old canoe with #260 16

D

Don Stucke

cape cod paddler
Hi all. This is my first post anywhere so please bear with me. I was given an old wood/canvas canoe that was in the basement of a large barn on Cape Cod for the last 60 years. Before that it belonged to his neighbor. It's 16'x32x12 approx. closed gunwale with 2 1/2" tapered ribs. I have stripped the inside and the only number is #260 16 stamped on the seventh rib from the bow. The decks are 18" long and made of birdseye maple as are the seat frames and one thwart. I emailed Rollin Thurlow pictures and he thought might be a ca: 1915 OT Charles River but there are no numbers on the stems. I'll be happy to e-mail pics to anyone that might be able to ID the maker of this canoe. Thanks for the help!
 
Please post pictures here-- if you have trouble figuring out how to post pictures, there are instructions in "FAQs" or you can ask here. I know there are many who'd like to see your canoe and get a shot at figuring it out.

Kathy
 
The serial number 296 does not appear in the Old Town or Carleton records so those resources will not be able to help identify your canoe. It appears that none of the Charles River builders' serial number records have survived. Dan's information at http://forums.wcha.org/knowledgebase/ and http://www.dragonflycanoe.com/id/ will probably be your best resource on line. My guess is that a three digit serial number on a rib is most likely to be from a Charles River builder. Pictures would really help.

Benson
 
image009.jpg only number I can find is on rib
 
Interesting. I only recall seeing numbers stamped on ribs of Racine canoes, but they were in a different location. Can we see more photos of the canoe, especially the decks?

Dan
 
Thanks so much Dan, we think you may be right. My wife, Anne spent the afternoon trying to add the pictures of the canoe from
our Mac and finally succeeded. The birdseye maple decks, seat frames and thwart are going to be beautiful varnished up. I have stripped the inside and it looks much better. I'll have Anne add a couple more photos tomorrow. I plan to restore and recover this canoe as this winter's project.

Don
 
Thanks Benson for the info, it's interesting how active the Charles River area was back then. My wife posted some pictures yesterday that may be helpful. Seems odd that it would have birdseye maple decks, seat frames and thwart.

Don
 
I have no reason to doubt Dan's ID. I just wanted to mention that I have seen serial numbers stamped in ribs on at least two Charles River boats, but I believe in both cases, the canoes had long decks that made access to the stems very difficult. Birds eye was a common trim in Charles River boats too.
 
Fitz said:
I have no reason to doubt Dan's ID. I just wanted to mention that I have seen serial numbers stamped in ribs on at least two Charles River boats, but I believe in both cases, the canoes had long decks that made access to the stems very difficult. Birds eye was a common trim in Charles River boats too.
Click to expand...

The birdseye maple might be out of character for a Detroit. I was going mostly by the deck profile, which is very similar the marked Detroit seen here (http://dragonflycanoe.com/wood-canoe-identification-guide/features-decks/). It does not have the rail caps like the one show on my site, but I believe I can see nail holes from where they were removed?

I have not yet seen a Charles River built canoe with a deck like this, but there is a lot I have not seen.
 
Looking at the Detroit Canoe info, you'll see that one model was offered in bird's eye... but it was only offered in an 18 footer. However, a customer could ask for anything. I know of a Morris with bird's eye and another with tiger maple... very pretty! That old bird's eye is especially nice because each eye appears to be outlined in black.

As I recall, the two Detroits we once owned had the serial number on a stem (bow I believe)... and I believe that's the case with the one at the Canadian Canoe Museum... but the canoe being discussed here could be earlier and the company changed the plan.

If this is a Detroit, they don't show up all that often, considering how much advertising the company did.

Kathy
 
the seats have routed grooves for pressed cane. the decks are similar to Old Town's after 1940 or so. the thwart is not recognizable to me. The rib edges seem to say Kennebec. It looks to me as though Old Town replaced the seats and decks sometime after 1940 , and I don't have any idea who made this canoe. Based upon its location, I would seriously doubt Detroit. There were simply too many builders too close to Cape Cod for that to be likely.
 
It does not have the recessed medallion on the bow deck like many Detroits do. Sears, Roebuck and Co. used to sell DBC canoes under the "Fox River" brand - if it were one of these, that would explain the lack of medallion and presence on Cape Cod, as Sears, Roebuck was everywhere back then, the way Amazon is now...
 
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