The Carleton serial numbers don't go this high so you probably have an Old Town that was shipped as a Carleton in the rush to fill an order. These were usually marked on the build records although this one does not have any indication of the change. The Old Town canoe with serial number 110278 is a 16 foot long, AA (or top) grade, HW (Heavy Water) model with red western cedar planking, open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between October, 1931 and January, 1933. The original exterior paint color was dark red. It shipped on February 28th, 1933 to Trenton, New Jersey. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.
This scan and several hundred thousand others 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/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 doesn't match your canoe. Are the decks shaped like an Old Town or heart shaped like a Carleton? Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
