The popularity of putting old wooden canoes on display in public places means that I am probably not the only person here who has ever looked up and wondered if I could learn more about a canoe that was too high to easily see the serial number or other details. I may have found a solution.
A webcam on the top of several tent poles along with some USB extension cords, a laptop, and the Windows Camera application can easily solve the issue. The picture below shows this contraption when fully assembled for use.
A local restaurant in Portland, Maine named Batson River is a good example as shown below from their web site (https://batsonriver.com/).
My camera indicates that it has serial number 144912.
The build record confirms that it is an Old Town HW which shipped to North Belgrade, Maine in 1946.
The local Cabela's has a number of interesting canoes on display. One is an Old Town over the front door.
The serial number is 786956 which probably dates from around 2005 but I haven't been able to locate a build record.
There is a square stern beside it but I couldn't find a serial number.
The boot area has another Old Town with closed gunwales.
The serial numbers have been sanded off from each end so more information is not available.
There is an old canoe near it with very short decks.
The lack of a serial number and the square drive keel screw indicate that it may be Canadian.
The customer service desk appears to have an Old Town fifty pound model over a Carleton with Old Town decals. The shorter canoe was above the range of my tent poles.
The Carleton serial number appears to be 8086. This is further confirmed by Jeff Hartwig who contacted me in 2008 looking for more information about this serial number related to "a project I am working on for a new Cabela's store that is currently under construction in Scarborough, Maine."
This is a reasonable match with the build record below.
The smaller canoe above the Carleton and another one in the same area shown below were too high to easily reach.
Jeff Hartwig also asked about serial numbers 158021 and 166951 so the two build records below probably go with those canoes.
The other side of the store has a wonderful old board and batten canoe the might be a Peterborough. The thwart tags had been replaced with pieces of flat copper so I can't be sure.
A quick trip to L. L. Bean in Freeport located another.
The tag on the deck and number on the stem confirmed this as being from Island Falls Canoe.
Their main store is still being rebuilt so more may be available there eventually. The link below describes a canoe that used to be over the front door there. Fun stuff,
Benson
A webcam on the top of several tent poles along with some USB extension cords, a laptop, and the Windows Camera application can easily solve the issue. The picture below shows this contraption when fully assembled for use.
A local restaurant in Portland, Maine named Batson River is a good example as shown below from their web site (https://batsonriver.com/).
My camera indicates that it has serial number 144912.
The build record confirms that it is an Old Town HW which shipped to North Belgrade, Maine in 1946.
The local Cabela's has a number of interesting canoes on display. One is an Old Town over the front door.
The serial number is 786956 which probably dates from around 2005 but I haven't been able to locate a build record.
There is a square stern beside it but I couldn't find a serial number.
The boot area has another Old Town with closed gunwales.
The serial numbers have been sanded off from each end so more information is not available.
There is an old canoe near it with very short decks.
The lack of a serial number and the square drive keel screw indicate that it may be Canadian.
The customer service desk appears to have an Old Town fifty pound model over a Carleton with Old Town decals. The shorter canoe was above the range of my tent poles.
The Carleton serial number appears to be 8086. This is further confirmed by Jeff Hartwig who contacted me in 2008 looking for more information about this serial number related to "a project I am working on for a new Cabela's store that is currently under construction in Scarborough, Maine."
This is a reasonable match with the build record below.
The smaller canoe above the Carleton and another one in the same area shown below were too high to easily reach.
Jeff Hartwig also asked about serial numbers 158021 and 166951 so the two build records below probably go with those canoes.
The other side of the store has a wonderful old board and batten canoe the might be a Peterborough. The thwart tags had been replaced with pieces of flat copper so I can't be sure.
A quick trip to L. L. Bean in Freeport located another.
The tag on the deck and number on the stem confirmed this as being from Island Falls Canoe.
Their main store is still being rebuilt so more may be available there eventually. The link below describes a canoe that used to be over the front door there. Fun stuff,
Benson
Last edited:
