Canoe Info
- Thread starter Cambo
- Start date
Greg Nolan
enthusiast
If your canoe is an Old Town - - -
The Old Town canoe with serial number 23272 is shown as 10 feet long , CS (common sense or standard) grade, HW (heavy water) model. It has western red cedar planking, open spruce gunwales and spruce finsih rails, and equipped with a keel. It was also equipped with a carrying yolk and shipped with 8 foot double paddle. The canoe was built between July and Ajugust 1912. The original exterior paint is was dark green. It was shipped to Old Forge, New York on August 19, 1912. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail images attached below.
10 feet is an unusual length for an Old Town -- I wonder if the "10" is not a badly-written "16" -- but a double paddle and a carrying yoke would be suitable for a short canoe.
This scan and several hundred thousand others were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Photographs or information such as length would help confirm that this build record is for your canoe. And if your canoe is a 10 foot Old Town, we would all appreciate seeing picture of it.
Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Greg
The Old Town canoe with serial number 23272 is shown as 10 feet long , CS (common sense or standard) grade, HW (heavy water) model. It has western red cedar planking, open spruce gunwales and spruce finsih rails, and equipped with a keel. It was also equipped with a carrying yolk and shipped with 8 foot double paddle. The canoe was built between July and Ajugust 1912. The original exterior paint is was dark green. It was shipped to Old Forge, New York on August 19, 1912. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail images attached below.
10 feet is an unusual length for an Old Town -- I wonder if the "10" is not a badly-written "16" -- but a double paddle and a carrying yoke would be suitable for a short canoe.
This scan and several hundred thousand others were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Photographs or information such as length would help confirm that this build record is for your canoe. And if your canoe is a 10 foot Old Town, we would all appreciate seeing picture of it.
Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Greg
Thanks so much for the quick info Greg, what a great site, i will be sure to donate to keep this service going!
The sad news is that this canoe has been cut in half and made into a shelf. I recently received it but was not given any info on its history or origin but I noticed the serial number which got me wondering. I was hoping it was a 1972 from the last 2 numbers, not a 1912!
Having restored wooden boats and having 2 (full length!) wood canoes in the family and being a real lover of them, this is a bit upsetting if this is the canoe you have found. Better than rotting I suppose but I think it would have looked better on the water.
I believe it would have been a 16 footer as it is just over 7 feet and appears to not be cut right at the widest beam.
Here is a couple of pictures to help you further identify. The gunwale and deck do not appear to be original.
Thanks again,
Cam
The sad news is that this canoe has been cut in half and made into a shelf. I recently received it but was not given any info on its history or origin but I noticed the serial number which got me wondering. I was hoping it was a 1972 from the last 2 numbers, not a 1912!
Having restored wooden boats and having 2 (full length!) wood canoes in the family and being a real lover of them, this is a bit upsetting if this is the canoe you have found. Better than rotting I suppose but I think it would have looked better on the water.
I believe it would have been a 16 footer as it is just over 7 feet and appears to not be cut right at the widest beam.
Here is a couple of pictures to help you further identify. The gunwale and deck do not appear to be original.
Thanks again,
Cam
Greg Nolan
enthusiast
The deck and gunwales are pretty certainly not original. The planking indicates that the stem tip was originally a fair amount higher than at present, with a greater curve along the stem -- was probably cut down to make a more practical bookcase, and also because there may have been rot at the stem tip.
An Old Town serial number stamping would usually be followed with the length stamped in -- so this likely is not an Old Town, and therefore the number tells us nothing about the age. Nonetheless, with its fairly narrow ribs, it probably was an interesting canoe once upon a time.
An Old Town serial number stamping would usually be followed with the length stamped in -- so this likely is not an Old Town, and therefore the number tells us nothing about the age. Nonetheless, with its fairly narrow ribs, it probably was an interesting canoe once upon a time.
I agree with Greg that this is probably not an Old Town canoe. The numbers don't match the ones shown below from confirmed Old Towns of that era. The two digit length stamp is missing. The ribs seem smaller and more rounded than usual. The planking pattern isn't the typical style either. It may be from Canada. Your donation is much appreciated,
Benson
Benson
Attachments
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Someone did a nice job making it into shelves. While putting an old canoe back onto the water is preferable, at least it's a very nice, useful curio-shelf... and, as you said, not rotting in a dump.
H.E. Pennypacker
LOVES Wooden Canoes
The canoe you have was originally much longer than 10' and it doesn't look at all like a 1912 HW (the hull, that is; the trim looks all replaced), so this is almost certainly from another manufacturer. It's not a 10' 1912 Old Town, that's for sure.
Hi all, yes my brother and I own the 10' Old Town canoe with serial number 23272. Greg, I think I mentioned that a few years back I located the build records on my own and even posted pictures to what looked like the beginning of a file on that boat. Are those records no longer available to the public, or am I just making a bunch of mistakes in my search? At the moment I only have two pictures, which I will post here. I know this is a rare boat. I have seen the pie chart for these years. I am curious about what you think it might be worth. Thanks for the help. -Jeremy
The build record for this canoe is available at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/11848/ from 2014 and http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/14324/ has another inquiry from 2016. Interesting canoe,
Benson
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