After World War II, aluminium, the new metal revolutionized the manufacture and performance of american-made canoes. A book “Canoes: A Natural History in North America” reveals the evolution and design of this ancient watercraft.
The first of the post- World War II canoes to hit the market were built of aluminium. Before that, canoes were made of woods and after the war aluminium started taking over a large portion of the market share.
When the World War II started winding up, demand for military aircraft nearly came to an end. Grumman, the major supplier of aircraft during World War II had reduced their work force and returned to commercial amphibian models and aluminium truck bodies and added private light planes. Grumman’s chief tool engineer, William Hoffman, who was an avid fisherman and outdoorsman wanted to manufacture canoes in a lightweight material like aluminium.
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He took the idea to Grumman and presented a model. Grumman approved the prototype and they started the project.
“Then we had to design the hull lines so that our aluminum stretch presses could form each of the two halves of the canoe out of one piece of aluminum sheet without any wrinkling,” Hoffman recalled. Two identical halves were riveted together and the keel and the gunwales were produced from aluminum extrusions.
Grumman canoes utilized a special aluminium alloy designed and produced by Alcoa. Alcoa also sent a canoe expert named Russell Bontecou for Grumman’s project. His experience and expertise played a big role in manufacturing the canoes.
Hoffman and Bontecou, together with their team built a 13-foot pilot model aluminum boat weighing 38 pounds, while the old models were about 64 pounds. By the end of 1945, Grumman had 94 orders for its aluminium canoe. The company made it in regular and lightweight versions with two length options at the aircraft plant in Bethpage, Long Island.
The next year, they made 10,000 canoes. By 1947, Grumman became the nation’s largest canoe maker. And the aluminium boat they made was 18 pounds lighter and 32 pounds less in its lightweight version.
More manufacturers ventured into the market, but none could reach the national sales success of Grumman. Other notable companies that succeeded in the business were Minnesota-based Alumacraft, Dow Chemical and Hupp Corporation in 1960. From 1951 to 1976, Grumman was the leading canoe builder in the U.S. churning out 33,000 canoes annually in the mid-1970s.
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