Thompson Brothers Boat Company
Materials/Dating Matrix
by Dave Osborn, email canoes9@hotmail.com
I purchased the new CD-ROM of Thompson Brothers Boat Co. from Dan Miller of Dragonfly Canoe Works. Dan and Benson Gray teamed up and with the help of others produced a fairly complete library of Thompson catalogs. By using the catalogs I developed a matrix by year, seat, thwart, and gunwale materials used. I was able to determine that my 18' Hiawatha was built in 1922 or 1923 (assuming they never ever substituted materials in other years). Thanks to Dan and Benson some of us Thompson owners can now zero in on our canoe's origins.
Hiawatha Materials Matrix
| YEAR | THWARTS | SEATS | GUNWALES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921* | white oak | white oak | spruce |
| 1922 | white oak | white oak | spruce |
| 1923 | white oak | white oak | spruce |
| 1924 | selected maple | selected maple | spruce |
| 1928 | selected maple | selected maple | spruce |
| 1929 | white maple | white maple | spruce |
| 1930 | white maple | white maple | spruce |
| 1931 | white maple | white maple | spruce |
| 1932 | white maple | white maple | spruce |
| 1933 | white maple | white maple | spruce |
| 1934 | white maple | white maple | spruce |
| 1935 | white maple | white maple | spruce |
| 1937 | white maple | white maple | spruce |
| 1939 | white maple | white maple | mahogany |
| 1940 | white maple | white maple | mahogany |
| 1941 | white maple | white maple | mahogany |
| 1942 | mahogany | white oak | mahogany |
| 1943 | mahogany | white oak | mahogany |
* only available in 16' and 17' lengths
** 30" decks of cedar or mahogany were available in all production years
*** art work in 1941 catalog and later show narrow half ribs
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