It has a number and a name
- Thread starter Grandlaker
- Start date
OP
OP
Grandlaker
Builder & Restorer
the number is { 7539 LUFLIN SP } Stamped into the stem It's 20' long
Someone must of herd of this builder ?????????????? It looks like a EM White to me
Someone must of herd of this builder ?????????????? It looks like a EM White to me
I did a Google search on "Luflin", and didn't find much. It does not appear to be a very common name, so a little more diligent searching may dig up more. There was a branch of the Luflin Family in and about Washington, Maine. Perhaps a Luflin was the builder or a Luflin former owner of the canoe put their name on it.
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
My guess is S.P. Lufin was the owner, as Fitz suggests. Tamping the owner's name into the bottom of the canoe is something I've run into several times... sometimes just initials. Looks like a nice, functional, guide-type canoe... doesn't seem terribly old to me, from the pictures. By "terribly old" I mean "not as old as I am". By the standards of eBay, I am an antique, so this sort of thing is a matter of perspective. I am thinking post-WWII... maybe '50s or '60s... but this is just a guess, based on "feel".
Larry Meyer
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
Going by the plain deck, robust construction, general form, and carry thwarts, I would guess its a Bill Miller canoe.
OP
OP
Grandlaker
Builder & Restorer
I think your right Larry. I had a Miller here a few years ago and it was allot like this one .
I do know it isn't A 1908 old town.
I do know it isn't A 1908 old town.
Larry Meyer
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
Dave Morrison has a 20 foot Miller and we did the Moose River Bow trip years ago . I remember wide plain decks, extra large gunnels, and a very simple form. Not much rise. I have some pix of the canoe on that trip, but they are not exact enuf to compare. It just looked like a dead ringer for Dave's Miller. It was heavy and carry thwarts at the decks were standard. Very plain but solid as a rock.
Larry Meyer
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
I'm finding lots of Laflins in New Brunswick on Google.
Larry Meyer
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
I say Laflin cuz looking at the stem pix that is what I see. The fact that its stamped kind of funny suggests that the maker may have meant to name the person he was making the canoe for.
OP
OP
Grandlaker
Builder & Restorer
Thanks Larry I have found a web site for Miller canoe http://www.millercanoes.com/
and they look just like this one. I have sent them an E mail with the number and name from the stem. Will see what they have to say .
and they look just like this one. I have sent them an E mail with the number and name from the stem. Will see what they have to say .
OP
OP
Grandlaker
Builder & Restorer
I had some back and forth E mails with Bill Miller and this is what he thinks this canoe is.
Hi Dale, That canoe dies look like it might have been built on the Bert Moore 20 ft form that i now have here, although it was not built here. Bert Moore wentout of business in 1947 and for a couple of years, his model was sent to chestnut Canoe Co in Fredericton and Chestnut did build several canoes of f the model however he was never paid the royalties on them so he went to fredericton and got the model back and sold it to my grandfather for 100.00! We have had it here ever since
The model does look like the 20 foot old town, i have noted its shape too but the half fibs are a bert moore design and the shape of the deck is a Bert moore design and the stern Seat is a Chestnut design! so my bet is it is a chestnut canoe built on the Bert Moore model when it was at Chestnut sometime between 1947 and 1953. It is in very good shape too !
thanks for sending me the pictures!
bill
Hi Dale, That canoe dies look like it might have been built on the Bert Moore 20 ft form that i now have here, although it was not built here. Bert Moore wentout of business in 1947 and for a couple of years, his model was sent to chestnut Canoe Co in Fredericton and Chestnut did build several canoes of f the model however he was never paid the royalties on them so he went to fredericton and got the model back and sold it to my grandfather for 100.00! We have had it here ever since
The model does look like the 20 foot old town, i have noted its shape too but the half fibs are a bert moore design and the shape of the deck is a Bert moore design and the stern Seat is a Chestnut design! so my bet is it is a chestnut canoe built on the Bert Moore model when it was at Chestnut sometime between 1947 and 1953. It is in very good shape too !
thanks for sending me the pictures!
bill
Larry Meyer
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
Well. I was wrong . . . but I sent you the right way!
OP
OP
Grandlaker
Builder & Restorer
LOL Larry you where righter than I was Thanks
Larry Meyer
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
Altogether a tough detective job. Thanks for keeping me posted. I was curious. Even Bill Miller can only narrow it down to 2 possibilities. It strikes me as odd that Chestnut would retain the half ribs. But Chestnut might well number the stem, which Moore might not do. But what does Laflin SP mean? Maybe Laflin was a builder at Chestnut and since this was a sort of one-off form for Chestnut, he got to mark his canoes off as special projects? Mysteries remain.
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
I think SP Laflin was the original owner of the canoe. I have had canoes with names or initials tamped-into the wood. This, I believe, is more commonly seen than a builder's name being tamped into the wood like that. "Best guess" is all we can do with many of these ol' girls!
Similar threads
