Old Town 18' Canoe

[jsshew]

I have an 18 foot old town canoe which I enherited from my grandparents. I was told by them that it was from the early 1900's but do not have any other information. I do have the Seriel Number and was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me about the canoe or guide me to where I can find information.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[normsims]

Jeff,

If you send the serial number here, we can look up the Old Town build record for you. The serial number should be stamped inside the canoe on both stems.

Norm

 

[jsshew]

Norm,

From what I can see the serial # is 43394 18.

What I do know about the canoe is that my grandparents bought it used in the 50's or early 60's. It used to be canvase, but has since been fiberglassed over.

Any assistance in helping me find out more about what I have is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town with serial number 43394 is an 18 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, HW (heavy water) model with red western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, a keel, and sponsons. It was built between May and July, 1916. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on September 12th, 1916 to Stamford, Conn.

A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at 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.

Please reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[jsshew]

Is there a good resource to get an idea of the value of the canoe?

 

[pklonowski]

This thread is great start, although it may not give you the answer you may have been hoping for:
http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?57-How-much-is-my-old-wooden-canoe-worth