Among the things we get in from estates from the 1950’s and earlier are Syroco ware items. These items look like they’re made of wood (and they are, sort of) but in reality are injection molded wood/plastic blend from the Syracuse Ornamental Company founded in 1908.
“The Syracuse Ornamental Company, known as Syroco, was an American manufacturing company based in Syracuse, New York. They were best known for their molded wood-pulp products that resembled hand-carving.
Founded in Syracuse, New York in 1890 by immigrant Adolph Holstein, the Syracuse Ornamental Company (Syroco) specialized in decorative wood carving, especially for the local residential market. Products included fireplace mantelpieces and other types of interior decoration popular in late Victorian homes. To meet increasing market demand and sales opportunities Holstein developed a material looked and felt like wood but that which could be shaped, allowing multiple pieces to be produced through a molding process. The new product, which combined wood pulp brought from the Adirondacks with flour as a binder and other materials to give it strength, was extruded and then cut to fit compression molds, which had were made from original carvings in real wood.
The process favored shallow molds with little undercutting, and this served well for the creation of a wide variety of “carved” relief work to be applied to different sorts of flat surfaces such as walls, furniture and caskets. Production of this new molded product, known as SyrocoWood, was the mainstay of the company’s production through the 1940’s. “
The Scouts must have picked up on their products in the late 1940’s to early 1950’s and continued on offering their items until early 1960’s. The jewelry box pictured above along with plaques and paperweights are quite common from estates of this era so obviously were a popular gift item.
Syroco items also obviously showed up at National Jamboree trading posts as both candy bowls and trinket boxes.
Syroco candy bowl from 1953 Boy Scout National Jamboree Syroco trinket box from the 1960 Boy Scout National Jamboree Syroco Boy Scout First Class plaque or paperweightSyroco Cub Scout plaqueSyroco Boy Scout plaque boxSyroco Boy Scout plaque box sideSyroco Boy Scout book end
Although I do not have pictures to post here, Syroco also made for the Scouts tie racks. Some are common but also include what is one of the rarest of this kind of collectible that is a tie rack with “logs” around the border.
Now all but forgotten other than by chopping contest participants, Australian Peter McLaren was a ‘rock star’ of axemanship and pioneer of chopping contests in this country. In the 1930s he was a brand representative and promoter for Plumb brand axes. (For modern day equivalent, think Michael Jordan for Nike shoes.)
One such promotions was a featured section at the 1937 Boy Scout National Jamboree. (I’ll have to look through my archives for the jambo map but as I recall it showed this area.) One memorabilia item that came from this was a staff axe engraved for the Jamboree with McLaren’s signature.
I do not know how many of these have survived. This is the only one I’ve ever had come through my hands (and quickly acquired it when I had a chance to.) I’ve not seen another on the market.
We do though get through occaisionaly both a pamphlet that he authored and a “club” patch.
