A True Old Town?

[gocanoeing]

Kathryn, question. On 5/31 I posted 'Old Town #6352961789'. Of course you said to many digits. Back to the drawing board. This canoe was represented as a Carlton. It’s fiberglass, 18 ft, with a parquet floor. It has an Old Town decal. After looking at it again I found the number of 206461 stamped into the hull. The other 10 place number that I gave first was on the stem in the usual place. A true Old Town, or did someone pull a fast one?

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Hello again. That six figure number is possibly the serial number and I'll attach the build record. I'm not familiar with Old Town's non-wood canoes, but someone else here can perhaps explain more. So, if this record seems to fit your canoe, you have an Old Town.

My reading of the build record is that it's an 18 foot Carleton model canoe, green in color, shipped to Newbury, MA, on April 15, 1975. A copy of the scan is attached below-- click on it for a larger image.


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/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php 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.

Kathy

 

[Dan Miller]

Old Town offered the fiberglass Carleton model between 1971 and 1979. It's name is a nod to their history - Old Town bought the Carleton Canoe Company in 1910 and maintained it as a separate brand to 1941.