Serial Number Search Old Town 16ft Wood & Canvass
- Thread starter Yardo
- Start date
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Please check the serial number again as the canoe with this serial number comes up as a 17 footer. This is the place on the internet where someone with the Old Town records will look up the build record for you. The only other way to go about this is to contact Old Town or to purchase a set of the records... and then you could look up records for others, too, if you so desired!
Old Town 146725 is a 17 foot CS (common sense or middle) grade HW (heavy water) model canoe that was completed October-December of 1946. It has open spruce gunwales, and the record states the seats are caned. This is an important notation, as the supply of cane dried up during WWII and Old Town built slatted seats in their war era canoes. Some canoes as late as 1947 have slatted seats rather than cane.
No wood species is designated, but the decks, thwarts and seat frames would be hardwood other than mahogany. This canoe has a keel and was originally painted bright green. It was shipped to Macy's in New York City on March 12, 1947. Image of the scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image.
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 athttp://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. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Double-check the serial number-- if this is correct, the canoe would have "17" and not "16" following 146725, and the other aspects of the record should make sense-- such as the place to which it was shipped. Any questions, feel free to post pictures. During WWII, canoe builders ran out of brass and copper and some canoes built shortly after the war were still being manufactured with steel tacks. So, run a magnet over the canoe and see if it picks anything up. There are several folks inhabiting these waters who have restored war era canoes and can answer questions... if this information fits your canoe.
Kathy
Old Town 146725 is a 17 foot CS (common sense or middle) grade HW (heavy water) model canoe that was completed October-December of 1946. It has open spruce gunwales, and the record states the seats are caned. This is an important notation, as the supply of cane dried up during WWII and Old Town built slatted seats in their war era canoes. Some canoes as late as 1947 have slatted seats rather than cane.
No wood species is designated, but the decks, thwarts and seat frames would be hardwood other than mahogany. This canoe has a keel and was originally painted bright green. It was shipped to Macy's in New York City on March 12, 1947. Image of the scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image.
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 athttp://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. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Double-check the serial number-- if this is correct, the canoe would have "17" and not "16" following 146725, and the other aspects of the record should make sense-- such as the place to which it was shipped. Any questions, feel free to post pictures. During WWII, canoe builders ran out of brass and copper and some canoes built shortly after the war were still being manufactured with steel tacks. So, run a magnet over the canoe and see if it picks anything up. There are several folks inhabiting these waters who have restored war era canoes and can answer questions... if this information fits your canoe.
Kathy
