Old Paddle ID request.

[Gamma1214]

An acquaintance in South Carolina has recently come into possession of an old canoe and some wooden paddles. I'm still waiting for good pictures of the canoe (which he also needs help identifying) but the paddle pictures seemed clear enough to get started.



Anyone recognize the PCC marking?

 

[Benson Gray]

My guess is that the owner may have been a member of the Philadelphia Canoe Club or another organization with similar initials. The link at https://www.philacanoe.org/ might help. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Gamma1214]

Thanks, Benson. He was thinking it might be the Philadelphia Canoe Club but, so far, nobody has been able to find the "PCC" logo on the paddle elsewhere.

I've contacted the club to see if anyone recognizes it.

 

[Gamma1214]

Philadelphia Canoe Club has been confirmed as there were also a couple of plaques included in the mix



What my friend would really like is info on the canoe. Oddities that are clear to me: I've never seen decks like these. I thought maybe they were a retrofit but the ribs seem to continue up into them. Also, the outer gunwales are extremely prominent but inners are lacking altogether. Again, I suspected retrofit but the ribs are finished in a way that (at least to me) looks original.

Any help from the history buffs or w/c gurus?

 

[Benson Gray]

My guess is that the canoe may be a Walter Dean or a similar locally made version. See page 11 of his 1920 catalog at https://www.woodencanoemuseum.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/Walter Dean Catalog 1920 2500 red.pdf for more details. The wide outside gunwales with no inside gunwales are common on canoes of this style. The link below has some pictures of a similar racing canoe at the Charles River Museum which was made by J. R. Robertson.

Benson

Arnold canoes at The Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation

My ongoing research related to unusual canoes at small museums led me to The Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation in Waltham, Massachusetts. The first link below has more details. They have a nice green Arnold canoe on display although it has no tag or obvious serial numbers. They...

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[Gamma1214]

It does look similar to the Dean boats and I guess that high, peaked deck would shed waves pretty well. Probably not a racing boat though as the rear deck would act like a sail.

Maybe something like the Torpedo on pg 6 but the floor is much different & front and rear decks are more symetrical.

Were high peaked decks the norm in the '20s?

 

[Benson Gray]

Were high peaked decks the norm in the '20s?

The Sunnyside Torpedo Cruiser model from Walter Dean had similar decks. It was shown on pages six to eight of his 1920 catalog. Some canoes during the 1920s had high peaked decks. The link below has a few examples.

Benson

Bell Isle canoe

Sorry if this might be a repeat, but this is a really cool canoe!!!!!! Its a Pa-Hak-Ha model from the Detroit River Canoe Works. Different from the Detroit Canoe Company? Its owned by Ron Cell.

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