Old Town 138002 16
- Thread starter oldtown
- Start date
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Hello,
Old Town 138002 is a 16' AA (top) grade Yankee model canoe that was completed from July-October 1943. It has open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, thwarts, and seat frames, a keel and a floor rack. It was originally painted fire red with "Camp Sayers" on the left bow. It was shipped to Reverend Sayers in Syracuse, NY, on October 26, 1943. I recall recently looking up a build record for a canoe that also went to that location.
You may want to use the "search" function above to find other posts about the Yankee model, which has an interesting history. Sounds like a very nice canoe project to do over the winter... and canoe restoration is a great family project. You'll be paddling it in the spring!
The scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image.
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 and anyone else reading this will join or renew membership in the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to renew.
It is also possible 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.
Kathy
Old Town 138002 is a 16' AA (top) grade Yankee model canoe that was completed from July-October 1943. It has open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, thwarts, and seat frames, a keel and a floor rack. It was originally painted fire red with "Camp Sayers" on the left bow. It was shipped to Reverend Sayers in Syracuse, NY, on October 26, 1943. I recall recently looking up a build record for a canoe that also went to that location.
You may want to use the "search" function above to find other posts about the Yankee model, which has an interesting history. Sounds like a very nice canoe project to do over the winter... and canoe restoration is a great family project. You'll be paddling it in the spring!
The scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image.
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 and anyone else reading this will join or renew membership in the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to renew.
It is also possible 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.
Kathy
Attachments
Thank you so much for the information and the build record. From what I understand the Yankee model was a Camp design that featured a wider bottom. Is that correct? Also, on the build sheet, does 'Colored' refer to when it was painted or was that a staining of the wood?
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
I'll post information on the Yankee as it appears in the 1943 Old Town catalog, courtesy "The Complete Old Town Canoe Company Catalog Collection, 1901- 1993", available on CD from http://www.wcha.org/catalog/ and http://www.dragonflycanoe.com/cdrom.htm on the web.
You are right-- the Yankee was commonly used as a livery and camp boat. The Yankee model was discontinued in 1957, after which the form was used to build the 16' Otca. So, a 16' Otca post-1957 is essentially a Yankee.
There were changes made in materials due to war shortages, and war-era canoes such as yours may have steel tacks where they would normally have had brass.
Like you, I've thought "colored" meant staining of the interior, but Benson will have to verify this.
More information on the Old Town Company can be found in Sue Audette's book, "Old Town, Our First Hundred Years", which is available from Sue herself at http://www.waterworkscanoe.com/book.html, on eBay, Amazon, and at public libraries.
Kathy
You are right-- the Yankee was commonly used as a livery and camp boat. The Yankee model was discontinued in 1957, after which the form was used to build the 16' Otca. So, a 16' Otca post-1957 is essentially a Yankee.
There were changes made in materials due to war shortages, and war-era canoes such as yours may have steel tacks where they would normally have had brass.
Like you, I've thought "colored" meant staining of the interior, but Benson will have to verify this.
More information on the Old Town Company can be found in Sue Audette's book, "Old Town, Our First Hundred Years", which is available from Sue herself at http://www.waterworkscanoe.com/book.html, on eBay, Amazon, and at public libraries.
Kathy
Attachments
I'm not sure but I would guess that this is when it was painted. The colored and varnished dates are commonly the same day so I don't know how this could be done without the risk of making a mess of both. My understanding is that Old Town didn't typically stain the interiors of their canoes unless they were having trouble matching different types of mahogany trim on an AA grade. Someone else may be able to offer a better answer.
Benson
