Looking for information on an 18' OT canoe, serial no. 112908

Hunneyman

New Member
I'm looking for information on an 18' OT canoe, serial no. 112908. I received this canoe from my neighbor when he moved away. He advised he and his family used the canoe in the early 1960s. Sometime before that, his father purchased the canoe from a camp or municiple park in NE Ohio. Any help in learning more about this canoe's history is appreciated.
 
The Old Town canoe with serial number 112908 is 18 feet long, CS (common sense) grade, HW model with western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, and oak seats, decks, and thwarts, and was equipped with a keel. Construction began in 1933; finishing was completed on February 26, 1934. The original exterior paint color was dark green, with something I can’t decipher done in red. It was shipped on March 13, 1934 to the New York department store R.H. Macy at the store’s warehouse in Long Island City, NY. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image attached below.

112908 - 47949.jpg

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
 
Greg, thanks for the scan and information. I am attempting to strip and refurbish this canoe (photos below). It's great to have this information so I can replace the rotted wood with the correct species. As for the additional color notation, I'll ask if he remembers anything in red.

Referring to your scan, any ideas on the words written after the railed date and the keel date?

canoe1.jpg

canoe2.jpg

canoe4.jpg

canoe3.jpg

Thanks again.
 

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Those would be the names of the Old Town crew that installed the piece in question -- Ronette or Donette for the keel, and Chaloux for the rails.
It is my understanding that a lot of the work was paid on a piece-work basis, and the entry on the build record was part of the payroll scheme, insuring that the proper person got paid for that particular job.

Greg
 
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