Old Town

The Old Town canoe with serial number 161677 is a 16 foot long, AA (or top) grade, Guide or low end HW (heavy water) model with seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between February and May, 1954. The original exterior paint design was similar to the one shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design32.gif which was known as the design number 32. It shipped on May 26th, 1954 to Zelienople, Pennsylvania. A scan of this build record can be found below.

This scan and several hundred thousand others were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will donate to or join the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to renew.

It is possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Please attach some pictures if the original paint design is still showing. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Thanks,

Benson



161677.jpg
 
Can you clarify the guide, heavy water designation.

Old Town sold a lot of low end HW models during the 1940s and early 1950s. These had the high points removed to make them the Guide style. The HW models were retired in 1953. The 16 foot long HW was 33 inches wide, 12 inches deep, and weighed 70 pounds. The 16 foot version of the Guide model was introduced in the 1954 catalog with the exact same specifications as the 16 foot long HW from the previous year. My assumption is that the 16 foot long HW with low ends became the 16 foot long Guide. This build record seems to confirm that. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question.

Benson
 
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