This canoe has been hanging upside down, either in my basement or my father's garage, for the last 50 years. I'm trying to figure out what exactly it is and what I should do with it. I hurt my back and am moving to a smaller home in another state. I don't know if it has any historic value or if I should just put it up on Craig's List. I found the serial number, but I am unsure if it is 3484 17 or maybe 34844 17. Because of my back, I had to take a picture of it from far away with my phone. I tinted the picture of the SN blue to try to see if that last 4 was there.
Trying To Identify And Figure Out What To Do With 17'? Old Town
- Thread starter Tim M
- Start date
pklonowski
Unrepentant Canoeist
I can't read the serial number, but it's got open gunwales, so the 4-digit version of the SN can't be correct. Are you certain it's an Old Town?
Where is it located? Perhaps a local member with great knowledge might be able to visit & get more detail?
Where is it located? Perhaps a local member with great knowledge might be able to visit & get more detail?
Seems to have a lot of rocker for a wooden canoe. Seat frames look beefy and square. Looks like spruce outwales. Bolts holding seats & thwarts look round head. Arrowhead decks! Decks don't look Old Town. Half ribs - is that just varnish? looks thick. Carry thwarts. Any chance it is a Meramec?
I really appreciate your post. To be honest, I have no idea if its an Old Town. I have zero expertise. I just looked at some pictures online and thought it looked a lot like the Old Towns I saw . . . but I know nothing about canoes. There is no label on it. I haven't seen any images of canoes that look exactly like it. I'm hoping someone here can help identify it or send me in the right direction. Oh, and yes, there does seem to be a lot of varnish on it. So you think it might be a Meramec?
It was built by the St. Louis Meramec Canoe Company, as others have pointed out. Certainly Craigslist is an appropriate means to advertise it. You might also contact the Three Rivers Chapter of the WCHA (contact info here: http://wcha.org/local-area-chapters) - one of its members may be interested in it.
It looks to be in good condition. I think Tom's comment about rocker is simply an artifact of the angle at which the photo was taken.
It looks to be in good condition. I think Tom's comment about rocker is simply an artifact of the angle at which the photo was taken.
Walter Hauck
LOVES Wooden Canoes
Looks like a St. Louis Boat & Canoe Company build.
The numbers are hard to read and I'm seeing 3434 one way and 3484 another. Only paint stripper will figure this out....
I own canoe #3460. It was given to me by a family that said they bought it in 1956. They sent it back to the factory and had it Fiberglass's in 1958. That gives us an idea of when they started making fiberglass canoes. I know that from 1959, build #3658, all canoes seem to be fiberglass. I think your canoe was built in 1956, no matter what build number it turns out to be. I think both numbers were built in 1956. Wally
The numbers are hard to read and I'm seeing 3434 one way and 3484 another. Only paint stripper will figure this out....
I own canoe #3460. It was given to me by a family that said they bought it in 1956. They sent it back to the factory and had it Fiberglass's in 1958. That gives us an idea of when they started making fiberglass canoes. I know that from 1959, build #3658, all canoes seem to be fiberglass. I think your canoe was built in 1956, no matter what build number it turns out to be. I think both numbers were built in 1956. Wally
Thanks Wally! I think that nails down everything about this canoe that has been a mystery to me. I really appreciate all the information. And wow, it seems like we have canoes that were made very close to each other. They are like siblings 
Being an expert, what do think of yours? Are these nice canoes? Compared to Old Town, there seems to be hardly anything out there on Meramecs. It even tough to find more than a couple of pictures of them. I wonder if that is because they just didn't make that many, or if it's because they have been collected. Anyway, thank so much! - Tim
Being an expert, what do think of yours? Are these nice canoes? Compared to Old Town, there seems to be hardly anything out there on Meramecs. It even tough to find more than a couple of pictures of them. I wonder if that is because they just didn't make that many, or if it's because they have been collected. Anyway, thank so much! - Tim
See http://www.wcha.org/content/st-louis-meramec-canoe-company and http://wcha.org/catalogs/ for more information. Their total production was far less than Old Town's. The collection at http://www.wcha.org/store/historic-wood-canoe-and-boat-company-catalog-collection has several of their catalogs. The company was started by Alfred Wickett who had previously started the Penobscot Canoe Company. He had worked at Old Town and White before that. The information at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/57/ may be helpful if you plan to sell it and the classifieds here at http://www.wcha.org/classifieds/ are usually one of the fastest ways to find a good new home for it. Good luck,
Benson
MGC
Scrapmaker
Hi Walter,
Your information about dating these is very helpful. Benson had previously suggested that it might be very interesting to the WCHA forum to share the information about these. I'm piling on and agreeing with that and suggesting that anyone holding information about other boats makers do the same. Thinking back to how we are able to triangulate the Morris canoes after Dennis and Kathy shared their information let's amplify the need to do that for other makers. I'm thinking about another forum and information that was organized and managed for Mossberg guns. There was a gentleman that built up an impressive and very detailed collection of knowledge, serial numbers, catalogs, IPB's etc that the entire collecting community came to rely on....and then one day the server link died and the information, a lifelong collection of information that will never be assembled again was gone. It turns out that the person who owned the site had passed away. His family didn't make the payments for the server and the website vanished... The WCHA did a wonderful thing preserving the Old Town information...hopefully others will share what they have so that we can try to assemble knowledge about other builders. There are folks (myself included) whom are willing to do the grunt work to pull the threads to organize these details so please do share if you are able.
Your information about dating these is very helpful. Benson had previously suggested that it might be very interesting to the WCHA forum to share the information about these. I'm piling on and agreeing with that and suggesting that anyone holding information about other boats makers do the same. Thinking back to how we are able to triangulate the Morris canoes after Dennis and Kathy shared their information let's amplify the need to do that for other makers. I'm thinking about another forum and information that was organized and managed for Mossberg guns. There was a gentleman that built up an impressive and very detailed collection of knowledge, serial numbers, catalogs, IPB's etc that the entire collecting community came to rely on....and then one day the server link died and the information, a lifelong collection of information that will never be assembled again was gone. It turns out that the person who owned the site had passed away. His family didn't make the payments for the server and the website vanished... The WCHA did a wonderful thing preserving the Old Town information...hopefully others will share what they have so that we can try to assemble knowledge about other builders. There are folks (myself included) whom are willing to do the grunt work to pull the threads to organize these details so please do share if you are able.
Hi Mike,
I appreciate the support and agree completely. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine at https://archive.org/web/ may help you recover the Mossberg information but it can be tedious. Don't ask me why I know this to be true.
Benson
I appreciate the support and agree completely. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine at https://archive.org/web/ may help you recover the Mossberg information but it can be tedious. Don't ask me why I know this to be true.
Benson
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