Haskell ID'd but more questions

[mccloud]

I posted a month or so ago about ID-ing a canoe I thought might be a Haskell. I had reason to drive by Ludington MI last week so stopped in at the White Pine Village historical site, and asked if they had any information about Haskell. They had a couple loose files of newspaper clippings, etc. regarding Haskell manufacturing co, though little specifically about canoes. But the jackpot was that they have two Haskell canoes, one restored, one heavily painted and needing much work. So I took extensive notes & measurements from the restored canoe, plus photos. This boat has a brass tag, reading 30-37, and a Haskell decal on the bow plate. The painted canoe has a brass tag reading 30-18. Now that I have seen the construction details, and compared those with the canoe I have, there is no doubt that I have a Haskell. The brass tag on my canoe reads 2944.
Questions still remaining: I have not been able to find out anything about the Haskell numbering system or how many were made. The began production in 1917, but I don't know when canoe mfgr was stopped. So no way of knowing when a specific canoe was made.
A piece of Haskell advertising literature that I have talks about the canoes clear finish, and that is the way that 30-37 has been restored. But the more I look at 2944, the more I am convinced that it was finished with a dark brown paint, and then a black 'mottle' applied over that so that it had the appearance of bark. This is going to be extraordinarily difficult to save as part of a restoration. And I'm almost sure that the stems were painted red, originally.
Do we have any Haskell experts out there? Other Haskell owners who have boats that match what I've described Photos of Haskells? Thanks for the help, Tom McCloud

 

[mccloud]

Haskell photos

Here are a couple photos of Haskell 2944. Easy to see the poor shape & paint, cracked gunwale, but not visible is the silicone rubber someone smeared across the joints nor the roofing asphalt. But I have begun the clean-up process, and am making slow progress. The second photo shows what I described in the previous message as a black mottle applied over brown paint. Do we have any Haskell experts out there who can tell me if this is original or not?

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Can't answer your specific questions, but I did run across the listing on-line yesterday, of a Haskell that is for sale in lower Michigan. The seller dates it at 1930. The seller may be able to tell you how he arrived at that date.

I'll add the pictures from the listing so they'll stay with this thread "for posterity".

http://flint.kijiji.com/c-Cars-vehi...od-canoe-MI-made-Gaylord-MI-W0QQAdIdZ21749708

 

[mccloud]

Haskell photos

Since it didn't work last night. I'm going to try to post photos again.

 

[mccloud]

Haskell restoration

Hello, Kathryn, Thanks for the reply. So far the Haskell has been a quiet topic. My interest in posting is to learn as much as I can about the Haskell canoes so that I can do as good of a job as possible at restoration of this boat. And so far no Haskell experts have stepped forth.

Your post brings up an interesting idea: would it be possible to create a set of "Archive Folders" where folks with an interest in a particular type of boat could drop bits of information where everyone can access it? I could start off a Haskell folder with photos of 3 boats, plus the notes that I wrote following my visit to Ludington. Tom McCloud

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Your suggestion sounds good to me... and I know Dan adds information about specific canoes to the Dragonfly canoe ID site.

I'm currently collecting data on BN Morris canoes, and a folder or some type of specified *spot* for depositing the on-going research results would be handy... and would give the group some fast feedback.

Glad you were able to add pictures of your canoe. I've used the "search" function (on the bar above) to find old posts, and know how nice it is to find pictures attached-- instead of some old dead eBay listing or other link that leads nowhere-- when I'm curious about a particular canoe type.

 

[pastorwolfgang]

Haskell ID

I am the owner of the Haskell canoe for sale that the pictures were published. I am the second owner of this vessel for 22 years. There was an article on this site before it was updated that talked about Haskell canoes and how they were made. I did some further research to find out that the tag, the first 2 numbers are the year and the next 2 are the number made. So your 2944 would be 1929 and the 44th made. Mine is 3077. They sold for about 79.00 new back then. It is a great vessel. I am selling mine because of a move. I hope this is of a help to you. I will try to post some new pictures here that I have taken. Haskell invented the mixture to form this kind of canoe.

Adam

 

[mccloud]

Haskell ID tag

As I have begun to restore this old Haskell I have learned a lot about the way these canoes were made, and there have been some surprises, but none greater than when I took the brass number tag off the stem and cleaned it. To my surprise, on the underside it says "The Carrom Company, manufacturer, Ludington, Mich". This is a little detail I had never heard mentioned before. Attached is a thumbnail of the tag, and you can see that the serial number is stamped onto the other side - in this case 2944. Tom McCloud

 

[pastorwolfgang]

great find Tom

Wow!!!

I knew that Haskell was associated with the Carrom Company. If you don't know, that is the wood board game that is about 2 ft by 2 ft where you can play checkers or chess on one side and flip it over to play other games along with a kind of pool game with round rings as balls. There are pockets in each corner. Amazing little tidbit to this mysterious canoe.

Adam