1918 Old Town - Need Serial # Help Please

JMS1918

New Member
Hi - We are working on an Old Town that was bought by our grandfather from his mother's store in 1918 and has been in the family this whole time. My wife and I just picked it up from a family member today so that we can care for it. We could really use some info on it from the serial #43723. There was a space after the serial # which had an '18' stamped which we thought was either for 1918 or 18'. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
Someone will be along with the actual build info before too long. The "18" means it's 18 feet long. the serial number 43723 is just a bit earlier than My Old Town HW (52727), which was built in late 1918 , into 1919... so it's probably a 1917 or 1918 build.

Pretty nice to have one of these canoes, and know its history! Truly a family heirloom!
 
Thanks for the reply Paul. After looking at some other posts, what you said about the '18' makes sense. We are looking forward to getting into this. It has the seat back fans and everything is still in pretty good condition.

John
 
Hi John,

Your canoe is an 18 foot AA Grade (top grade) Otca Model with Western cedar (red) planking, open Mahogany gunwales, Mahogany decks, thwarts and seats. It was built in 1916 and equipped with a keel and floor rack and painted Yale blue. It was shipped to Conshohocken, PA. The build record also says "name Conshohocken" and that probably means that the name was painted on both sides of the bow as no other instruction is indicated.

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.

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

Dan

smallboat shop
Denmark, Maine
www.smallboat-shop.com
 

Attachments

  • 43723 18.jpg
    43723 18.jpg
    126.8 KB · Views: 173
  • 1916 page 23.gif
    1916 page 23.gif
    161 KB · Views: 197
Dan - Great information. This is the right build sheet. Her store was in Conshohocken PA and we are pretty sure we have some family pictures of it with 'Conshohocken' written on the side. My wife's mother thought her father had painted the letters but it sounds like it came right from OT with that on it. We want to include that as part of the restoration. Thanks very much for the help. I just joined WCHA as your latest member.

John
 
Welcome to the WCHA, John! Please post pictures of your canoe-- "progress pictures" are much appreciated... and we love launching-shots! There's something very special about having a family canoe, and restoring it for the next generations. Keep in mind that the story of your canoe might make a great story for our journal, "Wooden Canoe"... especially with the old family pictures.

Kathy
 
Hi Kathy - I do not have a lot of pictures to post yet. The two attached show us picking it up and the second is on arrival at home. We wanted to get it inside as the weather was starting to turn. Between its history and being such a solid original canoe, we are highly motivated to give it a proper restoration and will do our best to document it along the way. Very glad to have come across WCHA.

John
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0995b.jpg
    IMG_0995b.jpg
    115.4 KB · Views: 196
  • OT canoe home.jpg
    OT canoe home.jpg
    112 KB · Views: 192
Back
Top