W.H. Mullins Company

Years in Business: 
Ca 1900 - 1923 (wood canoes)
Company History: 

The W.H. Mullins Company of Salem, Ohio, was founded circa 1894 as a manufacturer of stamped steel boats. By 1910 they offered two models of wood canvas canoes; the 16’ Yale and 18’ Harvard. Sometime around 1916-17 a third model, the 17’ Princeton, was added to the line. The firm changed its name to Mullins Body Corp. circa 1919, and to Mullins Maunfacturing circa 1928. The last year that wood canoes were offered was 1923

Identifying Features: 
  • The tip of the deck butts against the stem, leaving the stem’s end-grain exposed.
  • The seats in a Mullins canoe are unique in that they are not hand woven through drilled holes, nor are they pre-woven set in routed grooves. Rather, the the seat frame has four “clamps” screwed to the seat opening which hold the pre-woven cane in place. Some Mullins canoes have been found with tin seats rather than cane — not surprising, as Mullins was famous for building metal boats.
  • The stem bands on a Mullins are also unique. They are copper half-round (visualize a copper pipe cut in half) that flares into a square profile to fit the keel. Heavily bedded, it completely covers the canvas overlap at the seam. This stem band was patented in 1914.
Models Offered: 
  • Yale Model, 16’
  • Princeton Model, 17’
  • Harvard Model, 18’
  • Sponson Model, 17’