Researching OT Wood Canvass Canoe Serial Number 136921 16

[tbonebell]

Someone painted over the serial number having a hard time making it out. I measured it. It’s 16 ft. TIA
TMB

 

[Dan Miller]

A little paint stripper will help.

 

[tbonebell]

it needs a lot of paint stripper

 

[tbonebell]

The first three numbers look like 136

 

[pklonowski]

Paint stripper and patience... don't let the paint stripper dry out.

 

[tbonebell]

Closest I can get without taking it down and stripping it are 136921 16 which according to google dates it around 1941-42?

 

[tbonebell]

Any idea what the value be after restoration?

 

[pklonowski]

Questions about the value of vintage canoes pop up here often. This will help:

Thread 'How much is my old wooden canoe worth?'

Nov 14, 2004

How much is my old canoe worth?

One of the most common questions that gets sent to the WCHA webmasters is "how much is my old canoe worth?" Tim Hewitt's responses over the years have included the following comments:

Any wooden or wood/canvas canoe in usable condition is worth $1000 - $1500. A canoe that is documentable will go on the high end, one that is particularly rare will bring more, up to $3000 for a wood canvas canoe, and as high as $5000 for an all-wood canoe. These high end canoes must be in showroom condition and you must have evidence or documentation of their age and...

• Benson Gray
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• 

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 136921 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, HW model with open spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, a keel, and sponsons. It was built between January and March, 1943. The original exterior paint color was fire red. It shipped on April 1st, 1943 to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A scan of this build record can be found below.

This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/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 https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/pricing-plans/join to donate or join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Paul's suggested link above has a good summary of how to value a canoe like this. The current listings at https://www.woodencanoe.org/classifieds and the archive at https://wcha.org/classified-archive/Old-Town-HW.html show the asking prices for similar canoes. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[tbonebell]

Thank you very much! The canoe is in the Pittsburgh area so that tracks.