The Old Town canoe with serial number 141296 is a 17 foot, CS grade, HW (Heavy Water) model with open spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash trim, number ten canvas, and a keel. It was built between December, 1944 and August, 1945. The original exterior paint color was dark green with a G. S. (Guide's Special) green bottom. It shipped on August 28th, 1945 to L. I. (Long Island?) City, New York. It appears that this canoe was in Pawling, New York in April of 1973 when a copy of the build record was requested as shown on the back side of the build record. Scans of both sides of this build record can be found by following the links at the thumbnail images attached below.
Steel tacks and slat seats were common on canoes from this era since brass and cane were not readily available due to the war efforts. The sailing rig and aluminum stem bands are not mentioned on the original build record so they were probably added after this canoe left the factory.
These scans were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. Additional information about 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 join or contribute to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See
http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and
http://www.wcha.org/join.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. Good luck with your repairs.
Benson
