Looking for info on 16' Charles River style canoe with long decks A 154 35 16

[thomashaughey]

I just found this canoe has id. stamped into floor ribs fore and aft
A 154
35
16

I will try to attach photos.
Tom Haughey
Laconia, NH

 

[Fitz]

Robertson used a similar format sometimes stamped into ribs especially in long deck canoes. I would not expect an "A" in the format though. Check for a Robertson stamp near the gunwales on the top of the thwarts. We like pictures too.

 

[thomashaughey]

photos attached (I hope)

Still trying to attach photos

I just found this canoe has id. stamped into floor ribs fore and aft
A 154
35
16

I will try to attach photos.
Tom Haughey
Laconia, NH

 

[Fitz]

I think you probably have a Robertson. I think the "A" is just a mark in the cedar. The open block stamp is common for Robertson. The current thinking is that the "35 " is the year of construction - 1935. The stem profile also seems consistent with Robertson. I urge you to take a close look at the tops of the thwarts, near the gunwales and see if the Robertson stamp is there. Looks like you have a courting canoe in nice floating condition.

Fitz

 

[Dan Miller]

The current thinking is that the "35 " is the year of construction - 1935.

Maybe I'm not a current thinker. I think the "35" is the beam, which would make this Robertson's Riverside model.

Easy enough to prove me wrong - what is the beam of this canoe?

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

I'm sure the "A" is real. Here's another one (and I've seen at least one more):

A21
33
16

http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?624-What-Charles-River-builder-put-serial-numbers-on-ribs

 

[thomashaughey]

I've looked carfully for a Robertson or other insignia on top of thwarts - none.
Measuring the beam - outside measurement at top of gunwale is just shy of 34".
Peering into the canoe below the 46" decks is a bit tricky but I can makeout the same markings (A154 35 16) on one line along the stem.
The stampings seem just like the ones in the "numbers on ribs" thread.

 

[ken.kelly]

Fun discussion. I am a current thinker. Have had a couple of these (still have one) and they were later model Robertsons where the 33, 34 or 35 did not correspond to the beam. I think it was a change in the way they marked the canoes during that early 1930s period. Dan, didn't you learn that the management of Robertson had recently changed just prior to these dates? And they went out of business just after?

 

[Dan Miller]

Uncle! The fact that there are numbers that don't match the beam is convincing evidence.

J.R. Robertson Co. was incorporated in 1927, And JRR's nephew Charles (who essentially founded Waltham Boat & Canoe) was President. Charles died in December, 1931. JRR became president, and himself died in July 1935. Charles was probably the main shop superintendent, so the change in serial numbering may have been made by whoever replaced him (one possible candidate is Clarence Mather, who had is own business dating back to the 1890s.

Arnold Laskey took over the business in 1937, who is listed as manager through 1955. He died in 1959.

 

[Dan Miller]

Bad form to follow up one's post, I know.

Is it possible the "A" on these represents the grade? Grade A being, based on earlier catalogs, built with mahogany or birdseye maple decks and thwarts, Grade B being built with plain maple.

 

[ken.kelly]

One of my Robertson canoes with this numbering patern had 48" decks of Cedar. It did not have an A in the serial number. So maybe Cedar was one of the woods used on non-A grade canoes?