Another mystery canoe that may be an early Old Town

[Benson Gray]

The pictures below from Mike Comer may show an early Old Town with serial number 4511. The most obvious difference is that the build record lists a canoe with closed gunwales and your pictures clearly show open gunwales (with no signs indicating that they were originally built as closed gunwales). The thwart and hull shapes don’t look like an Old Town HW from 1906 either. The pictures at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?12416 and http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?12320 show some similar Old Towns from this period with closed gunwales. The ones at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?12413 show a slightly later HW. This canoe was found in Endicott, New York which would not be unusual for a canoe that originally shipped to the Edward K. Tryon Company in Philadelphia. Closer examination of the serial number indicates that there may be a hidden three on the end which is a better match for that build record. What do you think?

Benson

 

[Dan Miller]

I'll bet there is another digit at the end, so that the number will really be 4511X.

Dan

 

[mccloud]

My vote is for 45113. Endicott is only 5 miles west of Binghamton. And it's still red. Interesting coincidence that both have maple trim. Is there a slight difference in the shape of the ogee in the decks? Later decks look slightly 'sharper' to me, but it wouldn't take much sanding during refinishing to change that shape. Tom McCloud

 

[Benson Gray]

Is there a slight difference in the shape of the ogee in the decks?

The decks do seem a bit unusual as shown below.

Benson

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Looks like a "3" at the end to me, too, in picture #6. Interesting what can show up in a digital picture!

 

[Dan Lindberg]

To me that is an odd canoe.

1st - is that the shape and trim of an early Charles River?

2ed - it is very good condition for a teens boat, it's more what I'd expect in a 40 or 50's boat.
and the ribs look too thick for an early boat.

to me the deck cut out's look 20's (or earlier), not later.

Dan

 

[Gil Cramer]

It looks like Benson has the correct build record-45113. The decks, seat shape with no corner holes, thwart shape, plugged and countersunk bolts all are indicative of a Charles River model from the teens. Most Charles River models had untapered ribs,but not all.

 

[Benson Gray]

Most Charles River models had untapered ribs,but not all.

This canoe appears to be from the first year when the Charles River model had untapered ribs. Page eight of the 1916 catalog states that "The ribs in the Charles River Model have a uniform width of 2 inches." The corresponding section in the 1917 catalog on page eight simply states "Ends tapered" as shown below.

Benson