help with canoe identification

[Shannon]

Hi all. I'm trying to learn more about a pretty canoe we have. We think we know who purchased it originally, but I don't know for sure, and I don't know what model, etc. We think it is late 30s or early 40s. This is the number I found on it: 127605. After that number there is a space and then: 17. We think that indicates length.

It has diamond-shaped brass or copper fasteners along the edges. The boat is red.

Any help is most welcome. Thank you.

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 127605 is a 17 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, HW model with open spruce gunwales, half ribs, a keel, a mast seat, and a mast step. It was built between May, 1939 and May, 1940. The original exterior paint color was bright red. It shipped on May 9th, 1940 to Monterey, Massachusetts so it may not have moved far. 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 your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson