Early Chestnut dates

samb

LOVES Wooden Canoes
Can anyone tell me when the Chestnut 12’ teddy / trapper first appeared and also the 11’ Featherweight?

They are both in the 1921 catalogue on the Wooden Canoe Museum site where it states that the 11’ Featherweight was introduced around 1919 based on information from the ?’04, ‘13, ?16 and ‘20 catalogues.

The 1921 catalogue shows the 12’ with the rounded rather than heart shaped decks that I understood to be on pre-fire canoes - or were both offered?

Does anyone have earlier Chestnut catalogues who could check when these two little ones arrived?

Thanks
Sam
 
The 1908 Chestnut catalog doesn't appear to have any canoes less than 16 feet long. The circa 1913 catalog has a 12 foot canoe as shown below. This is also in their circa 1916 catalog with the same rounded decks. The 1920 catalog is the first one to show the 11 foot canoe but the deck shape isn't clear. I believe that these are the only known Chestnut catalogs from that era. Please let me know if you find any more. Thanks,

Benson



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Thanks Benson. Interesting to note they more than doubled in price over 8 years
Sam
 
Hello Sam, to answer your question The 1921 catalogue shows the 12’ with the rounded rather than heart shaped decks that I understood to be on pre-fire canoes - or were both offered? often people seem to repeat this, i dont know its origin. Early on cruisers had a rounded, or cuticle deck whereas the pleasure models, taken largely from a Morris canoe, displayed heart shaped decks. They do not denote a point in time, but existed at the same time and from then on became increasingly mixed as the models proliferated. Hope my non-answer helped! cheers
 
i dont know its origin. Early on cruisers had a rounded, or cuticle deck whereas the pleasure models, taken largely from a Morris canoe, displayed heart shaped decks. They do not denote a point in time, but existed at the same time and from then on became increasingly mixed as the models proliferated.
Thats what i was beginning to think, although it is stated by many with great conviction....... If you say it enough, it must be true! :oops:
 
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