Builder Wages

Todd F

Lifetime Member
Benson, you recently posted a nice picture of OT workers fairing a canoe post 1910. As I am sure most of the current professionals are not becoming rich and the hobbyists break even at best, has anyone looked at the wages of both the owners and workers "back in the day"? I would think that at the turn of the century there was money to be made but maybe less so in the 40's etc.

I would think that back then it was a profession that kept a roof overhead and today it is much more of a passion that keeps folks engaged and interactive.

I wonder what wages a canoe maker earned as compared to another tradesman at that time.
 
has anyone looked at the wages of both the owners and workers "back in the day"?

This sounds like an interesting topic for investigation but I don't know of anyone who has pursued it. Canoe builders were in high demand during the late 1800s and early 1900s as indicated by the standing advertisement in the 1901 issues of the Charles River Canoeist shown below. There are many stories of good builders who switched companies for better pay. Old Town and Chestnut even got into a lawsuit over this issue.

The information at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/14830/ indicates that Chestnut and other Canadian builders may have been more profitable due to the tariffs that were in place. Rollin Thurlow's comment is that no one has made any significant money in the wooden canoe business since the 1920s. Canoe builders were probably being paid better most similar tradesman but hard numbers might be difficult to find.

Benson



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Assuming my notes are correct, I can add a data point.

Between December 1908 and April 1912, Frank Fox, along with a typical crew of three or four other builders, were contracted to build Rushton Indian Girl canoes.

On July 8, 1908, they built 10 B-grade 18-foot canoes, and noted that the wage was 45 cents/hour. In 1908, an 18' B-grade IG cost $43. If we assume that 50% of the cost of building a canoe is labor, then it would require a canoe to be built in 47.8 man-hours. A google search suggests that a typical wage in 1908 was 22 cents/hour. So, perhaps the cost of materials was also included in the hourly rate, which in turn would mean a canoe would have to be built in less than 24 man-hours. This latter estimate coincides with a rule of thumb that estimating a job is to take the cost of materials and double it. Doubled again would give the Rushton company a 50% profit margin, less discount to wholesalers.

Clear as mud?

Fox and his crew recorded finished canoes six months of the year, which suggests they were also earning income elsewhere - probably carpentry and house construction during the summer months.
 
Clear as mud but insightful. I wonder about the appreciation for the trade for lack of a better term for "high end" canoes and what early car mechanics were making. It seems pretty easy these days with the internet etc to think changes happens overnight but how well did the talent of the canoe makers end up as things shifted away from canoes. I think there have been posts of shifts to high end cabinetry etc which makes sense. Fascinated about how the knowledge and skills bridged the decline from what may be considered the apex of wood and canvas canoes to where we are today. thanks for the replies.
 
a canoe to be built in 47.8 man-hours

This sounds about right. My recollection is that Old Town's rule of thumb was that a wooden canoe took about 40 man-hours of direct labor, a hand laid up fiberglass canoe took about 20 hours and an ABS one was less than 10. The doubling rule also sounds about right. I once looked into the manufacturer's cost of a wooden canoe and found it to be about half of the wholesale price to the dealers. The wholesale cost of a canoe for a dealer was also about half of their listed retail price to the consumer.

The First Biennial Report of the Department of Labor and Industry of the State of Maine 1911-1912 at http://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Rpts/PubDocs/PubDocs1913v2/PD1913v2_17.pdf confirms that most Maine canoe businesses were highly seasonal. This is also shown in the Old Town build records which commonly have "Half Built" dates in the fall or winter but rarely the spring or summer. George Cook's personal log book shown at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/17111/ also indicates that he was only working seasonally during the 1930s.

Todd's comment about workers shifting between industries reminded me of another story about a canoe painter at Old Town. He had been working for a few years painting canoes with various fancy designs. An automobile manufacturer was paying body painters more in Springfield, Massachusetts so he quit and moved in 1905. Good pinstripes were more valuable on a Rolls Royce than a canoe. His grandson sold me a very early Old Town model canoe that he had kept when he left. The pictures below show his grandfather (on the left) in the paint room on the top floor of the Old Town factory.

Benson



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And a lot of canoe builders (both carpenters and painters) came from the carriage industry.
 
Looking for pin-stripers down here.

If all else fails then contact your local fire department. The person who does the custom lettering on their vehicles is commonly the best pin-striper in the area. Good luck,

Benson
 
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