Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 74196 is a 15 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, Fifty Pound model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, a keel, and a canvas cover put in first class condition. It was built between November 1922, and March, 1923. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on March 16th, 1923 to Red Wing, Minnesota. A scan of this build record can be found below.
This scan and several hundred thousand more 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/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 join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. Canoes with a family connection are always extra special. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
