My ongoing search for information about early canoe builders has located a few surprises. The Thomas' Register of American Manufacturers from 1905 and 1910 include short listings of canoe builders as shown below. These are particularly interesting since it lists Carleton as a supplier of birch bark canoes. This has long been suspected but now we have some period documentation to confirm the rumors.
These also include estimates of their capital ratings in the right column. They felt that Rushton was smaller than Carleton in 1905 and larger in 1910. This led me to go search out other credit agency reports for canoe companies. This led me to The Mercantile Agency Reference Book. The United States versions of these are stored as paper copies in a Boston area library so I couldn't easily search them but many of the Canadian ones are available online as shown below. The first canoe builder listed was the Ontario Canoe Company in 1883 with an F3 rating (pecuniary strength in the $10,000 to $20,000 range and good general credit). John Stephenson was added in 1887 with an L4 rating (less than $1,000 and limited credit).
Fun Stuff,
Benson
These also include estimates of their capital ratings in the right column. They felt that Rushton was smaller than Carleton in 1905 and larger in 1910. This led me to go search out other credit agency reports for canoe companies. This led me to The Mercantile Agency Reference Book. The United States versions of these are stored as paper copies in a Boston area library so I couldn't easily search them but many of the Canadian ones are available online as shown below. The first canoe builder listed was the Ontario Canoe Company in 1883 with an F3 rating (pecuniary strength in the $10,000 to $20,000 range and good general credit). John Stephenson was added in 1887 with an L4 rating (less than $1,000 and limited credit).
Fun Stuff,
Benson
