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carver

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Hello, I was wondering if I could get build information on a wood/canvas canoe that I bought from my neighbor thirty years ago. He said that it was an Old Town. At the time that meant nothing to me as my only experience with canoes back then was with Grumman aluminum canoes. The number is 68006 17. I read in another serial number post that the 17 is the length. I suspected it might represent length though the actual length is close to eighteen feet. A number of years ago I looked at an Old Town website and saw the chart giving approximate time frame of when it was built - around 1922 - 1923. I have only ever used the canoe four or five times and those were during the first ten years that I had it. It has spent the last twenty years stored in my father-in-laws barn. It, then, and still now, seems to be structurally sound. After reading through some of your forum posts, the word "seems" becomes much less meaningful. Thankyou
 
Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 68006 is a 17 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, Otca model with red Western cedar planking, 20 inch maple decks, maple thwarts, maple seats, half ribs, a keel, outside stems, a bang plate along the full length of the keel, and a painter ring. It was built between November, 1921 and January, 1922. The original exterior paint color was primrose yellow with a light green stripe and Greek ends. This may have looked similar to the one shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design24.gif which was known as design number 24. It shipped on February 10th, 1922 to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A scan of this build record can be found 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 donate, 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 that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description don't match your canoe. Appearances can be deceiving, especially with old canoes. A water test to see if it leaks too much for comfortable use is usually a good first step. Please attach some pictures here if the original paint design is still showing. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck,

Benson



68006.jpg
 
Thank you for the historical record for the canoe - and it is great to get it just before the canoe's 100th anniversary. I would like to get it restored and actually enjoy using it as it begins its 2nd century - though only on the lakes of our area - central Pennsylvania. Again, Thankyou
 
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