Another possible Morris serial number...

[Kathryn Klos]

In going through a stack of Morris receipts I found another serial number. The way I "read" this receipt is that canoe #9456 was sent to a dealer in Grand Rapids but suffered damage, and the dealership had it repaired locally and billed Morris. The bill is dated April 19, 1912. This fits the table made by MGC.

I'll include images of another receipt from the same dealership, which doesn't list canoe serial numbers. Will also attach the Grand Rapids Canoe Club bill mentioned on that receipt. It seems to me these canoes were modified by buyers (rather than repaired)... painting, varnishing and lettering done. All the canoes on these receipts must have been new, as I can't imagine Morris would have paid for repairs or changes unless done to newly-delivered merchandise.

Any other thoughts are welcome! It's bits of ephemera like this that can help us understand how business worked for the Morris Company.

 

[MGC]

The straw

In going through a stack of Morris receipts I found another serial number. The way I "read" this receipt is that canoe #9456 was sent to a dealer in Grand Rapids but suffered damage, and the dealership had it repaired locally and billed Morris. The bill is dated April 19, 1912. This fits the table made by MGC.

This one may be the straw that broke the camels back.
With an April repair date I would assume that 9,456 was shipped in late 1911, not 1912. That makes me question the way I distributed the 1911 SN's.
Next time I am on a long flight I will re-trim the numbers.
Your recent research has yielded additional serial numbers tied to dates that will make it possible for me to reduce the number of assumptions I made building the current table.
Bit by piece we are zeroing in on a more accurate dating tool .
Well done!

 

[Dan Miller]

If you look at the monthly distribution of Old Town shipments (http://wcha.org/legacypages/ot_records/months.jpg) only a relative handful of canoes were shipped between August and January, but by February, orders are picking up. It would make sense that sporting goods dealers would order their new stock in late winter and early spring, so you may not need to adjust your numbers by much. Repairs to canoes damaged in shipment would have been made pretty quickly so that they could get them sold.

 

[Benson Gray]

My guess is that these repairs were not for damage in shipment. The Old Town build records often showed canoes where the repairs were billed to a railroad company. The factory would typically only directly pay for finish problems (paint bubbles, filler cracks, etc.) so this seems more likely to have been a quality problem on these canoes.

Benson

 

[MGC]

by February, orders are picking up. It would make sense that sporting goods dealers would order their new stock in late winter and early spring, so you may not need to adjust your numbers by much.

Agree....I don't think there is a need for major changes......we are relatively close with the current data.

 

[Kathryn Klos]

I think so too, MGC... and I appreciate everyone's contributions here.

Today I received the August issue of Wooden Canoe and enjoyed your article on the Old Town paper trail, Benson. I'm in the middle of doping-out old invoices.

 

[Benson Gray]

Today I received the August issue of Wooden Canoe and enjoyed your article on the Old Town paper trail, Benson. I'm in the middle of doping-out old invoices.

Therefore you should start thinking about writing a follow up article based on the Morris invoices that you have found!

Benson

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Oh yes, yes I am doing just that! We never ran the Morris table of serial numbers and dates in the journal, and now would be the time, in conjunction with information from invoices.