There is perhaps no sailboat more steeped in Riverton lore than the diminutive Duster, a 13-3/4 foot long craft designed by Jim Merrill in 1933 and built by his father RYC Commodore Edward Merrill the following winter in their workshop at 301 Main Street. He and some friends lowered the craft from the window, took it down to the river, and christened it a “Duster.” Established as a class in 1946, it became a world-class sailboat.
Ayers, Carhart, Coe, Gladney, Hunn, Knight, Lundstedt, Lippincott, Parsons, Thompson, Shoemaker, and Storey are some of the other names of sailors associated with the Duster’s conception, construction, and racing.
While many residents will swear they have seen a photo of Duster #1 emerging from the third floor window of the home, obtaining a scan to post here has eluded the Society for years.
Imagine my excitement when, during a conversation on June 10 with John Hartnett while watching the Historic Riverton Criterium, he mentioned that he had seen such a photo on Facebook. Later that day he emailed the image file to me. Was this the long sought after photo depicting the very moment of the Duster’s birth?
The following Wednesday, I elatedly passed around my iPhone with the photo during our HSR Board meeting, and Roger Prichard politely pointed out that the boat with the rounded bottom in the photo looked more like a Comet.
Ohhhh, nooooooo… Could such a photo illustrating the Duster’s origin be a myth?
Meanwhile, John Hartnett had continued to run down the source of the photo, and he sent me another photo later that evening.
Albert Seither’s Facebook post of July 2017 explained that his grandfather and Alvar Erickson built a Duster in the attic of 417 Lippincott Avenue.
Right boat; wrong house and time, but still a cool bit of Riverton history.
So, our wish to the Universe is that someone reading this will help connect us with a picture of Mr. Merrill and friends lowering the first Duster from the third-floor window at 301 Main Street.
Moreover, Tom Shaw, the current owner of the Duster’s birthplace at 301 Main, wants to find an old Duster, seaworthy or not, that he can place in the yard as a kind of “The Duster was born here” historical marker.
(Sources sometime disagree on dates for the design and construction of the Duster. We deferred to information by Riverton Yacht Club in this article.)
We appreciate your comments, additions, and corrections. Please comment below or contact us if you can add to the origin story and history of the Duster sailboat. – JMc
Is this the same Marty Carhart who lived in Delano mid-forties?
Sorry, Don, I could not tell from looking thru old newspapers. There were many mentions of Carhart family members in Riverton during the early to mid 1900s but I could not find an address. Marter, or Marty, Carhart was mentioned in connection with Riverton School awards, athletics, and boat racing. I can’t rule out that he lived in Delanco as an adult. Maybe it’s in the yacht club records, to which I do not have access. Will let you know if I find out.
Regards,
John McCormick, Editor
Make that Delanco.
My brother, Roger Shoemaker, dug up the following article which shows the Duster is alive and well in the Poconos.
http://earwigoagin.blogspot.com/2014/02/od-oy-review-duster.html?m=1
Ed Shoemaker (former owner of D 103)
My husband has number 5 (Martha) of the original 5.
If there were an original five, my father Ted Hunn & his brother Knute built one of them in the basement of their family home on Howard Street. They had to remove half the front porch to get it out. The current owners have restored the porch that lived for many years with a major part missing. All for a boat.
Ted & Knute earned a “Saw & Hatchet Class 1935” trophy for their efforts. (I have it in a special place.)
Hi, Lydia,
I am glad that you found us.
Probably forty years ago or so, when I was making stained glass panels, lamps, and suncatchers to supplement my teaching pay, a man introduced himself to me as Spider Hunn. I had made a number of sailboat suncatchers – J24s, Lippincott 30s, Dusters, Stars, etc. – but Spider wanted me to construct a suncatcher to resemble his sailboat with its unique spider spinnaker. I remember that he was quite pleased with the result. I have a photo of it somewhere here.
The remarkable photos of your former family home at 2 Lippincott Avenue that you scanned and sent us were a great addition to our growing archive.
Our online Historical Newspapers files contain dozens of references to Ted and Knute as well as to other members of the Hunn Family.
If you have any other Riverton related photos, documents, or information that you think our readers would enjoy seeing, please contact me at rivertonhistory@gmail.com
Regards,
John McCormick
As a former owner of Duster 100, the boat hanging from the 3rd floor window. I have heard of this photo from Mr. Robert Lundstedt but never did see it until now. The boat was in our family from the late 60’s until my wife and I sold it in the mid 80 after doing some extensive rebuilding of the boat in the winter of 81-82. Thanks for the great posts of long-ago memories and the great picture.