Chestnut Canoe Company

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The Chestnut Canoe Company was a Canadian canoe manufacturer from 1904 to 1978 . Most of the Chestnut canoes were made of wood strips or wood & canvas ; the most famous model was the Chestnut Prospector , which has been copied many times to this day .

Chestnut Canoe Company

The first canoes were manufactured as unique pieces by Harry and Will Chestnut from the late 1890s in Fredericton , New Brunswick , based on a template by BN Morris. In 1904 the "Hinterhofwerft" became a boat building workshop with a defined range of models, which is seen as the birth of the Chestnut Canoe Company. In 1907 the family-run boat building workshop became the Chestnut Canoe Company Ltd. founded. Due to a devastating fire in the factory halls in December 1921 and the resulting economic problems, Chestnut was forced to work with competitor Peterborough Canoe Company from Peterborough , Ontario , under the umbrella company Canadian Watercraft Ltd. to merge. In 1927, the third company, the Canadian Canoe Company, joined the company. Although each of the three companies offered almost identical canoes, they retained their respective identities under the Canadian Watercraft; Despite the merger, Chestnut continued to be perceived as an independent brand. Allegedly, however, the Wood & Canvas models of the other two companies were also made by Chestnut.

The fire of 1921 was a decisive turning point in the company and model history of Chestnut, as all types of construction burned. The canoes produced after 1921 had clearly different characteristics to the earlier ones, so that a distinction is made between “pre-fire models” and “post-fire models” in the case of the chestnut canoes.

Chestnut occasionally used serial numbers for its canoes and - in contrast to the other two Canadian Watercraft companies - no model numbers, but model names. Since the serial numbers were used very differently and not consistently, it is not possible to deduce the age of the canoe without production and delivery documents. Some serial numbers only consist of a five-digit number, others were a letter-digit combination with a preceding "C" (for chestnut). Production and delivery records, if they still exist, are now maintained by the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association .

The reason for the introduction of model names instead of model numbers at Chestnut was due to the logistics of the early 20th century: Canoes were often ordered by telegraph . Their limited transmission quality harbored the risk of turning numbers or misunderstandings, which could lead to incorrect deliveries and thus to resentment among customers. With model names, the risk of misunderstandings was significantly reduced.

With the advent of alternative materials such as aluminum from the 1940s and fiberglass from the 1960s, the mass production of wood & canvas canoes came to an end. The last original Chestnut canoe was made in 1979, then the company closed its doors. Yet the majority of Chestnut canoes ever made still exist today. The shapes of the Chestnut Canoes were bought by Headwaters Canoes in Wakefield , Québec , and used there.

Bill Mason in his chestnut canoe
Bill Mason in his Prospector around 1977 while filming the Path of the Paddle series

Chestnut Prospector

Of the four legendary models of Chestnut canoes Ogilvy , Bob Special , Pal and Prospector , the latter is the most famous and famous. The Prospector was developed as a “workhorse” at the beginning of the 1920s and was launched in 1923. The name was borrowed from the professional group Prospectors, a professional designation from geology , geography and cartology . The term is still mainly used today in geology . The prospectors served the exploration and development of landscapes and natural resources, and thus followed the pioneers and first settlers . A heyday for prospectors was in North America, especially Canada , in the 18th and 19th centuries . They helped open up the expanses for the trade in goods and prepared the way for the voyageurs . This close connection between prospectors, voyageurs and the popular means of transport at the time, the canoe, probably led to this model name.

A high side wall , wide hull , voluminous round tips, pronounced keel jump and the round bottom were essential features of the Prospector and ensure a high symbiosis of maximum payload, speed, maneuverability and white water suitability . At the same time, the Prospector had a comparatively low weight, which makes portages easier. That is why the Prospector is seen by its fans as the “ egg-laying woolly milk-pig ” among canoes. By 1979 the Prospector was available in a total of 12 different variants (designated as Forest, Fire, Elk, Ranger, Bear, Fort, Fawn, Sectional, Garry, Marsh, Voyageur and Birch) in lengths between 12 and 18 feet (3.66 to 5 , 49 meters). The most common boat length was 16 ft (4.88 m).

Because of its characteristics, the Prospector was popular and valued by many rangers , game rangers and hunters , but also by many recreational canoeists . Bill Mason , who often used the canoe model in and for his books and films, made a decisive contribution to the creation of the legend of the Prospector .

The Prospector was and is copied by numerous other canoe manufacturers. In the mid-20th century it was Huron, Peterborough, Greenwood and Willits . The various manufacturers served different price segments. The Huron Prospectors were the cheapest at $ 200 (as of 1960), while Greenwood sold the finest, most expensive and best-made boats. The Chestnut Prospector was placed in the upper midfield. Today, among others, Bluewater Canoes , Gatz , Nova Craft , Souris River Canoes , Swift Canoes and Wenonah lead the Prospector in their program. The original shape is reproduced more or less exactly. Still, it is often said that Chestnut's original was never matched again. In addition to replicas by other canoe manufacturers, numerous Prospectors were also built themselves, the necessary construction plans are still available today.

See also

literature

  • Raffan James: Bark, Skin and Cedar. Exploring the Canoe in Canadian Experience. Phyllis Bruce Books Perennial; ISBN 978-0-00-638653-7
  • Roger MacGregor: When the Chestnut was in Flower ; Plumsweep Press, 1999
  • Ken Solway: The Story of the Chestnut Canoe ; Nimbus Publishing, 1997

Web links