Sleigh historian and model builder , Roger Allen, is a retired Industrial Arts teacher from Long Island. As a child, Roger helped his father, a carpenter and cabinetmaker, build a generic sleigh taken from a "Popular Mechanics'" magazine. He and his father would build the sleighs and his mother would paint them and they were sold at a local church fair.

Much later in life while on a family ski trip to New England, Roger spotted some full sized sleighs outside a business. This brought back memories of his childhood and motivated him to get per mission to photograph and measure the sleighs. After returning home, one of the sleighs was scaled down to tabletop size and a prototype was built. The past 25 years have been sleigh building history. Roger is also a historian of the sleighing era. He researches all aspects of these runnered vehicles and bases his reproductions on actual sleigh photographs and historic plans.

Sleighs that are selected for reproduction are American, have interesting lines and uses. To help with this process, photographs and drawings are obtained along with actual plans from a carriage association of which he is a member.

Over the years Allen Sleighs have been the focus of several newspaper and magazine articles.

Each sleigh style is proportionally scaled to the desired size. Only solid material is used. Completing a unit takes between 130 and 140 steps from start to finish. Due to cutting and sanding operations, contours are changed slightly and each sleigh becomes different and original. All trimmings are solid brass. The finish consists of stain and two coats of sprayed lacquer on the runners and a coat of sanded primer and two coats of color for the box. The paint used on the sleigh box is exterior and represents the colors most popular during the Carriage Era. Stenciling is also available on all units upon request. To authenticate each sleigh Roger's initials can be found on the bottom of each box. Included with each sleigh is a removable seat, a historical fact card, a maintenance sheet and business card if future repair should be needed.

Click here for Media Coverage of Roger and his Sleighs.

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