Build record request for Old Town Serial No 5277
- Thread starter BruceS
- Start date
The Old Town and Carleton canoe records for serial number 5277 are missing. The Kennebec canoe with this serial number is 16 feet long from 1911. Four digit serial numbers often have a hidden adjacent digit. Can you provide some pictures of the serial numbers from both ends of your canoe including the surrounding area? Some images showing the decks, interior, and the overall extreme length in a straight line would also be helpful. Thanks,
Benson
Benson
My guess is that you actually have a circa 1908 canoe from B. N. Morris since Old Town numbers typically aren't stamped in brass plates like that. See http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?791 for some pictures of typical Old Town serial numbers. Your canoe probably also has flared stems with rivets, ribs pocketed into the inside rail, and a keel screw in every rib. See http://forums.wcha.org/knowledgebase/Manufacturers:B+N+Morris+Canoe+Company for more information about Morris canoes. There are no known serial number records available for Morris canoes. Good luck with the restoration,
Benson
Benson
Michael Grace
Lifetime Member
Hi Bruce,
Benson is correct (he and many others here are very knowledgeable). Your canoe is a Morris. The shapes of your decks, thwarts and ribs are all characteristic of B.N. Morris. The stem profile also looks like Morris, and the tag is one type used by Morris. Same goes for the floor rack (appears to be original), and the blocks and turnbuttons that secure it to the floor. And your first photo shows the characteristic Morris splayed stem; your fourth photo shows keel screws through every rib, unlike Old Town and other companies whose canoes were built with keels (if they used one) attached using a screw through every other rib.
Your canoe looks to be in excellent shape, and Morris canoes were made with great attention to detail. As Benson pointed out, these Forums can provide you a lot of information on B.N. Morris, the Morris company and their canoes. In addition, you might like to purchase Kathy Klos' book on Morris - the only such work that exists. It contains a wealth of information and is available through the WCHA store (look around - you'll probably see a lot more you can't live without, including a beautiful reprint of an old Morris catalog and a repro deck decal that you can use if you restore your canoe):
http://store.wcha.org/The-Morris-Canoe-Legacy-of-an-American-Family.html
http://store.wcha.org/Morris-Canoes-Catalog.html
http://store.wcha.org/B.N.-MORRIS-DECAL.html
Please consider joining the WCHA. There are many excellent benefits to membership:
http://www.wcha.org/membership/
Benson is correct (he and many others here are very knowledgeable). Your canoe is a Morris. The shapes of your decks, thwarts and ribs are all characteristic of B.N. Morris. The stem profile also looks like Morris, and the tag is one type used by Morris. Same goes for the floor rack (appears to be original), and the blocks and turnbuttons that secure it to the floor. And your first photo shows the characteristic Morris splayed stem; your fourth photo shows keel screws through every rib, unlike Old Town and other companies whose canoes were built with keels (if they used one) attached using a screw through every other rib.
Your canoe looks to be in excellent shape, and Morris canoes were made with great attention to detail. As Benson pointed out, these Forums can provide you a lot of information on B.N. Morris, the Morris company and their canoes. In addition, you might like to purchase Kathy Klos' book on Morris - the only such work that exists. It contains a wealth of information and is available through the WCHA store (look around - you'll probably see a lot more you can't live without, including a beautiful reprint of an old Morris catalog and a repro deck decal that you can use if you restore your canoe):
http://store.wcha.org/The-Morris-Canoe-Legacy-of-an-American-Family.html
http://store.wcha.org/Morris-Canoes-Catalog.html
http://store.wcha.org/B.N.-MORRIS-DECAL.html
Please consider joining the WCHA. There are many excellent benefits to membership:
http://www.wcha.org/membership/
MGC
Scrapmaker
You may also learn a bit about your Morris at this sites KnowledgeBase:
http://forums.wcha.org/knowledgebase/Manufacturers:B+N+Morris+Canoe+Company
Note that serial numbers are aproximated and that the dating is likely to be accurate plus or minus a few years...never the less making your canoe well North of 100 years of age.
Congratulations!
http://forums.wcha.org/knowledgebase/Manufacturers:B+N+Morris+Canoe+Company
Note that serial numbers are aproximated and that the dating is likely to be accurate plus or minus a few years...never the less making your canoe well North of 100 years of age.
Congratulations!
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