The Old Town Canoe Company: Our First Hundred Years - Hardcover

Audette, Susan T.; Baker, David E.

9780884482024: The Old Town Canoe Company: Our First Hundred Years

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0884482022 ISBN 13: 9780884482024

Publisher: Tilbury House Pub, 1998

Outstanding archival photographs, many never before published, show canoes under construction, canoes underway, canoes being pitched off the factory roof, and everything from log drives to summer camps.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

"This gorgeous history of a venerable Maine business contains more thrills and spills, twists and turns than a day at the annual Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race."

...Audette successfully weaves a history of Old Town Canoe that is comprehensive, interesting, and alive...richly illustrated.

...She's uncovered delightful tidbits, engaging stories and fascinating photographs...beautifully designed and printed.

...elegantly designed, generously illustrated corporate history that should interest outdoor enthusiasts and anyone interested in the development of Maine.--William David Barry

...the book to buy if...love canoes, or just enjoy reading...This is a fun read.

This profile of the Old Town Canoe Company is full of feeling and thoughtfulness...written from a people perspective.

From the Publisher:

Comments from the press--
"Want to start up a conversation? Just mention "Old Town Canoe." It seems that everyone you run into... either owns one or at least has a family story or two to recount. Thus, the newest arrival from Tilbury House of Gardiner is destined to be enthusiastically received by classic boat owners and lovers across the state and beyond.... This is the fascinating story of a family company, artfully retold in a book meant for sharing--an armchair departure point for reminiscences. From the rich colors captured in the cover photograph of "Legacy" to the reproductions of vintage advertisements and catalog pages, this one is hard to put down. Audette begins at the beinning--with the codfish-packed waters of the Penobscot River and the Native American tribe of the same name, whose superbly crafted birchbark canoes, centuries ago, were the inspiration for what was to become an American tradition.... Their story is all the more intriguing as a demonstration of New England entrepreneurial spirit at its finest. Old Town Canoe's first hundred years of balancing tradition, technology, aesthetics, and market demands are chronicled in lively detail by Audette...[who] brings a compelling sense of family history to this company history... Like a family scrapbook, the images help to tell the tale. Reader beware! While this volume would indeed by a handsome gift, noble intentions may fall by the wayside. Once settled into a comfortable chair, with this book opened and the story beckoning, it is all to easy to be swept up in the romantic legacy of the Old Town canoe." --Nancy McGinnis, Central Maine Newspapers

"The Old Town Canoe Company is one of the few Maine businesses to have achieved legendary status nationally. When you think of Maine, the Old Town canoe is right there with Mount Katahdin, L. L. Bean, Moosehead Lake, and Portland Head Light. So the new book, "The Old Town Canoe Company: Our First Hundred Years," by Susan T. Audette with David Baker, comes as a treat. It is an elegantly designed, generously illustrated corporate history that should interest outdoor enthusiasts and anyone interested in the development of Maine.... Audette and Baker have included pages from early catalogs, comments from customers in various eras, and an attractive mix of illustrations. Since 1901, the company has put out tempting, now highly collectible, catalogs and advertisements. But this is not a mere picture book; it is a serious overview of the business, complete with interpersonal squabbles, failed and successful approaches, and one major labor action...." --William David Barry, Maine Sunday Telegram

"...The book is laced with facts large and small...also peppered with interviews she did with many of the Old Town Canoe Company workers, young and old. Among the old-timers, Audette said, she realized no one had ever talked with them about their work or looked upon it as an art form...and now was perhaps one of the last times available to collect the oral histories from the people who made their living crafting the wooden vessels...." Barbara Jordan, The Chronicle

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