Searching by Purchaser, rather than serial number
- Thread starter pduryea
- Start date
The short answer is yes but there are a number of qualifications. I can take a run at it if you can provide the name and address of the purchaser (who may have been a local retailer). A second option is to purchase a set of the build records from http://store.wcha.org/Old-Town-Build-Records-on-CD-ROM.html and search yourself but this can take a long time. A third option is to use the information at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?791 to see if you can identify at least some of the digits from each end. We may be able to help if you can post some pictures of the serial numbers from each end here along with the overall length of the canoe in a straight line. That is usually enough information to get started. Good luck,
Benson
Benson
Benson, thank you so much for the reply. I actually see no trace of the serial number on either stem, although I can recall seeing stamped numbers on at least one of the canoes as a child. If the purchaser was a reseller then I may be out of luck. If it was a direct purchase, the name would have been Robert Duryea and the address 405 Lincoln Avenue, Palo Alto, CA. If those don't come up then I may purchase the CD ROM (if I can find a computer that still has CD ROM on it) and do a search.
Thanks so much for the insights.
Thanks so much for the insights.
Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I was able to locate the build record for a canoe that shipped to that address as shown below. The bad news is that it isn't as old as you thought it was.
The Old Town canoe with serial number 166964 is 17 foot long Otca model with a keel. It was built between January and April, 1958. The original exterior paint color was similar to the one shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design46.gif which was known as the design number 46 but this one had a royal blue body with white trim. It shipped on May 1st, 1958 to Palo Alto, Calif. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image attached below.
This scan and several hundred thousand more 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. I also found an 18 foot Otca from the 1930s which had a build record request from E. Russell Duryea in Syracuse, New York on May 4th, 1977 if that is a relative. I also searched for Palo Alto but didn't find any other canoes that were shipped there in the 1940s or before. The build records are shipping on USB thumb drives now so you don't need a CD-ROM or DVD drive any more. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
The Old Town canoe with serial number 166964 is 17 foot long Otca model with a keel. It was built between January and April, 1958. The original exterior paint color was similar to the one shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design46.gif which was known as the design number 46 but this one had a royal blue body with white trim. It shipped on May 1st, 1958 to Palo Alto, Calif. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image attached below.
This scan and several hundred thousand more 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. I also found an 18 foot Otca from the 1930s which had a build record request from E. Russell Duryea in Syracuse, New York on May 4th, 1977 if that is a relative. I also searched for Palo Alto but didn't find any other canoes that were shipped there in the 1940s or before. The build records are shipping on USB thumb drives now so you don't need a CD-ROM or DVD drive any more. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
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Benson, thank you so much, it's great to see the record. I made a donation this morning to WCHA, and also registered earlier today but it looks like it was just for this forum. I agree with your comments on the value of this work and will donate again as a way to help continue the efforts.
I will continue to research whether I can find information on the second canoe. The one I have here at the house is 17 foot so the record you sent is for this canoe. I'm fairly certain the other one was 18 foot, but I'll need to ask family and friends to see if anyone has more details on it's arrival date.
Thank you again, I really appreciate you finding this data.
-Paul
I will continue to research whether I can find information on the second canoe. The one I have here at the house is 17 foot so the record you sent is for this canoe. I'm fairly certain the other one was 18 foot, but I'll need to ask family and friends to see if anyone has more details on it's arrival date.
Thank you again, I really appreciate you finding this data.
-Paul
