50175

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Can someone please check this serial number (18 50175)? Looks for all the world like a AA-grade OT Guide, but the owner has a build record that shows spruce trim. It's early - has bunged holes for seat bolts and thwarts, so how could it be a Carleton? (50175 for Carleton would be too late for this) The 50xxx is about right for an Old Town with bungs in the inwales, and it's obviously a AA-grade canoe. The serial number is crystal clear. The canoe has red cedar planking over white cedar ribs, mahogany trim, a keel, and a floor rack. It's open gunwale without sponsons, and appears to lack outside stems (photos don't show the ends well).

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town record for number 50175 shows an 18 foot long IF (Indian Fishing or Guide's) model with open spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It shipped to Middleboro, Mass. on June 4th, 1919. This is several years before the introduction of the diamond headed bolts so bunged holes for the bolts were standard at that time. The Carleton numbers as shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/carleton/carleton_chart.html stopped before 21000. The Kennebec with this number is an 18 foot long Morris B model type A with torpedo ends and mahogany gunwales. It was planked on May 3rd, 1924 and railed on May 21st, 1927. The rest of the row with the original color and shipping information is blank. Can you provide some pictures to help us identify what your are seeing? Thanks,

Benson

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Several photos here. Somehow the thwarts don't look quite right for this supposed age, but it's hard to imagine that all of the trim was changed to mahogany.

 

[Benson Gray]

Can you get pictures of the numbers from the other stem and the outside profile? I seen an example where a serial number was not stamped correctly on one end. It is also possible that the build record is not correct but that is similarly rare. Everything except the grade, spruce, and ash seems to matche the build record below. The numbers look like the Old Towns below from same period. See the one at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?12413 for another similar example

Benson