Going overboard as usual on my latest project (my daughter semi-lovingly calls it OCD), I am filling in a few blank spots on my Haskell-class APA dockside diorama. One of the things I gleaned from studying wartime photos was the plethora of clutter as ships were made ready for sea, including among other things cable reels of all sizes, some of them quite large.
Which begs the question - since these are black and white photos - what was likely to be on the reels and what colors would it have been? I'm guessing that most of the reels themselves would have been a new wood color.