The reason for all this discussion of Charles River-area builders- who built which canoes, etc.- is that factual information is rare. Of course this is what makes the discussion interesting and fun, though. There was apparently an incredibly incestuous relationship among the various canoe companies in the area, and from there to Maine, New York and Ontario. Given this, the lack of surviving production logs, and the rarity of tags on many of these canoes, it is important not to jump to conclusions. Some years ago, before we know what little we know now, it seemed that any un-tagged long-decked canoe was called a Kennebec K-Special, and many simply weren’t K-Specials.
We’ve discussed the Robertson stamp here before, and I still believe that there is no way to know whether this represents a Robertson-built canoe vs. a Robertson livery canoe. Because there are (1) canoes with Robertson tags and without Robertson thwart stamps, (2) canoes with Robertson stamps but without any tags, and (3) canoes that perfectly match canoes in Robertson catalogs but that lack both tags and stamps... because of all of this, attribution of a thwart stamp to the Robertson factory is pure conjecture. Conjecture is fine; naming antique wooden canoes is not a life-threatening task. But to be accurate, we shouldn’t be hasty.
The same point should be made about the Morris discussions of late. Some Morris canoes lack tags altogether, others have the “typical” stem tag, and others have an oval gunwale tag. The fact that the oval gunwale tags look just like those found on other canoes with makers’ brass tags (and the serial number on the oval tag does not match that on the stem!) means this is another area where caution is required. I would wager that sometime soon a Morris canoe will turn up with one of these gunwale tags AND a stem tag, and that the two numbers will not match. But if this is never seen, there is still an easy explanation- liveries that applied the oval tags only purchased Morris canoes that were built without stem tags (does this mean early Morris? Who knows???).
Again, these aren’t matters of life and death importance, but we must remember that some of the notions about tags, stamps, etc. are hypothesis, not theory. Interesting hypotheses, but hypotheses nonetheless.
Michael
