Tuesday 18 April 2017
Faux Hickory Canadian Canoe Company Paddles
Blog reader R.C. Cross kindly sent me some pictures of an interesting bit of paddle art in his collection. They are a pair of historic paddles from the Canadian Canoe Company (founded 1892). According to the information he sent, it was claimed they were made of hickory but closer inspection revealed that the distinctive grain pattern turned out to be faux painted. Apparently faux painting was quite popular in the 1920's and was likely applied to these paddles to add some flair. The pair of paddles are 60" and 57" with one having a clear CCC decal. One blade is finished smooth and the other has cracked. The grain painting does not extend up to the handles so you can see that the original wood grain was quite plain.
60" & 57" Canadian Canoe Company Paddles
Faux painted Hickory grain pattern on blades
Speaking of amazing grain patterns, R.C. also happened to carve a curly Douglas Fir paddle with a very peculiar grain. It was featured back on this site in March, 2012. I've often thought that if a canoe paddle could ever be used to induce hypnosis, it would be R.C. amazing creation. See that post by clicking here. Hoping R.C. will carve some more paddles and continue to post for all of us to enjoy.
As a side note, for anyone interested in reading about the very interesting history of the Canadian Canoe Company, check out Ken Brown's recent publication. It's full of fantastic photos and details about this lesser known Peterborough area canoe company, including the interesting court trials the company faced to be trademarked with the "Canadian" name.
To support the local canoeing community, I had ordered mine through the Canadian Canoe Museum online store but it looks like they are sold out for the time being. If you want to support another great organization appropriately carrying on the tradition of wooden boats, consider ordering through the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association here.
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