Caned seat history?

[BRWWKG]

Does anyone have any data on when the machine woven cane held in with a spline started appearing on canoe seats from the builder? As opposed to the hand woven style with the holes around the seat frame perimeter. I believe the spline held cane is more recent in canoe history.
Was one style more prevalent in certain builders over others?
Is this a way to help date a canoe or at least the seat found in one. No doubt a lot of original frames are replaced over time as the cane and the frames deteriorate. The machine woven is, of coarse, easier and less expensive to replace. I have even seen an old seat frame with the holes redone with a grove for the machined cane and spline.
I've also noticed some variations in the spline held cane: some seats with mitered right angle corners and some with radiused corners.
Any comments folks?

 

[Benson Gray]

Hand caned seats were replaced with the pre-woven cane alternative at Old Town as a result of the introduction of minimum wage in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The transition was gradual as they used up old stock so there are some canoes with hand caned seats that shipped well after that date. The mitered right angle corners were used until around 1979 when the radius corners first started to appear. Old Town canoes with wooden slat seats date from the Second World War when cane was not available.

Benson