John Summers | University of Toronto (original) (raw)
Papers by John Summers
International Journal of Maritime History, 2003
International Journal of Maritime History, 2002
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, 1997
The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord, 1992
The 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in traditional small craft in North America, due in large ... more The 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in traditional small craft in North America, due in large part to the dedicated work of a small number of individuals who were generally not members of the traditional, academic, maritime historical community. Has the burgeoning popularity and strength of the historical small craft movement affected the writing and researching of maritime history in North America generally, and in Canada in particular? The underlying assumptions about what is and is not maritime history are reflected both in the research produced and in the artifacts collected and documented by Canada's maritime museums. Certain kinds of maritime artifacts are well-represented in collections, but others not at all. For many museums, this has been the result of a relatively random collecting policy. There is, at present, no national consensus on what constitutes the country's watercraft heritage which could serve to guide regional or local policy. For the writers of economically-and politically-based maritime history, ships and boats are often of secondary importance, examined as workplaces more than as items of historic technology in their own right. At the same time, large parts of the country's watercraft heritage still exist, in boathouses and at docks across the country, and what could not be collected by museums is at least susceptible to documentation. Is it possible to unite these diverse activities around a single focus? Would it be possible to subject historic Canadian watercraft to the kind of full-scale scholarly treatment possible in a university context? Can those who hold the boats and those who write the country's maritime history be brought together productively? Could museums begin to support more actively the work of individual collectors and chroniclers of watercraft types, and commit themselves at least to documenting what they cannot collect? Can a national consensus and inventory be achieved for historic watercraft, a kind of endangered species list for maritime preservation? This article will examine the progress made since the mid-1970s in the study, care and use of historic watercraft and the contexts in which this has occurred, suggest directions for future work with small craft in Canada and reiterate the fundamental importance of small craft to Canada's maritime past. Working in a museum, it is easy to forget where you are. This is not, however, a confirmation of the stereotype of the absent-minded curator. Instead, it is a recognition that the pragmatic necessities of staffing, budgeting and meeting deadlines often obscure the basic
The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord, 1994
Ontario History, 2009
Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y ... more Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne.
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, 1988
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, Jun 6, 1998
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, 1992
En 1987, le Marine Museum of Upper Canada a fait l'acquisition d'un ice-boat (planche à voile sur... more En 1987, le Marine Museum of Upper Canada a fait l'acquisition d'un ice-boat (planche à voile sur patins) utilisé pour la dernière fois dans le port de Toronto à la fin des années 1960, dont on disait qu'il avait été construit au tournant du siècle. Des recherches subséquentes sur la pratique du sport de Tice-boat à Toronto des années 1820 jusqu'à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale ont révélé que ce genre d'embarcation présentait un intérêt considérable, sur le plan tant social que technique. Les ice-boats servaient l'hiver au transport entre l'île de Toronto et la terre ferme et, en outre, ils étaient pilotés avec un esprit de concurrence féroce sur des pistes de course triangulaires aménagées sur l'aire glacée du port. L'article passe en revue les étapes de la croissance et du développement de l'ice-boat à Toronto, de son âge d'or à son déclin, en s'attardant plus particulièrement au développement de la forme et du gréement de ce genre d'embarcation. Le milieu du XIX e siècle a vu l'apparition d'un type torontois d'ice-boat, qui a prédominé jusqu'aux années 1930 alors qu'il a été supplanté par des modèles plus modernes. L'engouement continu des Torontois pour ces ice-boats gréés de voiles latines avec roue de barre en poupe, longtemps après le développement et la prédominance ailleurs d'ice-boats à voile marconi avec roue de barre en proue, constitue un intéressant exemple d'insularité dans le domaine du développement d'embarcations de petites dimensions.
Material Culture Review/Revue de la culture …, 1994
This article explores the application ofmaterialculture theory and methodology to the study of hi... more This article explores the application ofmaterialculture theory and methodology to the study of historic small craft. Following a literature review of selected works of watercraft history and the fundamental characteristics of a material culture approach, two examples are given. Both are drawn from the late nineteenth century, a time when recreational boating began to be a major social and economic phenomenon in North America. The growth in popularity of the canoe as a vehicle of leisure instead of work took place within this context. Theoretical categories of workmanship are first applied to the development of Canadian canoe building techniques. Following this, two sailing canoes, designed and constructed some 30 years apart, are analysed in detail to show how they are differing responses to the same abstract design question of how to fit a canoe to sail. Finally, the meaning of recreational boats as objects of social consumption and production is considered.
International Journal of Maritime History, 2002
International Journal of Maritime History, 2007
International Journal of Maritime History, 2007
International Journal of Maritime History, 2011
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, Jun 6, 1992
International Journal of Maritime History, 2003
International Journal of Maritime History, 2002
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, 1997
The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord, 1992
The 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in traditional small craft in North America, due in large ... more The 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in traditional small craft in North America, due in large part to the dedicated work of a small number of individuals who were generally not members of the traditional, academic, maritime historical community. Has the burgeoning popularity and strength of the historical small craft movement affected the writing and researching of maritime history in North America generally, and in Canada in particular? The underlying assumptions about what is and is not maritime history are reflected both in the research produced and in the artifacts collected and documented by Canada's maritime museums. Certain kinds of maritime artifacts are well-represented in collections, but others not at all. For many museums, this has been the result of a relatively random collecting policy. There is, at present, no national consensus on what constitutes the country's watercraft heritage which could serve to guide regional or local policy. For the writers of economically-and politically-based maritime history, ships and boats are often of secondary importance, examined as workplaces more than as items of historic technology in their own right. At the same time, large parts of the country's watercraft heritage still exist, in boathouses and at docks across the country, and what could not be collected by museums is at least susceptible to documentation. Is it possible to unite these diverse activities around a single focus? Would it be possible to subject historic Canadian watercraft to the kind of full-scale scholarly treatment possible in a university context? Can those who hold the boats and those who write the country's maritime history be brought together productively? Could museums begin to support more actively the work of individual collectors and chroniclers of watercraft types, and commit themselves at least to documenting what they cannot collect? Can a national consensus and inventory be achieved for historic watercraft, a kind of endangered species list for maritime preservation? This article will examine the progress made since the mid-1970s in the study, care and use of historic watercraft and the contexts in which this has occurred, suggest directions for future work with small craft in Canada and reiterate the fundamental importance of small craft to Canada's maritime past. Working in a museum, it is easy to forget where you are. This is not, however, a confirmation of the stereotype of the absent-minded curator. Instead, it is a recognition that the pragmatic necessities of staffing, budgeting and meeting deadlines often obscure the basic
The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord, 1994
Ontario History, 2009
Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y ... more Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne.
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, 1988
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, Jun 6, 1998
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, 1992
En 1987, le Marine Museum of Upper Canada a fait l'acquisition d'un ice-boat (planche à voile sur... more En 1987, le Marine Museum of Upper Canada a fait l'acquisition d'un ice-boat (planche à voile sur patins) utilisé pour la dernière fois dans le port de Toronto à la fin des années 1960, dont on disait qu'il avait été construit au tournant du siècle. Des recherches subséquentes sur la pratique du sport de Tice-boat à Toronto des années 1820 jusqu'à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale ont révélé que ce genre d'embarcation présentait un intérêt considérable, sur le plan tant social que technique. Les ice-boats servaient l'hiver au transport entre l'île de Toronto et la terre ferme et, en outre, ils étaient pilotés avec un esprit de concurrence féroce sur des pistes de course triangulaires aménagées sur l'aire glacée du port. L'article passe en revue les étapes de la croissance et du développement de l'ice-boat à Toronto, de son âge d'or à son déclin, en s'attardant plus particulièrement au développement de la forme et du gréement de ce genre d'embarcation. Le milieu du XIX e siècle a vu l'apparition d'un type torontois d'ice-boat, qui a prédominé jusqu'aux années 1930 alors qu'il a été supplanté par des modèles plus modernes. L'engouement continu des Torontois pour ces ice-boats gréés de voiles latines avec roue de barre en poupe, longtemps après le développement et la prédominance ailleurs d'ice-boats à voile marconi avec roue de barre en proue, constitue un intéressant exemple d'insularité dans le domaine du développement d'embarcations de petites dimensions.
Material Culture Review/Revue de la culture …, 1994
This article explores the application ofmaterialculture theory and methodology to the study of hi... more This article explores the application ofmaterialculture theory and methodology to the study of historic small craft. Following a literature review of selected works of watercraft history and the fundamental characteristics of a material culture approach, two examples are given. Both are drawn from the late nineteenth century, a time when recreational boating began to be a major social and economic phenomenon in North America. The growth in popularity of the canoe as a vehicle of leisure instead of work took place within this context. Theoretical categories of workmanship are first applied to the development of Canadian canoe building techniques. Following this, two sailing canoes, designed and constructed some 30 years apart, are analysed in detail to show how they are differing responses to the same abstract design question of how to fit a canoe to sail. Finally, the meaning of recreational boats as objects of social consumption and production is considered.
International Journal of Maritime History, 2002
International Journal of Maritime History, 2007
International Journal of Maritime History, 2007
International Journal of Maritime History, 2011
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, Jun 6, 1992