The Old Town canoe with serial number 78517 is a 17 foot long, AA (or top) grade, Molitor model with red western cedar planking, open mahogany gunwales, 24 inch mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, a keel, outside stems, a floor rack, two flag pole sockets, and a painter ring. It was built between November, 1923 and March, 1924. The original exterior paint color was black with a half inch gold stripe and turned down ends. This was probably similar to the one shown at
http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design39.gif with different colors. It shipped on April 14th, 1924 to Washington, D. C. A scan of this build record can be found below.
This scan was created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. Additional information about 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/shop to donate or renew.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. The decal was often placed in the center of the front combing. Can you supply any more pictures? See
https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/17138/#post-88151 for more about Molitor or
https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/4175/ and
https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/12325/ for two similar canoes. Nice find,
Benson