Scrounging for canoe memorabilia

[Roger Young]

It's just soooooo much fun when someone calls 'out of the blue' and invites you to drop over to look at old time canoe memorabilia. And, it's especially exciting when that caller is a retired factory hand from way back when, who has a basement full of treasures and is willing to part with some.... for a price, of course! Here are a few things I came home with: a beautiful, mint condition double-bladed paddle with two great decals - Richardson Aquacraft and Lakefield Boats Limited (actually, the misspelled 'Lakfield' underneath the Chief, with the first 'e' missing); two very early Lakefield Canoe Co. Ltd. decals; a Rice Lake Canoe Co. thwart tag from Gore's landing (pre-1920); a half-dozen small Peterborough Canoe Co. shields with downhill skier (these were tacked to tops of wooden skis); and over 20 deck plates for Lakefield boats, from the time they were being built by Rilco Industries - 1965/66. I'm willing to part with most of the Peterborough shields; they are small, and made of stamped light metal - 1-1/2" by 15/16". Also making available most of the Lakefield Boats deck plates; the models all had native tribal names: Delaware, Navaho, Cree, Mohican, etc. They measure 1-3/4" by 3". Very reasonable. The rest I'm keeping for now.

 

[Pete Paradis]

Hi Roger,
Nice collection, thanks for sharing. Im currently restoring an old rice lake canoe. I was wondering if youd be willing to part with or know anyone who might want to part with one or two rice lake tags?

 

[Roger Young]

Sorry to disappoint you Pete, but I placed that thwart tag with my 6' Rice Lake Canoe Co/Herald Canoe Co. 'display sample'. True, they don't really relate as originally being found or produced together, aside from their source, but I just wanted to "associate" them. At the moment, both items are on long-term loan to the Canadian Canoe Museum, in Peterborough, Ontario, where they are on public display.

You might ask Dick Persson (Buckhorn Canoe Co.) whether he has any Rice Lake bits and pieces available. Off hand, I don't know of anyone else who does, but something may turn up. Good luck with your restoration project. Cheers.