Found this while searching the internet: In 1909, George L. Barden teamed up with Roscoe J. Robeson in
Penn Yan, New York, nestled in the heart of the Finger Lakes region, to form a lucrative partnership.
Little did they know, the Barden and Robeson Corporation, which started with production of spokes and hubs
for wagon wheels, would become a premier corporation that would continue to flourish for generations to
come.
To accommodate the rapidly growing fruit trade in the Finger Lakes region, the Barden and Robeson
Corporation changed its focus to bushel baskets in 1911. Business continued to grow and by the 1920's,
wicker baby furniture was added to the company's product line. The 1940's brought World War II, which
shifted Barden and Robeson's focus once again. Bushel basket and furniture production were put on hold in
order to assist the US government in the war effort by assembling ammunition boxes.
With the advent
of peace, bushel basket and furniture production returned to normal. A surplus of lumber from the
ammunition box venture and a major push by the U.S. government for rapid housing in the United States,
switched Barden and Robeson's focus yet again. By this time, three production facilities, located in Penn
Yan, Middleport, and Lockport, were being utilized in full force, which prompted the endeavor of a new
state-of-the-art product, Barden Homes.
Before long, both the Penn Yan and Middleport facilities
were producing this exciting, new method of panelized home construction. Bushel basket and furniture
production began a slow decline, while the demand for Barden Homes grew so quickly that in 1968, the
company opened the doors to another production facility located in Homer, New York. By this time, three
generations of Barden's: G.L. Barden and his son, Bryce, and Bryce's sons Rick and Tom, were also joined
by Bob Gelder, a long time family friend, and together they steered the company to what it is today.
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thank you for your interest my my boat/trailer,here's my story: I found
this in an old local dairy farm barn that was just sold to be demolished to make way for apartments. a
relative of the family and power of attorney, was selling anything that was left on property to neighbors,
my good friend who lives next door called me and told me about a wooden boat she had because he new i was
into boats(i also have a rare 1962 fiberglass local built boat). when i seen it or what i thought at the
time was 2 boats! i offered her $100.00 and they were mine. when i got home i noticed something was
missing, the trailer part! i seen it on the ground near the boats and thought it was landing gear for a
plane! the next day i got it and the rest is history. the trailer had a license plate on it from 1961
which ment it has been sitting in the barn for 42 years. it had a half inch of dust on it literally! the
boat itself is in excellent condition, the scratches you see in pics is the polyurethane flaking. don't
get me wrong it does have a couple of marks on it but nothing major. i restored trailer part and recently
restored brackets that hold it on, every part i painted was bead blasted,primed then sprayed with a
durable rust preventable paint. i tryed to match the color of the rim as best i could to what it looked
like on the inside of the rim when i took it apart, it was in great condition(paint color) i used that as
a color match, and yes it is a two piece rim! the taillight is a 1930's ford glass lense taillight, which
i also restored, yes it does work.the boat is a different story that i haven't touched at all! i am trying
to find nos or reproduction fabric wire from this time period.the oars were in boat but i haven't touched
them, they are in good condition.i haven't had boat in water, could use a new coat of urethane before hand.
I will look for any numberson trailer this weekend, and yes it is spring loaded it is not a solid swing
arm. if anyone has any questions or info please email me: from
brian
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Saw this ad on Ebay "GREAT 1940s WOODEN TRAV-L-BOAT- MUST SEE! This has been stored locally in a
barn, since the early 1970s. It's called a TRAV-L-BOAT. I also have a zerox copy of the original brochure
that came with it new. It's two boats in one! You can use separately as two boats (just get another pair
of oars), or together, as one large boat, and it makes itself into a trailer as well! It's TOO COOL! . I
EVEN have the car hitch. The car hitch was 2 pieces, that were permanently mounted, by previous owner, to
the back bumper of your 1940s car. Those two pieces have been mounted to a t-frame, so you can put it in
your reese hitch to use with today's vehicles. It looks like one of the center seats, which was just
plywood, was removed (easily replaced). There is a rubber cord-type beading gasket that originally ran
around the edge, to create a seal, when the boat was closed. Most of that beading is gone, but there is
some there, so you can duplicate it, if you decide to restore. All the metal locks and pieces seem to be
in good shape - nothing broken. The tail lights on the removable-castor unit, have a long cable, so you
can plug it in.
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