General Information

Serial #

2 5889

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Wood (including white cedar and oak; possibly also butternut and mahogany); metal (including copper) nails, metal trim (including aluminum and brass) and miscellaneous fittings.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

458.0 cm

Width

74.0 cm

Height

29.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Marine Transportation

Category

Vessels

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

PETERBOROUGH

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Peterborough

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

This canoe possibly used c. 1920s +.

Canada

The cedar-rib canoe was invented in 1879 by John S. Stephenson of Ashburnham, Ontario. (Stephenson is also credited with designing the cedar-strip technique of canoe construction). He sold his patent rights to both construction methods to the Ontario Canoe Co. in the early 1880s, the precursor to the Peterborough Canoe Co. (est. 1892). The cedar rib canoe soon became the "top-of-the-line" wooden canoe of one of Canada's- and the world's- best known canoe builders. (ref. 1)

Function

Used as means of personal transportation over the surface of water.

Technical

Cedar-rib construction represents the apogee of wooden, commercial canoe building. It is one of Five principle techniques associated with the commercial production of wooden canoes in Canada, and arguably the most sophisticated. Cedar-rib canoes have strips of cedar running gunwale to gunwale, and fit flush to one another, tongue-in-groove. This technique results in a strong hull form that requires no keelson or ribs, making it lighter and smoother than other canoe designs. A few inner stringers are all that is added to the inside surface to provide the canoe with the necessary rigidity. (ref. 1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Metal plates (4) fixed to canoe stamped " PETERBOROUGH CANOE/ CO./ LIMITED/ PETERBOROUGH, CAN." "2 5889" incised in combing of bow deck.

Missing

Original paddles and sailing rig are missing. According to R. MacGregor, the canoe "... is by no means original or even complete." (ref. 2)

Finish

NB: Finish is not original.

Decoration

N/A