peterborough, Ontario".
All of which is to say that I believe any metal PCC thwart tag bearing the stamped words "Trade Mark" below the clansman's belt logo are at least post-1911. Neither of the tags shown appear to include any TM registration wording inside the oval area, similar to the way it became incorporated into the oval in the case of the decals, beginning about 1921, so it is difficult to ascribe a more definitive time period to them. Perhaps others out there have knowledge of how to discern this with greater exactitude; in which case I happily welcome such education and stand to be corrected.
Hope I have expressed this clearly enough to be of some assistance.
Cheers.
