{"id":4058,"date":"2021-11-29T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T09:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shinola.com\/our-stories\/?p=4058"},"modified":"2021-11-29T18:56:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T18:56:04","slug":"warroad-home-to-the-toboggan-makers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/warroad-home-to-the-toboggan-makers\/","title":{"rendered":"Warroad: Home To The Toboggan Makers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
John Harren\u2019s Workshop Holds Secrets Behind Northern Toboggan\u2019s World-Beating Sleds<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
WARROAD, Minn. \u2013 <\/strong>It\u2019s a Wednesday afternoon in early November, and people in Warroad are coming to grips with the inaugural gusts of winter. Talk at Farmers Union Oil, a filling station near the town\u2019s main intersection, centers on the forecast for snow. White smoke billows from the tailpipes of empty pickup trucks, a telltale sign of vehicles keeping warm while owners grab a cup of Joe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is here, at this point on the border splitting northwest Minnesota and the southeastern edge of Manitoba, where a 67-year-old artisan named John Harren has been passing the family business down to his two sons, Jackson and Gabriel. Meeting him on the forty-acre farm he\u2019s long called home reinforces the undeniable mixture of pleasure and reluctance that comes with passing down an heirloom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The boys are eager. The father dedicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“UNIQUE RECIPE”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Dad is the craftsman, bootstrapper and risktaker behind Northern Toboggan. If you have one of the company\u2019s products in your garage, chalet, shed, or basement, chances are John Harren\u2019s fingerprints are on it. He\u2019s been a sled maker for a quarter century, his workshop a testament to traditional toboggan-making disciplines and an entrepreneur\u2019s improvement of an age-old practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Father<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur recipe is unique,\u201d Jackson, John\u2019s oldest son who now serves as president, responds when asked how Northern Toboggan\u2019s methods compare to others in the trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theirs is a process you can\u2019t automate, or digitize. If production were offshored or anything other than genuine materials used, these sleds would lose their soul.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Northern Toboggan products are built from white ash grown in Wisconsin or red oak grown in Quebec, carefully selected by lumber experts who know about rigid manufacturing processes and harsh winter conditions the wood needs to endure. It needs to be ripped, cut, planed, tapered and, finally, bent. The product is built to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery board is a little bit different,\u201d John says as he pushes a plank over a table saw. The tools in this workshop are as identified by the sounds they make as the tasks they perform: the buzz of that saw; the whirr of a planer; the shushing of sandpaper; the whine of a drill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To create the iconic elf-shoe wrap at the front of a downhill toboggan, the wood needs to undergo a steam-bend process, aided by a contraption the Harrens call a \u201cSteam Box\u201d or \u201cSteamer. It resembles a mini sauna. Heated to 280 degrees Farenheit by a boiler, it creates an intense steam bath during a 20-to-30-minute bake. This makes the boards malleable, ready to be locked into round jig that curls the into a shape resembling the Nike swoosh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This takes precision, and a feel that takes years to develop. \u201cNo two boards hold the curve the same way,\u201d John says. Jackson reckons people got the idea for bending wood from watching trees sway in the wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once formed, boards are fastened together by laminated crosspieces bolted in place with stainless steel hardware. Bolts are far more durable than simply using screws. Ropes \u2013 one for towing the toboggan uphill and another serving as a handle \u2013 are fixed to the sled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"Constructing
Northern Toboggan Photography by Tim Bjerk<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
BRED UP NORTH<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Orders come from all over the U.S. and Canada. Maps hang in the workshop, outlining the towns, tribes, villages, and territories where the company\u2019s offering of sleds and snowshoes are shipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, custom toboggans are made for participants in the U.S. Toboggan Nationals in Camden, Maine, a three-day competition in February with thousands of spectators and hundreds of teams. A variety of cargo sleds, snowmobile sleds and Komatiks, or dog sleds, are also made here and often shipped deep into the Arctic Circle. Intuit customers, an important segment of Northern Toboggan\u2019s user base, have consulted on designs. A sled is necessary equipment in Eskimo life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tradition on which this enterprise is built dates far back, to when Egyptians used sleds to move heavy objects over sand. In centuries that followed, merchants and adventurers \u2013 spanning Vikings to Antarctic explorers \u2013 utilized cargo sleds hauled by dogs and humans seeking trade and discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sleds are vital to the identity of modern-day Canada, providing mobility needed to establish the fur trade. And it was the mighty sled, operated by expert mushers and pulled by burly huskies, that orchestrated the 1925 Serum Run through sub-zero temperatures over hundreds of miles of Alaska\u2019s punishing interior.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Harren family\u2019s legacy started in the mid 1990s when Fr. Raymond DesChenes of the Oblate Fathers of Winnipeg, put a bug in his nephew\u2019s ear. John was a seasoned carpenter with deep understanding of woodworking, and his Uncle Raymond encouraged him to build toboggans for communities located in the frigid, snow-laden north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John traveled north to meet a man selling sleigh making equipment, and that piqued his interest. One of Uncle Raymond\u2019s peers \u2013 Father Darveau in Lac Brochet, Manitoba, \u2014 provided the clincher. He explained to John how the demise of fur prices had devastated trappers and led to a shortage of handmade sleds. Still, voyagers and hunters still needed something on which to move their spoils and gear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next came an introduction to Milton Chaboyer, a trapper in Manitoba who long made toboggans and cargo sleds. Chaboyer came to the Warroad workshop to impart a lifetime worth of lessons to John.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
MADE IN WARROAD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Twenty-six years later, the Harrens lead a team of toboggan makers in Warroad continuing to refine the craft, supplying hundreds of sleds and snowshoe sets to customers annually. On a tour of the buildings that make up Northern Toboggan\u2019s operations, Jackson shows off a stockpile of raw material, inventory of finished goods, and several concepts he\u2019s toying with for potential future product lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel says the pandemic sparked a revival of practices steeped in nostalgia. Stuff like boardgames, puzzles, backyard barbecues. And sledding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople are focused on family, and spending more time outdoors,\u201d he said. Interest in his clan\u2019s product, and the lifestyle it represents, is robust. \u201cEverybody wants to hang out with the toboggan guys.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Shinola is in this club, offering a limited-edition toboggan this holiday season. Handcrafted in red oak, this treasure features a serialized nameplate with engravings made by a Warroad company specializing in laser-etching. A unique light khaki pad, providing enough cushion for two adults or three children, is sourced from a supplier in Duluth. Orange and navy rope is sourced from North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The toboggan and Shinola do have shared heritage. Being Made in Warroad means these toboggans come from a place called \u201cHockeytown USA,\u201d a title that is also often assigned to Shinola\u2019s hometown of Detroit. The Motor City and Warroad are also both manufacturing towns situated on the shores of some of North America\u2019s most majestic lakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re fortunate enough to find yourself near a hill covered in snow this winter, grab your coat, hat and a well-made toboggan and lose yourself in the magic of a centuries-old tradition. As Gabriel Herren says, \u201cmy entire life has been filled with people sharing their toboggan story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be sure to tell your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John Harren\u2019s Workshop Holds Secrets Behind Northern Toboggan\u2019s World-Beating Sleds WARROAD, Minn. \u2013 It\u2019s a Wednesday afternoon in early November, and people in Warroad are coming to grips with the inaugural gusts of winter. Talk at Farmers Union Oil, a filling station near the town\u2019s main intersection, centers on the forecast for snow. White smoke […]<\/p>\n
Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":4118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWarroad: Home To The Toboggan Makers - Our Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/warroad-home-to-the-toboggan-makers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Warroad: Home To The Toboggan Makers - Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John Harren\u2019s Workshop Holds Secrets Behind Northern Toboggan\u2019s World-Beating Sleds WARROAD, Minn. \u2013 It\u2019s a Wednesday afternoon in early November, and people in Warroad are coming to grips with the inaugural gusts of winter. 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