Two and a half years ago in May 2008, a wrote a post titled L1 – Is It or Isn’t It?. The post questioned whether the Wakpominee L1 as listed in the Blue Book, was really a Wakpominee issue.
It said in part:
Jim Clough, himself a long term member and advisor of Wakpominee Lodge is adamant that;
There never was an L1 for Wakpominee. ….The guy who emailed me said it was made in the 30′s or so. Hey, I was in the lodge in the 40′s and there never was any leather patches made nor was there any indication that one was made in the 30′s. If something was made it was done by an individual and not an issue of the lodge. The first patch for Wakpominee was in 1948 and I was there. ………In the old Arapaho book, the first one, there is a picture of a leather squirrel, but it does not say 48 nor does it have the name Wakpominee on it.
So there you have the state of play as I know it. Two National guides listed it, but I have no provenance as to where the listing came from. All of the local sources either dispute it , don’t list it and it certainly doesn’t appear in a major NY OA collections that I am aware of.
Of course that in itself, is not proof. It is certainly possible that it was used in the very early 1930′s for a brief time and the memory of it was lost.
What do you think?
There are now two auctions running on eBay which purport to be the Wakpominee Lodge L1
The first one ends in less than a day:
Clicking on the auction will bring you to the auction for the next few months.
The seller has included a number of photos in the auction, picturing other patches on the vest. Nothing pictured on the vest leads me to think this has been anywhere near upstate New York.
The second seller has more modest ambitions (and is only offering a single patch).
Clicking on the image will bring you to the auction for the next few months.
The seller adds:
This patch came from an estate sale over 25 years ago with 1930’s – 1940’s Boy Scout and military items. I wasn’t sure what this was until seeing another patch like this listed recently. Also in the sale were loose patches and several vests with patches from multiple areas which were traded and collected at a Region 7 Hoe-Down in Wisconsin in the 1940’s.
Again nothing indicates that this patch has been anywhere near upstate New York.
[auction-affiliate tool=”lister”]
My opinion is unchanged:
My inclination is to amend the listing to YL1 with a note disputed provenance unless and until better, more absolute, verification can be made.
Are there any Squirrel totem lodges from the Wisconsin area?
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“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” – Alexander Graham Bell
My 2 cents-
As far as the example sewn on the vest, I’d find it much more believable (actually being from Lodge 48) if it were discovered on a vest with other Scouting items from NY. At least some camp patches or other items that could solidify the notion it actually belongs to Wakpominee. I’m with Jim, I am largely skeptical this belongs to Lodge 48.
-Ray
Ray,
I agree. I think it is highly unlikely that it is a Wakpominee issue. Of course it is hard to prove a negative, but nothing else on the vest looks like is from NY or even the Northeast.
What is also interesting is both vests look similar, suggesting a common source. Perhaps a non-OA honor/camp society or other squirrel totem lodge.