Photos: Paddling the Mullica River (NJ Pine Barrens) in 1906

[Glenn MacGrady]

Here are 16 photos of canoeists in wood/canvas canoes on the Mullica River in the famous New Jersey Pine Barrens, starting probably at Atsion Lake. The Mullica was once known as the Atsion River or the Little Egg River. I will insert six of the 16 photos right below.












The rest of the Mullica River photos can be found at the this page at the Library Company of Philadelphia website:

Search results | Library Company of Philadelphia Digital Collections

digital.librarycompany.org

Extra credit for identifying the makes of the canoes.

 

[JohnSand]

There's a lot of canoe water n NJ.

 

[snapper]

Great photos. Thanks for posting them!

Until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[Benson Gray]

Extra credit for identifying the makes of the canoes.

My guess based on the deck shapes in the last image would be a White on the left and a Carleton on the right. There also appears to be an oval White nameplate showing. Two of the images on the linked site clearly show the "D" shaped stern seat which is another White characteristic. The links below have an assortment of decks and name tag images to help with questions like this.

Benson

Decks | Wooden Canoe Museum

woodencanoemuseum.org

Decals and Tags | Wooden Canoe Museum

woodencanoemuseum.org

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

My guess based on the deck shapes in the last image would be a White on the left and a Carleton on the right. There also appears to be an oval White nameplate showing.

Reasonable guesses. The one you are calling a White also has a sort of blunt-pointed deck protruding over the stem. Is that a White feature? I also see a sort of an outline of what could be a long rectangular nameplate on the presumed Carleton.

 

[Benson Gray]

White also has a sort of blunt-pointed deck protruding over the stem. Is that a White feature?

Yes, the earliest canvas canoes had rails that extended past the stems like the bark canoes. Most builders stopped making ends like this around 1905, except White. These are still available today from Island Falls Canoe as shown in the link below. Examples of the White and Carleton nameplates from that period are shown below. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question.

Benson

Island Falls Canoe - Custom Made Wood and Canvas Canoes - Old Town Wood Canoe Parts & Materials

Island Falls Canoe - Maine made custom built canoes, canoe restoration, canoe repair, and canoe building classes. We also carry Old Town Wood Canoe parts and materials and we perform repairs on wooden Old Town Canoes.

www.islandfallscanoe.com

 

[tketcham]

Good find on the archive. I like the photo of the canoe "Splashing over log"; you don't often see movement in those old photographs.

I finally made it down to the Pine Barrens last fall and paddled on the Mullica River below Atsion Lake. Had a great time. But the group I was in paddled modern solos, not those beautiful old tandems.

 

[Alasgun]

The splash caught my eye as well along with the neck ties and the poor gal wearing a skirt!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

the neck ties and the poor gal wearing a skirt!

You see a lot of folks dressed up in old canoe photos. I presume that was because, before cars, going canoeing was "going out", often on a date. Folks dressed up when they "went out" then, a lot more so than in many places today. Men dressed in suits and ties to go to the baseball park, boxing matches and church, and women dressed accordingly up through the 1950's in my recollection. It all started to get more casual and sloppy in the 1960's and later.

 

[Benson Gray]

You see a lot of folks dressed up in old canoe photos.

As shown below,

Benson

 

[tketcham]

You see a lot of folks dressed up in old canoe photos.

But now we wear PFDs and ruin the whole aesthetic of clothing finery.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

But now we wear PFDs and ruin the whole aesthetic of clothing finery.

The importance of PFD's was outweighed by the higher purpose of canoeing 100-150 years ago.

 

[tketcham]

The importance of PFD's was outweighed by the higher purpose of canoeing 100-150 years ago.

The first date with my spouse was canoeing and a picnic lunch. We wore PFDs but she still looked lovely in her quick-dry pants and shirt and sun hat. I guess our idea of canoeing finery has changed from a century ago. Far more practical.

 

[ppine]

The Golden Age of Canoeing was all about romance. People mostly did not have cars yet . Boats were the great escape for courting.

 

[Benson Gray]

Boats were the great escape for courting.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

View attachment 138844



View attachment 138843

It didn't take that couple very long. The canoe has barely moved.

 

[Benson Gray]

The canoe has barely moved.

There appears to have been plenty of movement inside the canoe, and more will probably follow. There might have been more exterior movement if his paddle wasn't stuck in the mud.