Today on "Fans of the WCHA"

[patrick corry]

Russ Padden posted a Craigslist ad today on Fans of the WCHA for a 1922 16' Old Town HW model canoe https://capecod.craigslist.org/boa/d/eastham-vintage-old-town-canoe/7810678219.html.

Within the ad there's a reproduced letter from Seth Gray at Old Town explaining, among other things, the meanings of 'HW' as well as 'cs' grade. This is timely for several reasons; (1) Benson Gray just today identified a 1946 16' cs grade, HW model canoe, (2) I just recently acquired a 1919 16' cs, HW Old Town, and (3) it's a 16' cs/HW model Russ posted about.

In my casual reading of Old Town descriptions I had come to understand that 'cs' meant 'common sense', and that 'HW' meant 'heavy water'. Mr. Gray's letter suggests otherwise as in "cs means cedar and spruce" and "HW means Henry Wicket". The Old Town canoe I acquired is my first from Old Town so, while not of critical importance, it may be interesting to hear what you folks all think about this.

On another note; I find it ironic that the build record for the 1946 indicates the chosen color as Aluminum since in only a few years aluminum canoes would lead to the end of regular production of wood/canvas canoes!

 

[Benson Gray]

Seth's letter contains a number of things that are not believed to be the most accurate answers today. CS grade canoes do contain "cedar and spruce" but these were always described as "a common-sense canoe" in the catalogs. See the link below for more on this topic and a description from the catalog.

The oral tradition was that Henry Wickett was one of the first Old Town employees and the HW model was named for him as reported in Rollin and Jerry's book in the 1980s. Sue Audette's research for her book which came out in the 1990s indicated that Henry Wickett never worked there and that his son Alfred Wickett was the first employee of the Old Town Canoe Company. Roger MacGregor's book came out even later and suggested that HW might have been for a Canadian designer named Henry Wicksteed who was a friend of J. R. Robertson. This last theory seems the least likely since the HW model was listed in the Indian Old Town Canoe Company catalog from 1901 before Robertson became involved in 1902. It is very popular with many Canadians though. Alfred's brother Humphrey Wickett also worked at Old Town for many years so this may be another possibility. The Old Town catalogs consistently described the HW model as being good for heavy water in the same way that the IF or Guide's model was described as being based on an Indian fishing canoe. There is no historical confirmation available of what HW actually stood for. Seth's later letters simply described it as the HW model, without any speculation about the source of the acronym. The HW model was listed in the catalogs until 1953.

Aluminum was a very popular color with the Boy Scout groups in the 1940s before the first aluminum canoes were made, which is tremendously ironic.

Benson

Thread 'What Are The Old Town Canoe Company Grade Codes?'

Jul 5, 2018

Old Town used a number of different grades over the years. The first Indian Old Town Canoe Company catalog from 1901 listed an grades A. A. and B. B. along with a utility grade known as a "Guides' Special" (or just G. S. in later years). The 1902 Robertson and Old Town Canoe Company catalog replaced the B. B. with a C. S. grade. The letters stood for "Common Sense" and the chart at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/grades.jpg shows that more than half of their canoes were built this way over the next half century. The AA grade was discontinued in 1957 and the GS grade...

• Benson Gray
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• Forum: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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[patrick corry]

Thank you Benson. Interesting stuff and illustrative of how we humans weave stories and facts into controversy and mystery.

Aluminum was a very popular color with the Boy Scout groups

Apparently those aluminum painted w/c canoes presaged the canoes I was introduced to and paddled; aluminum Grumman 17'ers... in white water, then tripping in Canada and Maine.