DCHP-1 Online

wanigan [< Algonk.; cf. Abnaki waniigan trap; container for odds and ends]

• 1a n. Lumbering See 1935 quote.

  • 1902  Outside the cook and cookee were stowing articles in the already loaded wanigan.
  • 1935  Wanigan, a receptacle in which small supplies or a reserve stock of goods are kept.

• 1b n. Lumbering See quote.

  • 1912  (1913)  wanigan . . . a large chest in which lumbermen of New Brunswick, Maine and Minnesota keep their spare clothing, pipes, tobacco, etc. Called also wongan-box, and spelled wangun and wangan.

• 1c n. Lumbering a store operated by a logging company; commissary.

  See also: van ((n.)) (def. 1)  

  • 1966  The company ran little stores in the office called wannigans where you could get anything that was required in the line of clothing for bushwork

• 2 n. Lumbering See quote.

  • 1912  (1913)  Wanigan . . . a place in a lumber camp where accounts are kept and men paid.

• 3 n. Lumbering a scow or raft equipped to accommodate loggers while engaged in a drive (def. lb).

  See also: drive ((v.)) (def. 1b)  wangan (boat)  

  • 1912  (1913)  Wanigan . . . a boat used on the rivers of New Brunswick and Maine for the transportation of the entire personnel of a logging camp, along with the tools of the camp and provisions for the trip.
  • 1957  Three wanegans, a floating mess hall and cook shack, and six drive camps are maintained to keep the wood moving.

• 4a n. North a type of dwelling on runners having some of the functions of a modern house-trailer.

  See also: caboose (def. 4b)  

  • 1955  Log houses, built hastily by the early gold-rush pioneers, nestle beside the luxurious main hotel and the "wanigans"--the one-room houses on skids.
  • 1966  While sleeping in a wanigan, a hut on sleds, I was awakened . . . by native children shouting. . . .

• 4b n. North a bunkhouse and cook-house on bobs, or runners, serving the needs of the crew on a cat-train or other group of vehicles. Also spelled wanegan, wangan, wannegan, wannigan, etc.

  See also: caboose (def. 5a)  

  • 1949  With the availability of Wannegans for living, the convoy was restricted only by weather and equipment breakdowns from travelling day and night.
  • 1949  The Wannegan has a sled mounted house type body made of light gauge metal, and heavily insulated for use in sub zero temperatures.
  • 1955  wanigan . . . a small housekeeping shed mounted on runners and hauled behind an oversnow vehicle.

• 5 n. a warm, short laced boot.

  • 1966  Natural sheepskin wannigans for wear under overboots. Leather soles, heels. . . .