Wanted: Ken Solway Chestnut Decal Reproduction and/or Roger MacGregor (Ivy Lea) Repro decal

Murat V

LOVES Wooden Canoes
Wondering if anyone can share photos they may have of the reproduction Chestnut decals that were offered back in the 80s/90s/early 2000s. Perhaps some of you used these decals on restoration jobs.

Page 2 of the Spring 1988 (Issue 33) of Wooden Canoe mentions Ken Solway producing replica Chestnut decals and offering them for sale to members. Ken's name and mention of these decals occurs over the years to the early 1990s.

Likewise, Roger MacGregor's Ivy Lea company was offering Chestnut decals for a number of years. Apparently Roger transferred copyright ownership to the Canadian Canoe Museum in 2015 who have been manufacturing repro decals since. I have copies of these but am wondering if there was a change since Roger's time.

Been researching some of the subtle changes to the Chestnut decal over the decades and any confirmed pics of either of these two repro decals would be most helpful.
 
Hey Murat,
used to correspond with Roger off and on over the years, and had many decals from him for various restorations. His decals have not changed much since the Museum took over that i ever noticed, but i started getting them from Dick due to convenience. Can you put up a photo of what the Museum is producing these days? Almost to the end of my stash.
Cheers,
Andre
 
The museum's repro has a very noticeable error (to my eyes) on its reprint. Right after PAT is a comma (,) where the originals all had a period. Also there is a transparent spot right under the stem where the originals all had green.

Here's are two images of the CCM's. This one is on white backing so the spot under the stem looks white:
CanoeMuseum Repro New Decals.JPG

This one is on a deck so you can see the transparent spot...
CanoeMuseum Repro Decal.JPG




For comparison, here is the decal on a confirmed 1968 Chum...
XX mid60s-70s extra dot decal 1968 Chum.jpg




Found an image online where the decal is likely one from Roger. Note that this repro actually has a white spot under the stem where the printer didn't colour in the spot...

Ivy Lea Decal (white spot).jpg


I used the wayback website to get a capture of Roger's old site before it went down. His very tiny image of the decal on the site also has this white spot in the image...

IvyLea Decal Capture - Wayback Machine2.JPG
 
Just found out that the closed gunnel 15ft Twozer I picked up in December was restored in 1999 by Dave Connell (Kingfisher Canoe) when he had his shop in Port Sydney. Got in touch with him and he confirmed he used an IvyLea decal from Roger. Will take a photo of it this weekend to see if it has the white spot under the stem.
 
Here are two that I have. The one on the right is a definite MacGregor repro.

The one on the right is similar, but different. It has the same White Hole, but all of the lettering appears to be subtly different, and there is a period after PAT. Sadly, I have no idea where it came from.
chestnut repro decals.jpg
 
Solway had two decals produced - one with Fredericton for restorations, and one with Cold Springs for his own build. It is possible (but I am not certain) that the decal shown on the cover of his book is one of his versions. Note the White Hole is mostly, but not entirely green.

Solway cover.jpg
 
Here are two that I have. The one on the right is a definite MacGregor repro.

The one on the right is similar, but different. It has the same White Hole, but all of the lettering appears to be subtly different, and there is a period after PAT. Sadly, I have no idea where it came from.
View attachment 52808

Thanks so much for supplying pics of these, Dan. I'm wondering if the one on the left (with the period after PAT) is an earlier version from MacGregor. Here's a photo of confirmed decal obtained from him and used on a restoration from 1999. It features the white spot under the stem and seems to match the font and layout of your version on the left...

1999 Ivy Lea Decal.jpg



Apparently the Canadian Canoe Museum assumed all the trademark rights form Roger back in 2015. Your decal on the right looks to match what is being produced by the museum currently so perhaps yours is a version from just before the transfer. Interesting that they obtained image trademark with a typo error.

Also appreciate your uploaded image from Solway's book. Also wondered if this was his reproduction image. I see the little bit of white under the stem in what looks like a misalignment of the background green color. You can also see this along the far left edge of the jagged leaf. There's also a greyscale version on this image on p.107 of his book with the same slight characteristic. Wondering if this feature is visible on any decals that made it onto his restored boats.
 
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