W.H. Mullins Company

Capsule History - The W.H. Mullins Company of Salem, Ohio, was founded ca. 1894 (catalog No. 11 was published in 1905) 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. ca. 1919, and to Mullins Maunfacturing ca. 1928. The last year that wood canoes were offered was 1923, based on a dated letter indicating this. (Thanks to David T. Dufresne for providing the dates of name changes.)

Deck - Picture shows a typical Mullins deck. The deck butts against the stem, so that the stem's endgrain is 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.

Stem Bands - 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.

Further Information:

Six Mullins catalogs are included on Dragonfly Canoe Work's Historic Canoe and Boat Company Catalog Collection

David Dufresne has put together a website celebrating Mullins boats.