Explorer Scouts Making Fiberglass Canoes
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Amateur silent film of a boy scout troop making a fiberglass canoe step by step from a mold, from start to finish. Boy scouts all help in each part of the process. They then take their finished canoes on a trip where they learn how to row their new canoes and camp out on the river.
Credits
Margaret Conneely (filmmaker)
Complete catalog record
Cfa collection: Margaret Conneely Collection
Subjects: Recreation; Teaching; Guides and scouts; Boy Scouts; Dogs
Places: North America > United States > Illinois
Language: English
Shot log: 00:00 - troop of boy scouts gathered around troop leaders in a classroom looking over drawing plans of canoes; 01:03 - boys wax a long half-section of a canoe mold with frame, gather around in circle as leader helps them mix glue-like substance they apply to the canoe; 03:57 - boy trims excess lining of material around canoe flush to edge with a knife, smoothing out glue coating, boys prepare fire in small furnace, sand down rough edges, apply second coat with paint brush; 08:59 - exterior, black smoke bellows from roof smokestack, boys measure and cut fiberglass lining, interior, glue lining to inside of canoe mold, smooth surface; 12:16 - MCU boys wash glue off their hands with Tide, CU glue covered Tide box; 12:34 - lay out and glue another layer of fiberglass; 15:38 - carry canoe half still in mold into yard, pull canoe free from mold, lay it in grass with other canoe halves, boys feel surface for smoothness, trim and sand down edges with manual and power tools; 21:53 - fit two canoe halves together; 22:14 - MLS troop leaders load trunk of antique Cadillac with two canoes strapped to roof, RA drive off, cut to troops getting out of cars with canoes, boy scouts stand at river’s edge behind canoes, little girl breaks bottle on canoe bow, lower two canoes into water, paddle away; 24:25 - VS men paddling in canoes on river, rowing exercises; 29:58 - Var LS river landscape from bank, boy scouts build a tree house; 30:44-33:02 - troops row down river packed into multiple canoes, stop at a bank down river, dusk, campfire on bank with dark silhouettes of people rowing in canoes in far distance
Cfa elements: 1,195 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/2650
Subjects: Recreation; Teaching; Guides and scouts; Boy Scouts; Dogs
Places: North America > United States > Illinois
Language: English
Shot log: 00:00 - troop of boy scouts gathered around troop leaders in a classroom looking over drawing plans of canoes; 01:03 - boys wax a long half-section of a canoe mold with frame, gather around in circle as leader helps them mix glue-like substance they apply to the canoe; 03:57 - boy trims excess lining of material around canoe flush to edge with a knife, smoothing out glue coating, boys prepare fire in small furnace, sand down rough edges, apply second coat with paint brush; 08:59 - exterior, black smoke bellows from roof smokestack, boys measure and cut fiberglass lining, interior, glue lining to inside of canoe mold, smooth surface; 12:16 - MCU boys wash glue off their hands with Tide, CU glue covered Tide box; 12:34 - lay out and glue another layer of fiberglass; 15:38 - carry canoe half still in mold into yard, pull canoe free from mold, lay it in grass with other canoe halves, boys feel surface for smoothness, trim and sand down edges with manual and power tools; 21:53 - fit two canoe halves together; 22:14 - MLS troop leaders load trunk of antique Cadillac with two canoes strapped to roof, RA drive off, cut to troops getting out of cars with canoes, boy scouts stand at river’s edge behind canoes, little girl breaks bottle on canoe bow, lower two canoes into water, paddle away; 24:25 - VS men paddling in canoes on river, rowing exercises; 29:58 - Var LS river landscape from bank, boy scouts build a tree house; 30:44-33:02 - troops row down river packed into multiple canoes, stop at a bank down river, dusk, campfire on bank with dark silhouettes of people rowing in canoes in far distance
Cfa elements: 1,195 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/2650
Sources
- Chicago Film Archives · record ↗ — title, year, creator, length, format, color, sound, genre, description, credits, catalog record, video
Record added 2026-11-08 21:25:06