Old Oar Locks

[Paul Taylor]

My dad was born in 1918 and grew up in a tiny town in Northern Michigan named Conway. He and his brother would row a small boat to "Graham Point" on Crooked Lake and hunt ducks. We called it Graham Point because a extremely wealthy family by the last name of Graham owned a summer home there. I was raised hunting ducks on the same point until I moved away for college in 1984.

I am guessing my dad had hunted that point for nearly 50 years up to the time I moved away. Both my dad and my uncle passed away 20 years ago. Sadly, my uncle sold many of the decoys that we hunted over as kids since we had all moved away and "life" happened. I stopped by my cousins home in Florida a couple years ago and he gave me some "duck stuff". These oar locks were in with the "duck stuff". There are no markings but I am guessing that times were tough and mismatched oar locks were all the boys could acquire. Is there a particular style of oar lock that makes any of these identifiable? The two on the far left appear to be solid brass. Just curious if there is a way to date them. Thank you!

View attachment Oar locks.jpg

 

[Gordon Bartlett]

Paul,
Without markings, it would be difficult to determine the manufacturer or the age of those oarlocks. Each of those patterns certainly began life as somebody's distinct style, but over the years, many years, they have all been widely copied and distributed by seemingly every large and small foundry that makes marine-related hardware. The early ones were mostly cast iron, bronze, or brass. Depending on which of those patterns you choose, they are now available in cast iron, bronze, brass, stainless, aluminum, zamac, and even nylon. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

[Paul Taylor]

Thank you Gordon! Come to think of it, the 2 oar locks I thought were brass may be bronze. They'll go on my shelf in my office along with the other relics I've squirreled away from my dad!