PS BALLARD
New Member
I plan to restore this Kennebec Boat & Canoe Co. canoe with serial #14034. I would like details on its construction and when it was made. Thanks.
Ps ballard
- Thread starter PS BALLARD
- Start date
The Kennebec canoe with serial number 14034 is shown twice on pages 181 and 245 of volume two in the Kennebec ledgers. This was assigned to 16 foot long Kennebec sponson model. The sponsons may have been tagged with number 3057 and attached by Roy on March 13th, 1920. It was planked by Stackhouse on that date as well. Roy canvased it and applied the first filler coat on the same day. The second filler coat and rails were applied by Roy on March 27th, 1920. Thibodeau painted it on the same day. It was shipped to Abercrombie and Fitch on June 4th, 1920.
The scans of this build record can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below. These original Kennebec records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Maine State Museum.
The microfilms and scans of these records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). I hope that you will renew your membership or contribute to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to renew.
More information about this and other Kennebec models can be found in the Kennebec catalogs contained on the Historic Wood Canoe and Boat Company Catalog Collection CDs available from the WCHA store and http://www.dragonflycanoe.com/cdrom.htm on the web.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
The scans of this build record can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below. These original Kennebec records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Maine State Museum.
The microfilms and scans of these records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). I hope that you will renew your membership or contribute to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to renew.
More information about this and other Kennebec models can be found in the Kennebec catalogs contained on the Historic Wood Canoe and Boat Company Catalog Collection CDs available from the WCHA store and http://www.dragonflycanoe.com/cdrom.htm on the web.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
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PS BALLARD
New Member
Thank you for that information - amazing that ledgers are still available for manufacturing the canoes!
Do you know what color the canoe was orginally? Was Abercrombie & Fitch a sporting goods store back then?
Can you give me details of the construction - what wood was used, etc. Also, the sponson you mentioned - is that what the rounded forms are called that are on the sides?
Thanks for all your help. - PS BALLARD
Do you know what color the canoe was orginally? Was Abercrombie & Fitch a sporting goods store back then?
Can you give me details of the construction - what wood was used, etc. Also, the sponson you mentioned - is that what the rounded forms are called that are on the sides?
Thanks for all your help. - PS BALLARD
Greg Nolan
enthusiast
Abercrombie & Fitch
A&F was a sporting goods store back then but not just your ordinary sporting goods store.
From Wikipedia:
There have been three retailers called Abercrombie & Fitch and the current A&F shares only its name with the original business. Founded in 1892 in Manhattan by David T. Abercrombie and Ezra H. Fitch, the original Abercrombie & Fitch was an elite outfitter of sporting and excursion goods, particularly noted for its expensive shotguns, fishing rods, and tents. In 1976 Abercrombie & Fitch filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, finally closing its flagship Manhattan store in 1977.
A&F at one time sold Old Town canoes under its own label -- see:
http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?7636-Made-for-Abercrombie-amp-Fitch-by-Old-Towne-Canoe-Co.
There have been other postings about A&F and canoes from time to time -- a search should turn them up.
More from Wikipedia:
Prominent figures who patronized the company include Teddy Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Clark Gable, John Steinbeck, John F. Kennedy, Ernest Shackleton, Cole Porter, and Dwight Eisenhower.
In 1909, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. mailed over 50,000 copies of its 456 page catalog worldwide (a staggering and costly amount of publication at that time, since each cost a dollar to produce). The catalog featured outdoor clothing, camping gear, articles, and advice
columns. In 1917, the store moved to Madison Avenue; it included many different amenities. The basement housed a shooting range
while on the mezzanine (main floor) paraphernalia for skiing, archery, skin-diving, and lawn games were sold. The second through fifth floors were reserved for clothing that was suitable for different climate or terrains. On the sixth floor were a picture gallery, a
bookstore (focused on sporting themes), a watch repair facility and a golf school (fully equipped with a resident professional). The
seventh floor included a gun room with hundreds of shotguns and rifles, decorated with stuffed game heads, as well as a kennel for
dogs and cats . The eighth floor contained fishing, camping, and boating equipment and included a desk for a fly and bait-casting
instructor who gave lessons at the pool, which was located on the roof. The fishing section alone was stocked with over 48,000 flies and over 18,000 fishing lures.
In 1927, Abercrombie & Fitch outfitted Charles Lindbergh for his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean. It also attracted the business of other prominent figures.
In 1928, A&F acquired Von Lengerke & Detmold, a well-respected New York dealer of fine European-made sporting guns and fishing tackle, as well as that company's Chicago branch, Von Lengerke & Antoine. Cobb also acquired Griffin & Howe, another gunsmith company. Merchandise from both Von Lengerke & Detmold and Griffin & Howe was carried at A&F's Madison Avenue store.[9] By this time, A&F was also selling equipment for polo, golf, and tennis.
----------------------------
I remember going into the old main store a couple of times in its last years, not to buy, but just to look, at the expensive goods and the various stuffed animal trophies on the wall.
Both the Atlantic and Pacific have been flown solo and then some; there have been numerous visitors to both poles; anybody with a few bucks can go on an "african" safari in the wilds of New Jersey. Ain't no call any more for a store like the old A&F, which in the late 1970's began to morph into its present incarnation by way of a couple of bankruptcies.
A&F was a sporting goods store back then but not just your ordinary sporting goods store.
From Wikipedia:
There have been three retailers called Abercrombie & Fitch and the current A&F shares only its name with the original business. Founded in 1892 in Manhattan by David T. Abercrombie and Ezra H. Fitch, the original Abercrombie & Fitch was an elite outfitter of sporting and excursion goods, particularly noted for its expensive shotguns, fishing rods, and tents. In 1976 Abercrombie & Fitch filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, finally closing its flagship Manhattan store in 1977.
A&F at one time sold Old Town canoes under its own label -- see:
http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?7636-Made-for-Abercrombie-amp-Fitch-by-Old-Towne-Canoe-Co.
There have been other postings about A&F and canoes from time to time -- a search should turn them up.
More from Wikipedia:
Prominent figures who patronized the company include Teddy Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Clark Gable, John Steinbeck, John F. Kennedy, Ernest Shackleton, Cole Porter, and Dwight Eisenhower.
In 1909, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. mailed over 50,000 copies of its 456 page catalog worldwide (a staggering and costly amount of publication at that time, since each cost a dollar to produce). The catalog featured outdoor clothing, camping gear, articles, and advice
columns. In 1917, the store moved to Madison Avenue; it included many different amenities. The basement housed a shooting range
while on the mezzanine (main floor) paraphernalia for skiing, archery, skin-diving, and lawn games were sold. The second through fifth floors were reserved for clothing that was suitable for different climate or terrains. On the sixth floor were a picture gallery, a
bookstore (focused on sporting themes), a watch repair facility and a golf school (fully equipped with a resident professional). The
seventh floor included a gun room with hundreds of shotguns and rifles, decorated with stuffed game heads, as well as a kennel for
dogs and cats . The eighth floor contained fishing, camping, and boating equipment and included a desk for a fly and bait-casting
instructor who gave lessons at the pool, which was located on the roof. The fishing section alone was stocked with over 48,000 flies and over 18,000 fishing lures.
In 1927, Abercrombie & Fitch outfitted Charles Lindbergh for his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean. It also attracted the business of other prominent figures.
In 1928, A&F acquired Von Lengerke & Detmold, a well-respected New York dealer of fine European-made sporting guns and fishing tackle, as well as that company's Chicago branch, Von Lengerke & Antoine. Cobb also acquired Griffin & Howe, another gunsmith company. Merchandise from both Von Lengerke & Detmold and Griffin & Howe was carried at A&F's Madison Avenue store.[9] By this time, A&F was also selling equipment for polo, golf, and tennis.
----------------------------
I remember going into the old main store a couple of times in its last years, not to buy, but just to look, at the expensive goods and the various stuffed animal trophies on the wall.
Both the Atlantic and Pacific have been flown solo and then some; there have been numerous visitors to both poles; anybody with a few bucks can go on an "african" safari in the wilds of New Jersey. Ain't no call any more for a store like the old A&F, which in the late 1970's began to morph into its present incarnation by way of a couple of bankruptcies.
The space for the original color is blank for this canoe so it was probably green. Abercrombie & Fitch was a sporting goods store at that time as Greg has described. The Kennebec catalogs on the CD at http://store.wcha.org/The-Historic-...pany-Catalog-Collection-Version-2-CD-ROM.html should be able to answer most of your questions about the details of construction, woods, etc. Yours is probably a type A with oak stems and sponsons (i.e. the rounded forms on the sides) as described in the catalog pages below from the 1920 catalog. Good luck with the restoration,
Benson
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PS BALLARD
New Member
Thank you for all your help. You are a wealth of information!
