Did I find something interesting?

C

Canadian Mojo

Joined
Jan 5, 2016
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127
My nine year old asked for an axe for her birthday so I was looking for a small hatchet for her and found this little guy at the local antique shop in Barrie ON.





Here's the head next to a regular hatchet:



The stamp on it says "MILLER OFFICIAL BOY SCOUT" (well, I'm assuming it's an M, it's kind of obscured) which isn't popping up any meaningful hits. It doesn't look like the usual scout pattern hatchet, and there is no crest on it, although I don't know what Canadian scouts used. The handle was a badly whittled stick with four nails in it so any identifying features there are long gone. The steel has a nice ring to it but I haven't sharpened it yet to know how good it really is.
 
i would grind or file off the mushrooming from the poll.
looks like a nice little chopper
good steel? please post what you find out
 
The shape looks to be a bit outlandish to have been a Canadian issue or a Walters-made but that's a guess on my part. I was enrolled in the Boy Scout movement (Ottawa, Ontario) from the late 50s to the mid 60s and never saw anything remotely like that at camps or jamborees.

Somebody certainly did pound in a pile of pegs with that generous poll! Some version of hammer handle (check out your local Home Hardware's selection) ought to substitute nicely for a new piece of wood.
 
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Steve Tall said:
You may be right... I do lose some bets once in a while.
Click to expand...

Irregardless, I wouldn't bet against you. I do have the original article that contained that quote but there are no pictures of one and I personally don't recall hatchets, available through the official Boy Scouts Store on Baseline Road in Ottawa, ever looking like that. That whole Scouts movement however dates back to the time of the Boer War so who knows what all was out there for cubs and scouts in the early 1900s. I'd be looking more at British collectibles in the hopes of finding a match or a timeframe.
 
Steve Tall said:
I would bet that it originally said WALTERS, since Walters made the Official Scout hatchet for the Canadian Boy Scouts.

From a related thread:
Click to expand...

The 'ILLER' part is pretty clear and the head isn't damaged where the 'S' would be so I don't think so, but the shape is pretty close to a couple of pictures I've seen. The blade on this seems to flare upwards more than on the Walters. The stamp on mine is significantly smaller too.

halfaxe said:
Click to expand...

(Hope nobody minds me digging up old posts and quoting them like that)

300Six said:
Somebody certainly did pound in a pile of pegs with that generous poll! Some version of hammer handle (check out your local Home Hardware's selection) ought to substitute nicely for a new piece of wood.
Click to expand...

A 14" claw hammer handle seems to do the trick.
 
Okay then, I'll change my bet to

THE MILLER MFG C0 LIMITED
Exclusive Official Scout Outfitters by Appointment
Also Contractors to the British American and Canadian Governments
44 46 York St TORONT0 0NT

books


From The School, Volume 8, University Press, 1920
 
I have to say that with what Steve Tall has found, it might be a bit rare. I'd hold off filing, etc., and inquire with the scouts!
 
Steve Tall said:
Okay then, I'll change my bet to

THE MILLER MFG C0 LIMITED
Exclusive Official Scout Outfitters by Appointment
Also Contractors to the British American and Canadian Governments
44 46 York St TORONT0 0NT
Click to expand...



"Sunny beaches" (as yer classic Mexican/Spanish tourist might say as he/she was about to get hit by a runaway car), you've done it again, Steve. I'll buy into this probing on your part and all we need now is pictures.
 
Steve Tall said:
Okay then, I'll change my bet to

THE MILLER MFG C0 LIMITED
Exclusive Official Scout Outfitters by Appointment
Also Contractors to the British American and Canadian Governments
44 46 York St TORONT0 0NT

books


From The School, Volume 8, University Press, 1920
Click to expand...

I think you've got it now, Steve. The '__iller' convinced me it wasn't a Walters. And the pattern said 'Canadian' so probably not a Spiller.

Your search skills never cease to amaze.

The Google-fu is strong in this one.
bow.gif
 
I will share my method, nothing special, my google search terms were:
miller "official boy scout"

and the very first result is that ad for Miller Mfg. Co. Ltd.


BG_Farmer said:
I have to say that with what Steve Tall has found, it might be a bit rare. I'd hold off filing, etc., and inquire with the scouts!
Click to expand...

The Scouts Canada National Museum would be a good place to check, as they have exhibits with "...miscellaneous artifacts that chronicle Canadian Scouting since the inception of the organization in 1907."

Their email and telephone contacts are listed on the linked page, below, and the museum itself is in Ottawa, Ontario.
http://voy.scouts.ca/ca/scouts-canada-national-museum
 
Steve Tall said:
Scouts Canada National Museum would be a good place to check, as they have exhibits with "...miscellaneous artifacts that chronicle Canadian Scouting since the inception of the organization in 1907."

Their email and telephone contacts are listed on the linked page, below, and the museum itself is in Ottawa, Ontario.
http://voy.scouts.ca/ca/scouts-canada-national-museum
Click to expand...

The Scouting movement in Canada has been petering out over the past few decades (fewer and fewer 'free range' children these days) and I guess it was decided to turn over some of the floor space of 1345 Baseline Road (Ottawa) into a museum. Baseline Road marked the City of Ottawa southern boundary at one time (and as of 2001 the City limits extend another 30 miles further out) and when the Scout store opened to great fanfare in the mid 1960s they featured a (now politically-incorrect) large/tall west coast totem pole on the lawn out front. It's all still there but that road is 'busier than a one-armed paper hanger' these days so I avoid that area at all costs. If I can find an opportunity to visit I will do so.

EDIT: I have contacted the museum and asked if they have any Miller Manufacturing Company of Toronto artifacts in their collection.
 
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I'll add this update to the original thread here, for more background on the presumed maker:

Canadian Mojo said:
This is the mystery scout hatchet I got for my daughter. Unfortunately the Canadian Scout museum wasn't able to shed any more insight on it but it seems to be from somewhere between the teens to the thirties.


A regular hatchet handle would have been too big so I hung it on a 13" hickory ball peen hammer handle from Princess Auto, sanded it down so I could stain it blue like her other tools (her favorite color) and soaked it in Tung oil for a day. She would have been happy with anything since it's her first axe, but it is actually a very nice little tool. The steel is excellent and the balance is quite good. Fortunately, she lets me use her stuff :D.
Click to expand...
 
Very nice to hear back from you on this! Looks to be you did a wonderful job of cleaning up and resurrecting that 'old girl'. I like that handle. It's a real bonus there are stamps on it which someday will enable your daughter not only to fondly look back upon a well loved childhood memento but be able to research that it's way older than 'dear old dad' and that it never was a dime store item with fleeting purpose or value either.
 
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