Old Town Serial Number search and history

[lazer10@mchsi.com]

I purchased a 17' Old Town canoe which needs some repairs like new gunwales, decals, cane seats, etc. Is there a special name for this style canoe? Where can these items be purchased? Also, what is the history of this canoe with a serial number of 152811? How many were made?

 

[Greg Nolan]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 152811 is shown as 17 feet long, CS (common sense or standard) grade, HW (heavy water) model with western red cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, and equipped with a keel. The canoe was built between July and October 1945. The original exterior paint was dark green. It was shipped to Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 2, 1950. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail images 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 also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe.

Decals may be obtained from the WCHA online store < http://store.wcha.org/home.php > and building materials and repair parts may be obtained from some of the builders listed in our Builder and Supplier Directory < http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply > .

Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Greg