Bill Mackowksi traditional birchbark gear
- Thread starter Rob Stevens
- Start date
Bill Mackowski has been very helpful in my search for early canoe builders since many of them also made showshoes. The second oldest canoe builder listed in the Maine Register was Albert McClain as described at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/7166/ and shown in the link below from 1889. Great stuff,
Benson
Benson
Rollin Thurlow
member since 1980
Hi Benson,
I have a Al McClain canoe in my office. He built birch bark canoes and sold a bunch to the Bar Harbor Canoe Club or maybe it was a yacht Club. When the club disbanded the canoe was sold and I inherited from the owner back around 1985.
Rollin
I have a Al McClain canoe in my office. He built birch bark canoes and sold a bunch to the Bar Harbor Canoe Club or maybe it was a yacht Club. When the club disbanded the canoe was sold and I inherited from the owner back around 1985.
Rollin
Do you have any pictures to share? Do you know if McClain ever made canvas canoes?
Benson
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This is an old thread but Zachary Smith and I recently exchanged some text messages where we discussed Albert McClain. Rollin kindly let me photograph the headboard of the McClain canoe from his office in 2018 as shown below. I decided to share it here since other people might like to see it too. McClain was first listed as a manufacturer of "canoes and snow shoes" on page 555 in the 1884 edition of the Maine Register which is also attached below. Fun stuff,
Benson
Benson
