Foxy Cruise Boat
The Foxy and the Foxy II were excursion boats that operated from Weirs Beach and Lakeport until the mid 1960s. In Weirs Beach, the ticket booth was located adjacent to the Half Moon Penny Arcade, as can be seen in this circa 1960 night-time photo.
Here is a very interesting brochure for the Foxy. Notice: 1) the drawing of the ticket booth, which matches well with the night-time photo; 2) the logo for Northland Skis, which were manufactured in Laconia. Northland was much better known for its snow skis than its water skis. 3) The “foxy” bathing beauty, seen waving near a beach umbrella. A similar beauty was used for the cover of the 1954 Weirs Beach Chamber of Commerce brochure.
Here are advertisements and posters for the Foxy. The first ad announces the 1945 season. This was likely the first season for the Foxy. The larger Foxy II was probably added to the fleet in the mid 1950s. The two boats are easy to tell apart. The Foxy I had a solid, one-piece roof, while the roof of the Foxy II was seperated into two halves, with a notch cut out of the roof between the two sections.
As noted in the above advertisements, the Foxy cruise began from its home dock at 1200 Union Avenue. In the AI-enhanced, late 1940s, Harold Piper aerial photo seen below, the Foxy dock is seen in the middle of the photo, between the Shore Diner and its narrow dock on the left, and the Paugus Bay Seaplane Base on the right. Union Avenue crosses Black Brook on the right. The freight spur crossing Union Avenue serviced the Tekwood company, which produced a type of plywood. (Note the logs in the lower right corner.) Above Union Avenue, the remnants of a sub-spur that serviced the Independent Ice Company can be seen curving to the left.
The Foxy boat service began in 1945, but the Foxy boat itself may have been much older. This photo shows a boat named the Foxy with the original Mount Washington steamer in the background of the photo, dating the Foxy to 1939 or earlier. However, this Foxy has a steam pipe. The modern Foxy boats were diesel driven.
The postcard below was postmarked in 1910. It shows a boat called Fox that very closely resembles the Foxy in the previous photo. It seems likely that they are the same boat, with the Foxy having received some updates and a name change from the original.
The steamer Fox, at Sleeper’s and Rattlesnake Islands, Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H.
Foxy I on left, Foxy II on right, seen off the public docks, early 1950s. This photo is used in one of the advertisements above.
Foxy owner Carl E. Wallace passed away on April 5, 1960, at age 68. (He was born November 14, 1891.) His wife Amie/Amy continued the business for a few more years before selling the Foxy boats to the Winnipesaukee Steamship Co, owners of the Mount Washington cruise ship. In 1966, she sold the Union Avenue property to Albert Lacroix, owner of the Shore Diner.
Foxy I (left) followed by Foxy II departing the Weirs wharf.
Foxy I and II at the Weirs Beach docks.
A group aboard the Foxy poses for a photo. Owner/Captain Carl Wallace is standing on the left.
