I'm guessing that your canoe was not built by Old Town.
The build record for the Old Town canoe with serial number 7539 shows a 17 foot long, AA (top) grade, HW (Heavy Water) model canoewith western red cedar planking, spruce gunwales, mahogany decks, seats, and thwarts, fitted with an outside stem, keel and sponsons, with spruce finish rails. The canoe was also fitted with oarlocks and a rowing seat. There is no indication that half-ribs were installed.The canoe was built in 1907-08. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It was shipped to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, date not specified. 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 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 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 possible/likely 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. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Greg
