Requesting info on 2 Old Towns

[bsterling1745]

Greetings, again. I am writing to ask for information on two Old Towns.

Friends are working on what appears to be a 20' HW model OT - it didn't start out as a square stern but became one at some point in it's existence. They hope to correct that. The build information will be appreciated. The serial number is 76506.

The other is from a Washington DC area CL posting. The serial number in the picture appears to be 40771 17. The posting indicates that it is from the 1930s but that seems to be an earlier serial number. Perhaps the seller might be interested in having a more specific build date. Perhaps not but now I am curious,

Thanks for your help.

B.

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 76506 is a 20 foot, CS grade, Guide's Special model with open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch trim, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between February and April, 1923. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on June 19th, 1923 to Camp Mishawaka in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Bill Dengler from Camp Mishawaka contacted me about this canoe in July, 2004 and I sent him a copy of this build record.

The Old Town canoe with serial number 40771 is a 17 foot long, AA (or top) grade, HW (Heavy Water) model with open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between December, 1915 and April, 1916. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped in 1916.

Scans showing these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below. These scans 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 these descriptions don't match the canoes. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[bsterling1745]

Thank you, Benson.

B.