Help with canoe identification

[Douglas Kestell]

I received a message yesterday asking if I’d be interested in a 1938 Thompson Bros canoe. The individual doesn’t have the time or interest in restoring it himself and asked if I’d take it off his hands for free.

looking at it initially, I thought it may be a Thompson Hiawatha due to the half ribs, but it just doesn’t look right. When I got it home and took a closer look, it doesn’t look like a Thompson.
The rib tops aren’t clipped and the decks look like they were replaced at some point and look oddly shaped. The inner and outer stems look right, the outwales …maybe, the planking - maybe, the fore seat looks set way too far back.

please see the attached pictures and give me your opinions.

 

[Benson Gray]

It might be a Shell Lake. Does it have numbers on the stem like the one shown at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/38153/ or a tag like the one at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/44563/ (or nail holes from a missing tag)? Do the dimensions match the ones shown at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/45732/ from their catalog? There are others here who know much more about canoes from that area than I do. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Gil Cramer]

Shell Lake, more than likely.