The Old Towns with serial numbers 123976 and 123978 are both canoes.
However, the Old Town with serial number 123973 is shown as a 7.5 foot long dinghy, AA (premium) grade, with open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks and seats, and fitted with a keel, outside stems, and a floor rack. The canoe was built and fited out in 1937-395. The original exterior paint color was black, and there is a note that it was “roped.” It was shipped to Providence, R.I. on April 22, 1939. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image attached below.
Now, it is quite possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. For example, 123971 is a 9 foot dinghy shipped to Macy’s in NY; number 123972 is a 9 foot dinghy shipped to Marblehead, MA; 123974 is an 11.5 foot dinghy shipped to Boston -- all in the same time frame. I have posted the build record above because it is closest to your 7 foot specification. If re-measurement comes up with a different number, let us know and we can provide copies of these other records.
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.
Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Greg
