Info on Old Town 9019 please

Brian Rickman

Curious about Wooden Canoes
Seems like there should be more digits to this serial number, but what I saw stamped at both ends of the canoe was 9019-16.

I just picked up this beautiful old canoe last night and would love to learn more about it. It's a 16' wood and canvas canoe made by Old Town. It is in remarkably good condition. One thwart needs to be reattached, and the canvas looks worn, but it looks usable.

There are some pictures here.
 
Hello, Brian--

You have a very interesting old Old Town! Old Town 9019 is a CS (common sense) grade XX model canoe, finished between March and May of 1908. It has red Western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, and I can't make out the wood species for decks, thwarts and seat frames. The canoe was painted dark green and shipped with two spruce paddles, flag poles, and slat backs to Worcester, Massachusetts on 5/18/1908. I can't make out the name of the company purchasing the canoe, but that might be fun to look up.

Someone else may be able to give you more information on the XX model. It doesn't appear in the 1908 catalog, but you may be able to find information in past discussions here by using the "search" function above.

The scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image. This scan and several hundred thousand others 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/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to renew.

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.

More information on the Old Town Company can be found in Sue Audette's book, "Old Town, Our First Hundred Years", which is available through the WCHA store and most booksellers, eBay, Amazon, and public libraries.

Kathy
 

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