I have just acquired a 1915 Charles River 16' Old Town, S# 33608-16 which I intend to restore. I just finished the restoration of a 1912 18' Old Town Guide Canoe S# 24568-18. WCHA provided the build record for both. I found the 1912 Guide Canoe had half round aluminum stem bands and after some internet surfing I concluded that it very well could have been original equipment and Old Town was experimenting with something new. On this 1915 Charles River model however, I found full round steel stem bands which were flattened at each end where they attach to the deck and bottom keel. In my mind there is no way this can be original equipment. So what was Old Town using for stem bands a hundred years ago? Were they using half round brass which is the most logical or were they using wood? Or by some chance was the full round steel or aluminum half round stems original with Old Town? Does anyone have any experience that would relate to this?