Chestnut 16'

[Bill Thurlow]

Recently purchased a 16' Chestnut, 33" beam post fire wide cant ribs etc. 1 1/2" ribs 1 1/2" apart. I believe it's a Ajax or Pal. has two serial # on the stems, 2809 and 1434.

 

[Benson Gray]

The information at the link below may interest you. The Peterborough Champlain (Pleasure) model from 1941 to 1943 had model number 1434. Many of these were known as 'Peternuts' since they were often made by Chestnut but sold by Peterborough. I don't know of any available records to provide more information. It looks like a fun project,

Benson

Peterborough Canoe Company | Wooden Canoe Museum

woodencanoemuseum.org

 

[Bill Thurlow]

Thanks Benson, very interesting, think it maybe my next project.

 

[Gary]

Hi Bill, I've restored a few of these and from the look of it and the shape of the decal you have a Peterborough Champlain. As usual Benson is spot on with his information. They used the 1434 serial number between 1941-43 for their high end model of the Champlain. These canoes are very nice to paddle and look great on the water. Here is one I restored last Fall. Best of luck with the restoration Gary

 

[Murat V]

The Peterborough Champlain (Pleasure) model from 1941 to 1943 had model number 1434.

Wondering if the 1941-1943 time frame on that list page is the approximate year this model number was introduced? The Champlain has the model no 26P in the 1938 catalog. Champlain - 1434 appears in '41 and then continues as late as the 1955 Peterborough catalog. It looks to have been dropped after that. Here's part of spec sheet for '55...

 

[Murat V]

Hi Bill, I've restored a few of these and from the look of it and the shape of the decal you have a Peterborough Champlain. As usual Benson is spot on with his information. They used the 1434 serial number between 1941-43 for their high end model of the Champlain. These canoes are very nice to paddle and look great on the water. Here is one I restored last Fall. Best of luck with the restoration Gary

View attachment 55238

Gary does your 1434 - Champlain also have narrow 1-1/2" ribs?

These look to have become quite popular on pleasure canoes for both Chestnut & Peterborough in the 1950s. Before that they were advertised on the lower grade canoes. Shame that the early catalogs don't mention the rib size. Best I could find, these narrow ribs were first listed in the spec sheet in 1953.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Narrow Ribs were introduced late '30s, i think '39 but cant recall. I had a 26C cruiser with narrow ribs, just to muddy the waters Murat..

 

[Gary]

Hi Murat my understanding from what I researched about the Champlain model built by Peterborough was that they built the high end "Pleasure" model along with the Cruiser model (low ends) in 1938 -43 with only the Cruiser version (no high end) then built from 1944-56. The serial number 1434 was used only during the 1938-43 period for the Pleasure model with high ends.
Gary

 

[Murat V]

Narrow Ribs were introduced late '30s, i think '39 but cant recall. I had a 26C cruiser with narrow ribs, just to muddy the waters Murat..

Murky waters have been muddied further, Andre.