model number?

[Bob82]

model number 141110. 18

I am going to try to restore an old canoe for a relative. Family tradition has it as an old town, but no stickers remain. Bow and stern stems both have the numbers: 141110 18. Can you tell from that the model and when it was built?

 

[Greg Nolan]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 141110 is an 18 foot long, AA (premium or top) grade Otca model with red western cedar planking, open ash gunwales, ash seats, decks and thwarts, and equipped with half ribs, a keel, and sponsons. It was built between October 1944 and January 1945. The original exterior paint color was guide special green . It was shipped to Mount Vernon, New York on May 12, 1945. AA grade canoes usually had mahogany gunwales, seats, decks, and thwarts; the use of ash instead is probably because of wartime material shortages. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image 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

 

[Bob82]

Many thanks! This describes the canoe, except the color. The canvas is off, but the sponsons are white with Indian triangles. Must have been repainted...

Thanks again for the quick info!