I have an old canoe i know nothing about. I would like to learn more about it, like how old it is, where it was made, and who made it. Any information would be helpful. The sereal number is 131895-17
The Old Town canoe with serial number 131895 is a 17 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, Otca model with open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, and a keel. It was built between March and May, 1941. The original exterior paint color was bright dark green. It was shipped on May 15th, 1941 to Chicago, Illinois. A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image 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/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/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description don't match the canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Thank you for the fast reply! It is great to know some history about the canoe I have! I am interested in selling this item to someone who would care for it more than I can, so I was wondering on how much this item would be worth! Thanks again!