Posted 8 years ago
Rain_bow_r…
(33 items)
UPDATE - USING A MAGNIFYING GLASS - I FOUND THE FOLLOWING IN THE UPPER LEFT TOP CORNER
FORM 1503
I Tried to trace it - the closet I have gotten is a 1911 report of the Annual Report of the Public Printer which lists Form 979 of the Forest Department. I am contacting the Forest Service to determine if they can help me in this search.
This is a rare vintage sign of the National Forest Service - Department of Agriculture.
The original sign has the emblem as displayed above with the wording
BOUNDARY OF
TIMBER SALE
These signs were posted in the forest and usually forgotten and allowed to rust away - as this one shows evidence of damage caused by being in the ground for many years.
View the entire sign - as all of the lettering is there - but it has suffered over the years. It is approximately 13 in by 4 in and was attached with nails
I like it because it is old and represents a time gone by.
If anyone is familiar with this specific type of sign - Boundary of Timber Sale - I would love to try and date it.
I COULD NOT ATTACH THE 3 VERSIONS OF THE FOREST SERVICE SHIELDS - 1905 1920 - 1938 - BUT IF YOU WOULD LIKE COPIES - E-MAIL ME
AGAIN THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST
GERRY
Wow - MYSTERY SOLVED !!
With much appreciated assistance from various individuals with in the Forest - especially Lincoln Bramwell who provided the following information. Here is the excerpt from his e-mail.
"I reached out to couple of people and the best that we could come up with is that your sign dates from 1905-1920. The shape of the Forest Service shield changed slightly in 1920 and 1938 (attached are images of the three different shields). You can see the difference in the shape of the letters “US” on either side of the tree. (The tree shape changed slightly as well)."
There were a number of manufacturers of the signs and many of these sat around in storage for ever before making it out into the forest so it’s really impossible to figure out where exactly these were made.
But on the bright side, you have a great example of an early Forest Service sign!
Thanks again for the question,
Lincoln Bramwell
NOTE - LINCOLN ALSO PROVIDED ME WITH EXAMPLES OF THE 1905 -1920 AND 1938 FOREST SERVICE SHIELDS WHICH DEMONSTRATE THE DIFFERENCES.
I WILL TRY TO EDIT THE ABOVE LISTING TO SHOW THE SHIELDS
So thanks so much to everyone at the Forest Service and to everyone who "LIKED" this little treasure.
GERRY
Lincoln
I purchased this exact sign from you 4 years ago. I was working as a seasonal for the Forest Service in Timber. I’m now a permanent Forest Service employee and this sign is on every desk I’ve had through out my career. I appreciate you saving this relic and sharing the history. I would share a photo but cannot figure out how to add pictures. I’m 100% sure it’s the same because of the rust spots and how they broke off by “OF”.