Canoe serial numbers
- Thread starter kmartin
- Start date
The Old Town canoe with serial number 172334 is a 15 foot long fifty pound model with a keel. It was built between July and October, 1962. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It was shipped on September 13th, 1963 to Yardville, New Jersey. It was damaged in shipment and returned to the factory on October 15th, 1963. The repairs required a patch in the canvas and planking along with new paint. It was then shipped to Gardner, Mass. on May 25th, 1964.
The Old Town canoe with serial number 122435 is a 16 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, Yankee model with open spruce gunwales, and a keel. It was built between July and November, 1937. The original exterior paint color was dark red. It shipped on March 21st, 1938 to Fall River, Mass.
The Old Town canoe with serial number 19516 is 17 feet long so my guess is that you have the Carleton canoe with this serial number. It shows a 16 foot long Carleton model in regular (or the middle) grade with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, oak decks, oak thwarts, oak seats, a keel, and sponsons. It was built between December, 1926 and August, 1927. The exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on May 15th, 1928 to White Plains, New York.
Scans showing all of these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below.
These scans and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. 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 http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to renew.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if these descriptions don't match your canoes. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
The Old Town canoe with serial number 122435 is a 16 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, Yankee model with open spruce gunwales, and a keel. It was built between July and November, 1937. The original exterior paint color was dark red. It shipped on March 21st, 1938 to Fall River, Mass.
The Old Town canoe with serial number 19516 is 17 feet long so my guess is that you have the Carleton canoe with this serial number. It shows a 16 foot long Carleton model in regular (or the middle) grade with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, oak decks, oak thwarts, oak seats, a keel, and sponsons. It was built between December, 1926 and August, 1927. The exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on May 15th, 1928 to White Plains, New York.
Scans showing all of these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below.
These scans and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. 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 http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to renew.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if these descriptions don't match your canoes. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
Old Town purchased Carleton in 1910 and consolidated both operations into one building after the Carleton factory burned in 1911. Maintaining both brands allowed them to double their dealer network. (This is the same as pickup trucks from Chevrolet and GMC dealers today.) They could ship Old Town canoes to Macy's and Carleton canoes to Abercrombie & Fitch for example. These retailers were technically not competing with each other even though their stores were only a few blocks apart in New York City. This canoe was built on a Carleton form in the Old Town factory. The employees and record tracking systems were the same. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question. Thanks,
Benson
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