A model canoe at the Wilson Museum in Castine, Maine

Benson Gray

Canoe History Enthusiast
Staff member
I wandered into the Wilson Museum this summer and was very exicted to find a large model of an early rowing canoe with invisible sponsons. They kindly let me photograph it in detail this week as shown below. There was very little provenance available. It is roughly 72 by 16 inches. My guess is that this may be a Thatcher model as shown in the catalog and patent images below.

Caleb Billings Thatcher lived from 1840 to 1914 and his canoe business in Bangor lasted from about 1896 to around 1923. I'm not aware of any other Thatcher models that are known to exist. Links to Thatcher's grave, the Wilson Museum, and three pictures of a full sized Thatcher canoe are at the bottom of this page. Please let me know if you have a better guess or any other information about Thatcher to share. Thanks,

Benson


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I don't have a model of a Thatcher canoe but I have a 17ft full size one. The model is much better built than the full size one. I don't see anything remarkable about this canoe except for having the name plate. It looks like a basic "Guide " model. It does have a nice seat frame and carrying handles.
 

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Another Thatcher is in the rafters of the Canoe restaurant in Center Harbor, New Hampshire. I haven't gotten a good picture of it. The link below has more details about how to find it.

Benson


 
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