Wooden Canoe Magazine Pictures

Treewater

Treewater

Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
Thank you Benson Gray for the articles on the Old Town factory building. I have moved and reconstructed historic buildings and had to examine the photos in the article. Some of the dates given for photographs have me confused. I counted windows and the location of the door. The Keith Shoe picture shows the door two widows right and by the small black mail box (?). In the lower picture same page the doorway was moved one window over. A third double hung shash was added but may be fake since the window is dark. On page seven lower the door is as original so what is the date? I'm just reading pictures. Love to see the building. I enjoy visualizing old buildings as they "grew" and changed through the years. Always interesting. Artists interpretations are not much help. They get very stylistic.
Tim
 
You are most welcome. It appears that there were many changes to the front door's location and the windows on the first floor over the years. The door was first under the third row of windows with two double windows on the left around 1900. The second location was under the fourth row of windows with three single windows to the left around 1901. The third and current location is under the second row of windows and all of the wide double windows on the first floor were replaced with narrower single windows. Some other pictures of the factory and the article are attached below.

Benson
 

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Yes, Thanks Benson for sharing the pics.

And yes, I was also curious about the changing location of the front door.

Kind of like my wife, always wanting to change the color of a wall or move furniture. :)

Dan
 
To Get Canoes In!

Having gone through a similar situation recently, I suspect the moving of the door may have to do with the ability to get canoes into the building!!:D

(Don't ask, my wife hasn't noticed yet).:eek:
 
Fitz said:
I suspect the moving of the door may have to do with the ability to get canoes into the building!
Click to expand...

The usual focus was on getting canoes out of the building. Another interesting aspect of this factory is that it was built with no interior stair wells. There are ramps between floors as shown on the left in the picture below because these made it easier to move canoes. This also made it a very exciting place for children to ride bicycles. The occasional presence of canoe tacks on the floors added to the challenge.

Benson
 

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I will exercise my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in this situation even though the statute of limitations has probably run out. I can honestly say that I never got a flat tire on my bicycle from a canoe tack in spite of multiple dire warnings on that subject.

Benson
 
What a great photo. All those pretty boats, all that great craftsmanship considered to be a kind of given, not some artistic rarity.
 
Benson Gray said:
I will exercise my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in this situation even though the statute of limitations has probably run out. I can honestly say that I never got a flat tire on my bicycle from a canoe tack in spite of multiple dire warnings on that subject.

Benson
Click to expand...

Ramps are awesome. Any splinters?
 

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Thanks for posting the photos, Benson!
Do you know what the hoses that dropped from pipes on the ceiling were for?
 

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Dave Osborn said:
Do you know what the hoses that dropped from pipes on the ceiling were for?
Click to expand...

The usual explanation is that the hoses were part of an early vacuum system used to clean out the insides of the canoes. The large cylinder in the back left on the wall may have held the motor, filter, and collection bag.

Benson
 
What are they?

At the risk of sounding dumb, What are those canoes? I count at least 11 thwarts which is a few more than I've ever seen. I mean really, What are those?
Tim
 
Treewater said:
What are those canoes? I count at least 11 thwarts which is a few more than I've ever seen.
Click to expand...

They are 34 foot long 'war' model canoes which were listed in the catalogs from 1906 to 1936. One of the first ones went to the Microbe Canoe club and was captured in a postcard with many of the employees during a test run in 1906. The previous interior pictures show six that were built in the 1960s for an adventure theme park and are shown in the last three additional pictures below.

Benson
 

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I'm impressed.

Thank you Benson for posting the information and pictures. I'm amazed. Beautiful canoes, even more so in that long length. Very graceful looking. Never knew they went over 24 ft. Do any of them still exist?
Kids canoeing and not wanting to get wet? Boys and girls I have seen age 14 to 21 in camps up North have much on their minds besides canoeing. Getting wet spoils the image. I note the theme park painted fake "birtch bark" patterns. Still done today on big fiberglass camp canoes. Thank you again. Fascinating.
Tim
 
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Benson Gray said:
I can't think of anyone who has one. The original form may still be around if you want to build one.

Benson
Click to expand...

There is at least one... Heavy beast, even after we removed the sponsons...
 

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