The Old Town Canoe Company is just waking up as dawn emerges from the shadows along the eastern bank of the Penobscot River. Soon the plant will be bustling with activity and the sweet smell of fresh sawdust will permeate the crisp spring air -- a ritual nearly as old as the town itself. Craftsmen, many of American Indian descent, have been building the flat bottom bateaux and canoes for the river drivers now for over 100 years in this quiet inland town in the heart of Maine's great logging interior.
The collection of buildings bordering Middle Street that make up the company's manufacturing facility are the pride of the community, the reason Old Town is known as "Canoe City." Throughout the long cold winter its skilled workers labored over seven models of canoes to be shipped by rail throughout the United States and Canada, each stamped with a serial number in the stern. Here on the first floor of Building No. 2 the crew begins preparation for the day's shipment.
Thanks to the business acumen of owner Sam Gray and his family, the company outperforms other manufacturers by controlling logging operations, the sawmill, and production facilities. Tools and equipment are supplied by Gray's Hardware, and their unique national marketing effort relies on a sales force also peddling Bickmore's Gall Cure, another Gray enterprise. Unlike the Penobscot Canoe Co., the St. Louis Meramec Canoe Company, and hundreds of other competitors, the Grays are neither craftsman, nor boat enthusiasts. They are entrepreneurs, turning challenges and risks into opportunities.
In 1925, post-war America is heading outdoors and clamoring for more canoes. Sam Gray is only too happy to oblige. The New England boathouses and recreations clubs are once again thriving, and the craze is moving west. Amusement parks are springing up alongside lakes and rivers, sparking a new wave of demand for watercraft. And there is something else ratcheting up demand. Individuals are now buying canoes apart from clubs for their own private recreation. The Old Town Canoe Co. is running full tilt.
Canoe number 78,795 is lifted off the rack in the staging area. It is a red 17' OTCA model, introduced in 1908 and now a best seller. The design incorporates many of Old Town's best features from older proven models. The graceful yet stable craft has the hallmark open spruce gunwales, eastern white cedar ribs, and western red cedar planking covered with No. 8 seamless canvas. Its wider, more stable beam makes it an ideal choice for the novice boater.
It is wrapped in oiled paper and then placed on the floor over a large swath of burlap covered with hay. The burlap is drawn up over the canoe and sewn shut to form a cigar shaped cocoon. Later today it will be loaded on a boxcar in the rail yard for delivery to a customer in Akron, Ohio. Included is a bill-of-sale documenting the $85 paid and certificate describing the model shipped. It reads:
"Old Town 'OCTA MODEL' canoe"
The "otca" model is the widest, deepest and roomiest. These
features make it the steadiest, safest and most capacious canoe
that we build. The floor is flat and wide, and carried far into
the ends. The sides are convex, thus producing a handsome
tumble-home. Is equipped with 20" long decks having low
coaming or deck end finish, and only with open gunwales.
Not built for speed but for comfort, safety and fine appearance.
The model is suited for any use under any conditions, anywhere.
