I just brought home my first restoration project. I have built three cedar strips canoes and thought I'd try my hand at bringing an old canoe back to life. This canoe has been restored before, several years ago. There's fiberglass on it now but it's a poor job. I want to re-canvas this canoe. There is a factory label on the inside edge of the aft deck. The label is tough to read because of the prior restoration. What I can make out is that it was made in Waterville, Maine. Looking at the decals available on the WCHA website I see a Kennebec decal that looks fairly close to what's on my canoe. The gentleman that sold me this canoe also had a 1924 Kennebec catalog. One of the canoes in the catalog (Model 3A) looks very similar to mine. After removing the decks, I found a serial number on the bow stem (17 0049). I'm assuming the 17 refers to the length of the canoe. Could someone provide me additional information what the 0049 means? Thanks!
Kennebec Serial Number Search
- Thread starter Carlton
- Start date
Kennebec did not typically use leading zeros in their serial numbers so my guess is that you have number 10049 which is a 17 foot long Kennebec model type a with few details recorded or 100049 which is a 17 foot long green Kineo special model that shipped on April 3rd, 1923. Can you provide any pictures of the numbers from both ends of your canoe and confirm the overall extreme straight line length in feet? Thanks,
Benson
Benson
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Gary, Thanks for the quick response. The canoe is exactly 17ft. I checked the bow stem and took some photos. You may or may not be able to see the number 4 in front of the 9. I visually estimated the distance between each digit to see if I could find the number 1 as you suggested. It appears they sunk a screw right in the location of the number 1. I believe the screw if holding the keel. Looking closely at the screw it appears to reveal the top of #1. I thought it could possibly be from when the screw was installed. But it's definitely not a gouge. It's a "stamped" digit. When I got home today I put some varnish remover on the other stem. Once it dries out I may see more. But right now I can barely see the number 4. I'm wondering if they sanded this part of the stem when they refinished it? I'm a little upset someone did a poor job with the previous "restoration". But then again, if they hadn't attempted it, the canoe may have not lasted this long. Thanks so much for your help. It's day two of the project and I already have one-half the fiberglass removed. Work is getting in the way of having fun
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Jerry, The photos I have of the entire canoe are on my phone which I left at work today. But here are a few of the project so far. The covering is all fiberglass. A little heat gun and 30 minutes later one-half of the fiberglass is gone. I think I got lucky. I'm new to the WCHA, so I'm not sure what the rules may be regarding photos showing the progress of the restoration in this thread. If I'm doing it wrong, someone please tell me. If we need to use a different thread to share those photos, I'd like to see how you're coming along. Take Care.
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Carlton,
That's going to be a gorgeous canoe! Thanks for the pics. I'm new here too. I'm told the place to post photos is here: http://forums.wcha.org/forumdisplay.php?32
I put a few of mine there yesterday. Have fun!
That's going to be a gorgeous canoe! Thanks for the pics. I'm new here too. I'm told the place to post photos is here: http://forums.wcha.org/forumdisplay.php?32
I put a few of mine there yesterday. Have fun!
Hi Gary,
I wasn't sure if there is anymore information you could share? I attached some photos of the serial numbers in a previous post. I'm thinking the number is 10049. When you said there are few details, I assuming there are no build records available. Am I right?
If there are few records, is there any way of knowing the year it was built? This is turning into a very cool project. I got the fiberglass pulled this weekend and have started removing the old varnish. The deeper I get into this canoe, the more the history seems to come alive. Thanks for your help.
Carlton
I wasn't sure if there is anymore information you could share? I attached some photos of the serial numbers in a previous post. I'm thinking the number is 10049. When you said there are few details, I assuming there are no build records available. Am I right?
If there are few records, is there any way of knowing the year it was built? This is turning into a very cool project. I got the fiberglass pulled this weekend and have started removing the old varnish. The deeper I get into this canoe, the more the history seems to come alive. Thanks for your help.
Carlton
It would be helpful if you could post some pictures of the serial numbers from the other end since the one shown so far appears to be 17 x00x9 which leaves a lot of options. Kennebec is the only builder listed at http://wcha.org/legacypages/maine-list.htm from Waterville, Maine. The Kennebec canoes with serial numbers 10049 and 100049 have no indications of being built with long decks. However, Kennebec worked with Morris in the 1920s and produced a group of canoes with serial numbers in the 50K range. Number 50049 went on a green 17 foot long canoe from 1924. It is listed as a type A5 but I've not been able to find any description of this type in either the Kennebec or Morris catalogs.
Therefore, my guess is that you may have the Kennebec / Morris with number 50049 shown on page 151 of volume three in the Kennebec ledgers. This was assigned to a 17 foot long Morris model A, type Mah (mahogany?) A5. It was planked by Roy on February 23rd, 1924 and the canvas covering was applied by Tuttle on the same day. Grant applied the first filler coat on February 23rd, 1924 and the second filler coat on March 8th, 1924. It was railed by Mansell on March 22nd, 1924. It had outside stems and the original color was green. It shipped to location "24-85" on May 2nd, 1924. This location is probably an order number but we don't currently have enough information to identify it.
The scans of these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below. The original Kennebec records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Maine State Museum.
The microfilms and scans of these records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). 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 join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Is there any sign of an outside stem? Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Thanks,
Benson
Therefore, my guess is that you may have the Kennebec / Morris with number 50049 shown on page 151 of volume three in the Kennebec ledgers. This was assigned to a 17 foot long Morris model A, type Mah (mahogany?) A5. It was planked by Roy on February 23rd, 1924 and the canvas covering was applied by Tuttle on the same day. Grant applied the first filler coat on February 23rd, 1924 and the second filler coat on March 8th, 1924. It was railed by Mansell on March 22nd, 1924. It had outside stems and the original color was green. It shipped to location "24-85" on May 2nd, 1924. This location is probably an order number but we don't currently have enough information to identify it.
The scans of these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below. The original Kennebec records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Maine State Museum.
The microfilms and scans of these records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). 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 join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Is there any sign of an outside stem? Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Thanks,
Benson
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Gary,
Thank you for the information. Here are some photos of the serials numbers. I've sent you the bow numbers earlier, but my wife had a great idea....cornstarch. It made the be numbers more visible. The digit 4 is still a bit tough to see. If you look next to the screw, I think I'm seeing the top of the digit "5". too bad the screw is sunk through the number. The stern serial # is next to impossible to see. I think the stem was sanded. Plus, the stem has some saw marks making the cornstarch less useful. But if I hold my head right, and squint just enough, with the light being just right, I think I can see the numbers. Or it could be a vivid imagination.
I used a pencil to highlight what I think I see. There is no indication of "17" on the stern stem. Yes the deck and gunwales (inner & outer) are mahogany. The 1924 Kennebec catalog I have describes the Model 3A as having large decks and mahogany, if that helps. But I'm sure your resources re better than mine. I'm also interested in learning more about the Kennebec Company, and maybe now the Morris Company. I see that there's a bunch of information of previous WCHA magazines which I think I'll order. Thanks again for your help.
Thank you for the information. Here are some photos of the serials numbers. I've sent you the bow numbers earlier, but my wife had a great idea....cornstarch. It made the be numbers more visible. The digit 4 is still a bit tough to see. If you look next to the screw, I think I'm seeing the top of the digit "5". too bad the screw is sunk through the number. The stern serial # is next to impossible to see. I think the stem was sanded. Plus, the stem has some saw marks making the cornstarch less useful. But if I hold my head right, and squint just enough, with the light being just right, I think I can see the numbers. Or it could be a vivid imagination.
I used a pencil to highlight what I think I see. There is no indication of "17" on the stern stem. Yes the deck and gunwales (inner & outer) are mahogany. The 1924 Kennebec catalog I have describes the Model 3A as having large decks and mahogany, if that helps. But I'm sure your resources re better than mine. I'm also interested in learning more about the Kennebec Company, and maybe now the Morris Company. I see that there's a bunch of information of previous WCHA magazines which I think I'll order. Thanks again for your help.
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