Wood canoe manufacturers used a wide variety of decals and metal tags to identify their boats. They were typically affixed to the bow deck. In addition, many Canadian builders of all-wood boats also used thwart tags – these were mounted on the outside of the hull were the thwarts were screwed on.
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Bastien Brothers deck plate. Courtesy John Maziarz. Omer Stringer wrote the book on paddling. This is the decal he used on canoes he built. F. Brodbeck deck plate Buck and Packard deck plate. Photo courtesy John Fitzgerald. Canadian Canoe Company Canadian Canoe Company thwart tag. Carleton Canoe Company deck plate. Older variation (?). Carleton Canoe Company Chestnut Canoe Company, Fredericton, NB Chestnut Canoe Company, Oromocto, NB, 1974-1979 H.E. Crandell deck plate Walter Dean decal. Detroit Boat Company Medallion - Hudson River Model Dey Brothers shield decal. Dey Brothers thwart brand. Ditchburn thwart tag. Ditchburn deck plate. Durand Manufacturing Co. Medallion Wm. English Canoe Co. thwart tag. Harold Gates decal. E.H. Gerrish deck plate Kennebec Boat & Canoe Company tag, circa 1908-1926. The "M" preceding the stamped number indicates "10" - the Kineo Special serial numbers start at 100,000. Kennebec Boat and Canoe Company / Wanamaker Sporting Goods, circa 1908-1926. This example was on a leeboard bracket. Kennebec Canoe Company decal, 1927-1943 Kennebec Canoe Company deck plate, 1927-1943 Lakefield Canoe Co. Ltd. decal. Lakefield Canoe Company Decal, 1960s Lakefield Canoe Co. thwart tag. Lakefield deck plate, Rilco Industries era, 1960s. Morris deck decal variation Morris deck decal variation Morris tag, mounted on center thwart. Courtesy Kathy Klos and Denis Kallery. B.N. Morris decal on leeboard bracket. C.P. Nutting & Co. deck plate. Indian Old Town Canoe Company builder's plate, 1901. Courtesy Benson Gray. Old Town Canoe Company decal, pre-1905. Courtesy Benson Gray. Old Town decal on a 1906 canoe, with a touch of blue. Courtesy Benson Gray. Old Town decal on a 1947 canoe. Note the addition of "Trade Mark" to the black banner. Courtesy Nick Bailey. Old Town decal on a canoe from 1967. Courtesy Benson Gray. Old Town deck plate on a 1982 canoe. Courtesy Benson Gray. Old Town Boat decal, 1965. Courtesy Benson Gray. Ontario Canoe Company decal. Courtesy Dick Persson Penn Yan Boat Company deck decal, newer style. Peterborough Canoe Company 75th anniversary decal. Peterborough Canoe Company thwart tag. Peterborough Canoe Company thwart tag. Rhinelander Boat Company tag. Rice Lake builder's plate; this one is mounted on the coaming. Rice Lake Canoe Company thwart tag, Cobourg, Ontario Rice Lake Canoe Company decal (reproduction), Cobourg, Ontario Richardson Aquacraft deck plate (successors to Lakefield Canoe Co.). J.R. Robertson tag, mounted on coaming of lapstrake canoe. J.R. Robertson "Wavy Stamp." This stamp is usually found at the ends of the thwarts. J.H. Rushton deck brand. Rushton "fancy" deck plate, circa 1888-1894. Rushton monogram medallion. 1895-circa 1902. Rushton medallion for dealer H & D Folsom Arms, 1890s. J.H. Rushton, Inc. shield, 1906-1917. J.H. Rushton stamp on stem, typical of Indian Girl canvas canoes. J.H. Rushton Indian Girl canvas canoe brand, found on center thwart. J.H. Rushton, Inc. decal. Hard to read beneath the alligatored varnish... St. Lawrence Boat Works, Ogdensburg, NY. (successor to Rushton Indian Girl canoes), 1920s. "Whistle Wing" decal on a St. Lawrence Boat Works canoe, circa 1922. Courtesy Jody Bronson. St. Lawrence River Skiff, Canoe and Steam Launch Company, cast medallion. St. Lawrence River Skiff, Canoe and Steam Launch Company, stamped medallion. St. Louis Boat and Canoe Company decal Joe Seliga's decal. Shell Lake Boat Company decal. George Stephenson, Norway, Maine. Courtesy David Frechette. Thompson Brothers Boat Manufacturing Company, Peshtigo, WI. Brass. Thompson Brothers Boat Manufacturing Company, Peshitgo, WI. Aluminum. les canots Tremblay deck plate. White Canoe Company decal. 1940s-1950s. Wilbur and Wheelock, Clayton, NY. circa 1895-1930 F.W. Young, Auburndale, MA.
Reserved for Old Town decal, circa 1906-1954
Reserved for Penn Yan shield decal. 
