Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 45843 is a 17 foot long, AA (or top) grade, Otca model with red Western cedar planking, open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between October, 1916 and January, 1917. The original exterior paint color was auto gray with a two inch maroon stripe. It shipped on January 31st, 1917 to Toledo, Ohio. The note on the back side of the card indicates that it may have moved to Athens, Georgia by July, 1984 when there was a previous request for a copy of this build record. Scans showing both sides of this build record can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below.
These scans and several hundred thousand more 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/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will donate or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See
http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and
http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to renew.
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.
Benson
