E.M. White Canoe Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Canoe manufacturing |
| Founded | 1889 |
| Founder | Edwin White |
| Fate | Acquired by Old Town Canoe Company in 1984 |
| Headquarters | Gilman Falls, Maine , United States |
| Products | Wooden and canvas canoes, fiberglass canoes |
The E.M. White Canoe Company was established by Edwin White, who crafted wooden and canvas canoes from 1889 through the 1940s. White is acknowledged as a trailblazer in the wood-and-canvas canoe industry and stands out as a significant contributor among leading Maine canoe manufacturers.
Background
The manufacturing approach of the company transitioned from conventional birchbark canoes to designs featuring canvas stretched over wooden frameworks. During the 19th century, builders in the Eastern United States and Ontario, Canada shifted from using bark to canvas in canoe fabrication. Subsequently, Maine craftsmen incorporated English inverted-form boat-building methods, attaching waterproofed canvas skins to hulls constructed with white cedar planks and rib frameworks.
Evan H. Gerrish from Bangor, Maine is possibly the earliest commercial producer of wood-and-canvas canoes. Edwin White commenced his canoe production in Gilman Falls in 1889. In a 1901 statement, White acknowledged Gerrish’s canvas-covered canoe design as the catalyst for his move away from the unreliable birchbark canoes.
White began constructing canoes at his residence in Gilman Falls, employing inventive techniques such as boiling ribs in his mother’s washtub and utilizing horse-powered machinery via a treadmill. By 1895, his brother George and Alfred E. Wickett had joined his efforts; Wickett went on to help establish the Indian Old Town Canoe Company (which later became Old Town Canoe Company) along with other enterprises. Financial backing from White’s brother-in-law, E.L. Hinckley, enabled the opening of a large workshop in Old Town, Maine in 1896, which eventually became the site for Old Town Canoe.
Following World War II, Walter King and Pat Farnsworth, employees of the company, took ownership, rebranding it as White Canoe Company and initiating fiberglass canoe production. The Old Town Canoe Company acquired it in 1984.
Identifying features
White canoes are distinguished by a variety of deck designs ranging from straightforward triangular shapes to inverted heart forms.
The planking frequently exhibits bevel-edged craftsmanship.
Earlier versions incorporate a steam-bent "D"-shaped stern seat.
Typically, the inwales, decks, and outwales extend approximately one inch beyond the top of the stem.