This canoe belonged to a prominent Boston family. The family bought the canoe in 1920, and the descendants believe it is an Old Town. It’s unclear whether or not the canoe was new when purchased. It's now on display in a restaurant.
Length measured between 15’6” and 15’8” but the external stems have been removed. It has a serial number on the inside stern stem: probably 225 16. Amidships, the width is 27 inches to the inside of the gunwales, 30 inches to the outside. At the widest point on the hull, it measures 32 inches, giving the canoe an inch of tumblehome on both sides.
The gunwale is made of two pieces. The large main gunwale is shaped to slope outward at the top. On the inside there is a cap that mimics the shape of the combing at the end of the decks. The ribs run up between the gunwale and the planking, but there are no pockets for the ribs as would be found on a Morris canoe.
The extended decks measure 34 1/2 inches.
The stern seat, which seems original, is 17 inches from the rear deck. There was no front seat. Some hardware and a notch in the gunwale indicates there was a thwart (now missing) located about 15 inches from the front deck. The thwart was around 5 3/4 inches wide at the gunwales.
It shows no signs of having been built at the Old Town factory. No diamond head bolts. The serial number, while in the same pattern as Old Town numbers, is way too small for Old Town. It may have been a courting canoe from one of the Boston makers, but one substantial enough to put serial numbers in the canoes.
Does anyone have any ideas who the builder may have been, and when? Thanks.
Norm Sims
Length measured between 15’6” and 15’8” but the external stems have been removed. It has a serial number on the inside stern stem: probably 225 16. Amidships, the width is 27 inches to the inside of the gunwales, 30 inches to the outside. At the widest point on the hull, it measures 32 inches, giving the canoe an inch of tumblehome on both sides.
The gunwale is made of two pieces. The large main gunwale is shaped to slope outward at the top. On the inside there is a cap that mimics the shape of the combing at the end of the decks. The ribs run up between the gunwale and the planking, but there are no pockets for the ribs as would be found on a Morris canoe.
The extended decks measure 34 1/2 inches.
The stern seat, which seems original, is 17 inches from the rear deck. There was no front seat. Some hardware and a notch in the gunwale indicates there was a thwart (now missing) located about 15 inches from the front deck. The thwart was around 5 3/4 inches wide at the gunwales.
It shows no signs of having been built at the Old Town factory. No diamond head bolts. The serial number, while in the same pattern as Old Town numbers, is way too small for Old Town. It may have been a courting canoe from one of the Boston makers, but one substantial enough to put serial numbers in the canoes.
Does anyone have any ideas who the builder may have been, and when? Thanks.
Norm Sims
