Huron Angler
Admiral
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2009
- Messages
- 6,025
My family has owned property on northern Lake Huron going back to when my maternal Grandmother bought it after WWII. One of the interesting things about this of course is the flotsam, jetsam, and general driftwood that provided building materials for treeforts throughout my childhood.
My question is this: If I have a legitimate piece of the Edmund Fitzgerald that clearly has stenciled letters spelling out the name, what should I do with it? My parents aren't sure of its origins and my grandparents are no longer with us. The assumption I have is that it washed on our beach after having fallen off the big ship while it was en route from Detroit to Lake Superior(otherwise it would have had to go thru the Soo Locks on the way back to Lake Huron which I think is not likely). My Grandpa probably picked it up off the beach, looked at it and hung it up on his pegboard in the garage. Unfortunately we did not ask questions about it prior to his death in 1996. I'm really the only person in the family who has any interest in the item).
There is a Maritime Museum in Detroit http://www.glmi.org/ that has an Edmund Fitzgerald memorial and I've been considering maybe asking them if they would like to display the piece on loan/donation. I'm not sure how many artifacts they have from the ship...I'm assuming that there may be some interest in the item.
It is a piece of wood painted red about 2"x32" slightly tapered on one end and it's painted red w/ stenciled Edmund Fitzgerald painted in black on one side. The other feature is a 5' length 1/2" rope tied to the wood thru a hole on one end.
I have some pictures that I can post after I'm done fishing after work today rather than go on and on with descriptions. It is 100% authentic and is in excellent condition. I think it may have been used to ring a bell?!? Ideas on its original function are more than welcome.
I figured you folks would be interested in this and I would appreciate some feedback on what you would deem appropriate action(of course I'd like to sell the piece to buy a sweet used Starcraft and a brand new outboard but probably should donate it to a museum).
What do ya think???
My question is this: If I have a legitimate piece of the Edmund Fitzgerald that clearly has stenciled letters spelling out the name, what should I do with it? My parents aren't sure of its origins and my grandparents are no longer with us. The assumption I have is that it washed on our beach after having fallen off the big ship while it was en route from Detroit to Lake Superior(otherwise it would have had to go thru the Soo Locks on the way back to Lake Huron which I think is not likely). My Grandpa probably picked it up off the beach, looked at it and hung it up on his pegboard in the garage. Unfortunately we did not ask questions about it prior to his death in 1996.
I'm really the only person in the family who has any interest in the item).There is a Maritime Museum in Detroit http://www.glmi.org/ that has an Edmund Fitzgerald memorial and I've been considering maybe asking them if they would like to display the piece on loan/donation. I'm not sure how many artifacts they have from the ship...I'm assuming that there may be some interest in the item.
It is a piece of wood painted red about 2"x32" slightly tapered on one end and it's painted red w/ stenciled Edmund Fitzgerald painted in black on one side. The other feature is a 5' length 1/2" rope tied to the wood thru a hole on one end.
I have some pictures that I can post after I'm done fishing after work today rather than go on and on with descriptions. It is 100% authentic and is in excellent condition. I think it may have been used to ring a bell?!? Ideas on its original function are more than welcome.
I figured you folks would be interested in this and I would appreciate some feedback on what you would deem appropriate action(of course I'd like to sell the piece to buy a sweet used Starcraft and a brand new outboard but probably should donate it to a museum).
What do ya think???
