Peterborough- questions on recent purchase

[Feathers]

I just purchased this canoe this morning and I did it without knowing much about what I was buying. Hopefully some of you folks can help me figure out what I brought home. Seller told me he purchased it from a barn auction in Southern Wisconsin 25 years ago. It is a Peterborough and has a tag that reads "Model 16" and the serial number is "8255". There is faint remnant of a sticker that I think reads "Tandem" It seems very narrow, with zero rocker, and a V shaped hull (don't know if I could even paddle this thing without ending up in the lake). I'm not sure how much of it is original, but it looks quite old to me.

My questions:
1. Is it possible to roughly date the canoe?
2. How much of it is original?
3. The seller said he had been told it was some type of racing canoe. True?
4. Have the bow and stern been reversed? It seems like the bow would be where the sticker and tag should be.
5. Is it likely the paddle that came with it is the same age as the canoe?
6. Would putting it in the lake in its present condition just to paddle it a few minutes be a big mistake?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Gil Cramer]

Thanks for buying the canoe. If you hadn't, I probably would have and then tried to figure out how to get the thing to Ohio. I have no answer for any of your questions, but it is really a neat boat!!!
Gil

 

[Dave Osborn]

1909!
Nice find, Tim!
Here is all you need to know....
http://dragonflycanoe.com/wood-canoe-identification-guide/peterborough-canoe-company/

 

[Feathers]

Thanks for buying the canoe. If you hadn't, I probably would have and then tried to figure out how to get the thing to Ohio. I have no answer for any of your questions, but it is really a neat boat!!!
Gil

Ha, well you're welcome I guess. It was only a two hour drive each way for me this morning. I can't figure out how to edit the post to add another photo so I'll attach it here. Also, I've given up on the idea of putting it in the lake- the varnish is peeling everywhere so the wood would be just soaking up water (and I'm sure it leaks everywhere too).

 

[Feathers]

1909!
Nice find, Tim!
Here is all you need to know....
http://dragonflycanoe.com/wood-canoe-identification-guide/peterborough-canoe-company/

Thanks Dave, I did find that page before I bought the canoe, but I can't make sense of it. According to that page a Model 16 would date- as you said- 1909. But it also lists the specs as 11¼ x 24 x 11. I'm not sure what number refers to the length but this thing is 16 foot long- so none of those numbers work. Also, it says that the early serial numbers would be stamped on a brass tag (yes, this one is) but that they would be 1,2 or 3 digits. And this one has a four digit serial number. I think there must be more to this than what I'm finding on that page, or else I'm misunderstanding it.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Wow. congratulations on your racing canoe. Thats quite a find. It wants for a careful restoration, and I would contact Dick Persson at Buckhorn Canoe Co for more info on its particulars.

 

[Feathers]

Wow. congratulations on your racing canoe. Thats quite a find. It wants for a careful restoration, and I would contact Dick Persson at Buckhorn Canoe Co for more info on its particulars.

You are the second person to bring up his name to me as someone who might be able to help. I've emailed him and shared the link to this post.

 

[Dan Miller]

It's one of their racing canoes. It is actually model 70 - looks like they stamped the length in the model box. It was offered as early as 1909 and as recently as 1927. Attached is a representative catalog page from 1914.

 

[Feathers]

It's one of their racing canoes. It is actually model 70 - looks like they stamped the length in the model box. It was offered as early as 1909 and as recently as 1927. Attached is a representative catalog page from 1914.

Thanks! That is it exactly. I assume there is no way to pin down year built with the serial number as with Old Town canoes?

 

[Benson Gray]

I assume there is no way to pin down year built with the serial number as with Old Town canoes?

Correct, there are no known serial number records from Peterborough available. The Tandem decal indicates that it may be from the late 1920s as identified in the 1927 catalog page attached below. It looks like a fun one,

Benson