11 foot canoes for Abercrombie & Fitch

[Benson Gray]

The Assembly theme this year is Solo Canoes and Remembering Tom MacKenzie which may be generating a lot of excitement in the market for small canoes. Two interesting 11 foot solo canoes which shipped to Abercrombie & Fitch in the 1920s have sold recently.

The oldest known 11 foot canoe from Old Town is a "Spcl Sign" or special sign model that shipped in 1915. This was probably made for display and not for paddling. A decade appears to have elapsed before another "Special" shipped to Philadelphia. An 11 foot version of the Fifty Pound model was added to the 1926 catalog and yet another "Special" shipped to Abercrombie & Fitch in New York during March of 1926. This canoe has survived and is shown in the pictures below.

The next known example shipped in 1927. The 11 foot version of the Fifty pound model was not listed in the 1928 and 1929 catalogs. It returned in the 1930 catalog but the width had increased from 34 inches to 35 and one half inches. The width went up again to 36 inches in the 1948 catalog. Short and narrow canoes are notoriously tender so this probably was intended to improve the stability. These were never a high volume model and the estimates at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/models.html indicate that less than a thousand were built.

There are more pictures to share so this story will continue in a response below.

 

[Benson Gray]

Other builders had their own versions of solo canoes. Chestnut showed a "One-Man Canoe" Model 1921 in their 1922 catalog but it was 15 feet long. A 13 foot version appeared in their 1934 catalog. Kennebec first listed a 12 foot long "One Man" model in their 1922 catalog. This was renamed the "Junior" model in their 1923 and later catalogs.

The St. Lawrence Boat Works and Rushton are not known to have ever listed an 11 foot canvas canoe in any catalog but Dan Miller has kindly shared an article from the Ogdensburg newspaper on March 2nd, 1922 that says "The St. Lawrence Boat Works of this city have received an order for the building of over 125 canoes. It was placed by Abercrombie Fitch Co. of New York" and went on to say "they offer canvas canoes in 11-, 16-, 17-, and 18-foot lengths built on the famous Rushton mould(sic)." The canoe shown below is likely to have shipped with this order but it lacks a serial number or any other documentation to confirm that. It also is surprisingly similar to the Old Town from 1926. See https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ahnZQq9h...hoDc4hc2ftOb9ER-86JQYFVOPGQCLcB/s1600/245.JPG for a picture of this canoe during the restoration.

This has been an interesting research project so please let me know if there are any other canoes like these around. Thanks,

Benson

 

[MGC]

It's an interesting discussion. I am quite far from an expert on Rushton or SLBC, but I do know that Rushton was building far smaller canoes far earlier. 9, 10, 12 foot wood construction canoes were popularized by George Washington Sears during the 1880's. The Sairy Gamp was a mere 9 feet long.
What Rushton did not offer in his catalog were canvased canoes in those diminutive sizes.
If SLBC was building one it would be surprising to learn that it was built on a Rushton form.
More likely this was a form that built for purpose.
One detail that I have noticed on all Rushton and Rushton clone builds is that the width of the stem is a tell. The stems are wider than most. The SLBC 11 footer photos you attached appear to have a standard stem. It would be surprising for a builder to use a narrow stem in a form designed (as Rushton's were) for a wide one. Unless you spaced on either side to secure the stem to center, it could drift off until it was tacked in.

 

[Benson Gray]

One detail that I have noticed on all Rushton and Rushton clone builds is that the width of the stem is a tell.

The stems in this St. Lawrence are larger than the ones on the Old Town canoes in my garage (including an 11 foot fifty pound model from 1952). The Old Towns are about 3/4 of an inch wide and the St. Lawrence is about one inch.

Benson

 

[MGC]

That's pretty cool. It also has the wide shear planks.
We may never know if Rushton had a canvas canoe form that small, but we do know that the wide stems are found on Rushton, Wells, Brown and SLBC canoes.
SLBC may have been known for building off of the retired Rushton forms, but can we rule out forms of their own construction? They offered a torpedo stem canoe. Rushton never did. There are still a lot of missing pieces in the story of the Saint Lawrence County builders.

 

[Benson Gray]

There are still a lot of missing pieces in the story of the Saint Lawrence County builders.

I agree, and this can easily be extended to most canoe building regions. I'm not surprised by St. Lawrence Boat Works building a canoe with torpedo stems since this can be done without significant changes to an existing form. It has been said that the torpedo stem may have originated from canoe racers in the Charles River area who wanted faster canoes that were longer and narrower. The quickest way to do this is by putting a new extended stem on an old form. This will allow you to make a new canoe with a significantly different shape without building a completely new form. The current Old Town Molitor model is built on a modified Otca form.

The Old Town inventories first show one 11 foot long form for the Fifty Pound model in 1926 and two forms by 1930. It is not clear what they used to build the Special Sign model in 1915.

Benson

 

[1905Gerrish]

Benson,
The St. Lawrence canoe pictured above was that the one that was sold by Jerry G yesterday?
Zack

 

[Tim Rowe]

I took the same pics at the Auction and the holes in the seat match.

 

[Benson Gray]

The St. Lawrence canoe pictured above was that the one that was sold by Jerry G yesterday?

Yes, as Tim confirmed. See http://www.giguereauction.com/2022 Spring Sporting Auction Pick's/boat_0089.jpg for more pictures.

Benson

 

[1905Gerrish]

Heard the above St. Lawrence went for 5K. Anyone confirm? Member purchase?

 

[Tim Rowe]

Yes and 15% to house + 5% tax, I think he also bought the 3 vintage paddles for $900.00.

 

[Benson Gray]

The 'hammer' prices are correct as Tim mentioned. The out of state phone buyer is a member of the WCHA but wishes to remain anonymous. They are aware of this thread and have given permission to post pictures here. The paddles are shown below along with some similar looking ones from the 1908 and 1911 White catalogs. One appears to be birdseye maple, another is a hardwood that may be maple, and the third is a softwood that may be spruce or cedar. These paddles will probably never be attributed with any certainty to a specific builder. The list at http://wcha.org/catalogs/maine-list.htm shows that there were a huge number of canoe and paddle makers in Maine alone. Most of these can't be identified without a tag. Please let me know if anyone has a better guess of who might have made these.

Benson

 

[1905Gerrish]

I was the underbidder on the paddles. Birds eye paddle is nicely shaped but has many cracks throughout. Tools that were rarely signed. The softwood paddle seems very native to me.

 

[Mud Bug]

All right, I've gotta ask: why the seat so far to the rear? That's not where I'd put myself.

Just a thought about adding width to the little bugger: I doubt that was so much for stability as it was for capacity and maneuverability. Chestnut's 15 foot Bob Special with a 37" beam is rated for 700 pounds, while their sixteen foot Pal with a 34" beam is only 600 pounds; and that's with the same depth. Those three more inches in the middle gave the shorter canoe 100 pounds more floatation. Probably that little 11 footer didn't have quite enough bubble factor. Plus, by making it wider it'll turn better, which tends to be a problem where there aren't two people to pull the ends around. Just guessing, of course. Have you had your 11 footer in the water much, Benson? Can you guess the reason more weren't made?

 

[Benson Gray]

My guess is that the stern seat was put in simply because that is where people expect it to be in a canoe. The common solution to getting more capacity is to get a longer canoe. Maneuverability is usually not an issue with short canoes like this. Getting them to go straight is much more of a challenge. I have spent a fair amount of time on the water with my 11 foot canoe from 1952, but I have never attempted a long trip with it. My wife will often use it with a canoe seat in the middle and a double bladed paddle. I suspect that more weren't made because these are a 'one trick pony' and most people are seeking canoes that can do a broader variety of things.

Benson

 

[samb]

My (limited) experience with shorter boats suggest that narrow short boats are difficult to turn. My thoughts are that without the volume of bigger boats, they sit lower in the water and so the ends catch. Modern OC1 white water boats have masses of rocker so the problem doesn't occur.
I have been wrong on previous occasions!
Sam

 

[greghowe]

I have Old Town canoe #87906. The canoe was completed on July 3, 1925, and shipped to Abercrombie & Fitch on July 14, 1925. The canoe is a 11' Special design, with wood/canvas construction. The gunwales are open mahogany...the decks, thwarts, and seats are all of mahogany. The original color was dark green.
I purchased the canoe in 1969 and it was fully restored between 2005 and 2007, by Rollin Thurlow of the Northwoods Canoe Company. I have a copy of the original build sheet.

Greg Howe,
Canton, NY