Looking for information about #15829 17

[David Dannenberg]

All,

I just came into possession of a 1952 17' Old Town canoe. The serial # is 15829. It is a 17 footer and the previous owner said it was obtained by their family in 1952; this seems to comport with the serial number chart elsewhere on this site. I would love to have more information about this canoe.

Right now the wood is in excellent condition but the canvas is pretty shot; it is cracking and pealing away at the tips and under one gunwale. I suspect it is the original canvas. Currently it is painted red. There is a minor bit of damage at each end--the critical areas where the stems and decks and outer and inner guhwales come together, but it all appears to be quite superficial; one outwale needs to have a small piece scarfed in and there is some refinishing to be done. Much of the canoe is mahogany--gunwales, decks, thwarts, seats (splined caning that seems to be original; easier to replace anyway than "true" caning).

Any further information that anyone can provide about this boat would be greatly appreciated.

David Dannenberg

 

[MGC]

All,

I just came into possession of a 1952 17' Old Town canoe. The serial # is 15829.

Any further information that anyone can provide about this boat would be greatly appreciated.

Hi David,

You may be missing a number in you SN if you are fairly sure that this is a 53.
I am not sure if you found this chart in the legacy pages?
http://wcha.org/legacypages/ot_records/serial-n.jpg
It will help you to get a general date range for your boat while you wait for someone that has the records to respond.
Congrats on a nice "new" canoe.

 

[David Dannenberg]

Hi David,

You may be missing a number in you SN if you are fairly sure that this is a 53.
I am not sure if you found this chart in the legacy pages?
http://wcha.org/legacypages/ot_records/serial-n.jpg
It will help you to get a general date range for your boat while you wait for someone that has the records to respond.
Congrats on a nice "new" canoe.

You are right! I wrote down the number correctly but lost a digit when I transcribed it to the post here. The correct serial number is: 158929

Thanks for catching that.

Dave

 

[Greg Nolan]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 158929 is a 17 foot long, AA (top or premium) grade Otca model equipped with a keel and floor rack. It was built between December 1952 and April 1953. The exterior was originally painted with OT's design # 46 -- see below. It was shipped to Bethayers, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on April 8, 1953. Scans of this build record and the painting design can be found by following the links behind the thumbnail images attached below.


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/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. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Greg Nolan