Author Topic: CW Centennial Cannons (Read 1405 times)

Cleburne · « **on:** April 20, 2011, 05:01:51 AM »

Back in the 60's my brother and I saved up our paper route money and purchased a couple scale models of the Napoleon. They were produced to commemorate the centennial of the War. My brother soon traded his for a revolver, but I've kept mine through the years and intend to hand it down to my kids. The guns were very well done, with tubes of brass about .40 caliber, suitably strong for shooting blank charges though I never have. The carriage appears to be cast iron and painted gray with black trim. Has a solid brass water bucket, working brass elevation screw, detachable swab/ramrods, etc. All mounted on a walnut base. The same company produced a scale replica of the Parrot at the time.

Anyone else have one of these? I've long since lost the box and paperwork that accompanied mine, so don't recall who produced them. I would assume they have some value attached to them. My brother and I paid the princely sum of $26.00 apiece.

Cleburne

dominick · « **Reply #1 on:** April 20, 2011, 05:13:20 AM »

Cleburne, can you post a photo of it?

Cleburne · « **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2011, 08:20:26 AM »

Will do Dominick. But bear with me, I know how to take the photos, but have to rely on my wife or son to put them online.

Cleburne · « **Reply #3 on:** April 20, 2011, 05:13:17 PM »

Dominick, I have photos now. Just need to figure out how to post them. Am signing up for "My Hosted Pics". Stay tuned.

Cleburne

intoodeep · « **Reply #4 on:** April 20, 2011, 06:16:47 PM »

Cleburne,

Does it look like the one below?

Cleburne · « **Reply #5 on:** April 21, 2011, 06:00:48 AM »

Intoodeep,

Yes! That's exactly it! Thanks.

(Still having trouble getting my photos posted.) How long have you had yours? I think my brother and I bought ours around '63. Beautiful little gun. The small black leather straps holding the swab/ramrod on mine have dried out and broken.

Cleburne

Cleburne · « **Reply #6 on:** April 21, 2011, 12:09:16 PM »

Let's see if I can get these photos added. Here goes ...........

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Cleburne · « **Reply #7 on:** April 21, 2011, 12:32:39 PM »

Now that I've got this photo posting thing down, had to share a couple more taken at a local CW encampment recently. I'm showing a "grown up" Napoleon to grandson Aidan. The encampment took place in Labadieville, Louisiana at the E.D. White house. Edward Douglas White was a local resident who served the Confederacy during the War. He was so well respected that, after the War, he became Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

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BTW, the cannon is the private property of one of the re-enactors. It's a steel tube that's been finished to look like bronze.

Cleburne

intoodeep · « **Reply #8 on:** April 22, 2011, 04:49:24 AM »

Quote from: Cleburne on April 21, 2011, 06:00:48 AM

Intoodeep,

Yes! That's exactly it! Thanks. (Still having trouble getting my photos posted.) How long have you had yours? I think my brother and I bought ours around '63. Beautiful little gun. The small black leather straps holding the swab/ramrod on mine have dried out and broken.

Cleburne

Cleburne,

I have only had mine for 3-4 years it was purchased second hand and was given to me as a gift. Mine also has one of the straps that has dried out. On a side note, my father was a distributor for them sometime back in the 70's. I still have a couple of the advertising post cards that shows the Parrot and Napoleon.

*** I found the info. The letter was dated Jan. 1964. The Parrot & Napoleon sold for a pricey sum of $36.50 each.

Cleburne · « **Reply #9 on:** April 23, 2011, 05:01:41 AM »

Intoodeep,

Thanks for the additional info and photos. Very interesting to learn your dad was a distributor. I've done a search online and found a couple auction houses that handled these. They seem to fetch from $400 to $500+.

Cleburne

Cpt Ed · « **Reply #10 on:** April 23, 2011, 07:36:07 AM »

Cleburne & Intoodeep,

Here is a photo of the Parrott Model created by Centennial Guns. The Napoleon was the most popular model and not very many models of the Parrott were made. Back in the 1970's as a distributor, I was only able to purchase one of the Parrot Models. I still have that model in a protective case here in my collection. I do have several of the Napoleon Models. They are really fine quality models, from the past.

Cleburne · « **Reply #11 on:** April 23, 2011, 10:30:48 AM »

Capt Ed,

Nice one, looks brand new. Were the Parrott and Napoleon the only two versions produced? What years were they manufactured? How did you become a distributor? Any idea how many of each model were manufactured?

Cleburne

dan610324 · « **Reply #12 on:** April 24, 2011, 01:32:31 AM »

what size are they ??

Cleburne · « **Reply #13 on:** April 24, 2011, 04:13:48 AM »

Dan,

The tube on my Napoleon measures about 5.500" long. They were primarily for display, but were dubbed safe for firing blank charges. They're beautifully scaled little pieces and served to stoke my desire to learn more about the War of Northern Agression.

Cleburne

dominick · « **Reply #14 on:** April 24, 2011, 04:32:11 AM »

Cleburne & Cpt Ed,

Nice cannons. Thanks for posting the pics. 5-1/2" barrel length? It's a smaller cannon than it appears. It's hard to tell the size from the photos. The detail work makes them look larger than they are.

dan610324 · « **Reply #15 on:** April 24, 2011, 04:52:27 PM »

wow , extremely detailed for that size

Cpt Ed · « **Reply #16 on:** April 25, 2011, 10:34:33 AM »

Cleburne,

As far as I can remember, from back in the 1960’s & 1970’s, the Tredegar Parrott and the Napoleon were the only cannon models created by this company in North Carolina. I had a store in Pennsylvania back then and with an interest in the civil War and Artillery, I contacted the company and carried their models for sale. I was able to purchase several of the Napoleon cannons, and only one Tredegar Parrott. I tried on other occasions to purchase more of the Parrott’s but it was to never happen. I would guess that the brass barrel Napoleon was the most popular so that is the only model that they concentrated on. The Napoleon Brass barrel is well executed and nicely marked on the muzzle face with markings of * NAP 12.30 * 1” Scale. In addition under the barrel they are marked with serial numbers. The number on one of mine is CG1691. I do not know the total number of Napoleon’s produced or the number of Tredegar Parrott rifle’s produced. The Parrott barrel is without any muzzle markings or serial number. Around here some where’s, after 40+ years, I still have some of the advertising material and informational picture post cards supplied with the models. Over the past 10 years, I have seen only two of the Parrott models offered for sale on eBay and several of the Napoleon Models. The Parrott barrels are blackened steel and in most cases are showing rust and pitting especially in this Florida salt air environment.
To try and protect the overall finish, several years ago, I had hard plastic covers created. This did help.

Cpt Ed