1907 Grand Canal - Belle Isle Photo

Murat V

Murat V

LOVES Wooden Canoes
Found this pic online and immediately remembered Kathy Klos' great article about the Belle Isle canoes a while back. Not sure if this pic has been posted before featuring lots of different canoes from 1907. Mostly closed gunwales and perhaps some Morris canoes in there...can't see the splayed stems hidden under all those pillows!
 

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A great picture. It looks like rafting up was a major part of canoeing there -- almost every canoe has rope bumpers or a rub rail. And it also looks like canoeing was a major spectator sport then -- a little like the Assembly paddle-by.
 
Some interesting details... In the group of four canoes rafted-up, the one on the right has a Morris (or Kennebec) -style backrest standing in the canoe. The one that's third from the right also has one- looks like the paddler is sitting on it with it lying on the deck. There's also a Canadian board & batten canoe on the left side of the canal.
 
Those rope bumpers are too cool - I don't think I've noticed them before. Reminds me of bunting they put everywhere when mourning Abe Lincoln.
 
Here are a few more images of canoes in the Belle Isle area.

Benson
 

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I know a man up in Beula, Michigan that will make any sized rope bumpers for a canoe, and he's cheap. Really nice old guy and does really nice work. He will use hemp or traditional. I think the hemp is more off white so It'll look more vintage. I need to find his card.
 
Yup, you're right, Crosscuts! And if we looked into the Belle Isle local newspapers for that time period, we would probably see that already 178 persons had drowned after falling out of a canoe -- and the season is only half over! And maybe 15 or 16 more died after falling off their bicycles on the way to the canoe rental pavilion because they didn't have helmets on. Gosh, I'm glad the government has stepped in to take the place of my father. Al D
 
At this point, I shall remind everyone that the canals at Belle Isle were/are only three feet deep, so those paddling there were fairly safe-- even with leaky bloomers and without pfd. Bummer for the Victrolas, though.
 
Kathryn Klos said:
At this point, I shall remind everyone that the canals at Belle Isle were/are only three feet deep, so those paddling there were fairly safe-- even with leaky bloomers and without pfd. Bummer for the Victrolas, though.
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The paddle-tip-repair person must have been kept as busy as the Victrola-fixer...!
 
band stand

This is a great photo and so hi-resolution we can really see the details. Thanks for posting. I really like all the spotlights or lanterns on the front of these canoes...though am sure it was more for ornamentation than anything else (like the pillows). Notice the band-stand across the channel. As much as I'd like to think it was crowded for the canoe-parade, they came for the music and the canoes/paddlers on display were a bonus activity while waiting for the tunes to start. We should do a mini-assembly on Belle Isle and recreate this afternoon event.
 
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