Old Town 173339 15

[asher1756]

Greetings,

I recently accepted this canoe as a gift. The wood appears to be in fair shape, I won't know for sure until the canvas comes off. There is a brass tag on the stern deck stating "sold by Clyde R. Seelinger 2111 Erie North KC, MO 64116". The canvas appears to be a very faded blue. Reading posts to the forum lead me to believe it may have been built 1963-64.
Any information you can share will be sincerely appreciated.

Thank you,

Jeffery B. Asher
(asher1756)

 

[Greg Nolan]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 173339 is a 15 foot long, 50 pound model equipped with a keel. It was built between September and November 1963. The original exterior paint color was Yale blue . It was shipped to Kansas Cit, Missouri 0n June 23, 1964. 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

 

[asher1756]

Greg, thank you for your time and the information. Since Mr. Seelinger's name appears on your scan I'm pretty sure this is the canoe. Now to track down Yale Blue, but there is time enough for that I'm just getting ready to remove the canvas. Thanks again! P.S. I have joined the WCHA!

 

[Benson Gray]

Now to track down Yale Blue

Welcome to the WCHA! The PMS and CYMK codes for Yale blue can be found at http://identity.yale.edu/colors if you have not located this already. Good luck with the restoration,

Benson

 

[Greg Nolan]

Benson has steered you to the "horse's mouth" for Yale Blue -- but you and others might find this earlier discussion of Old Town colors of interest.

http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?7345-Old-Town-color-chart-circa-1920&highlight=yale

Color matching is one of the more problematic areas of canoe restoration, for those who are trying to match an original paint color. Most colors do not have an authority like Yale University to specify, in terms that are objective, what a color should look like. So build records that specify "bright red" or "dark green" are open to much interpretation and variation.

If a canoe has the original canvas and you can find a bit of the original paint that has been covered (by a gunwale, for example) since it was applied, and therefore hasn't faded (much), you might be able to get a good match to the actual original. Printed paint charts are often not exact even when new, and are also subject to fading or otherwise changing color with age. Mostly, people just try to make a good guess, or don't even try, just painting the canoe a color they like, figuring the color can always be changed again in the future.

Yale Blue is one of the few colors that a restorer can have some confidence in matching.

And yes, welcome to the WCHA. We would love to see some pictures of your canoe -- before and after -- when it is wearing its new paint.

 

[asher1756]

Gentlemen,

When I popped the keel two distinct shades of blue appeared on the keel itself. The first coat is a near match to the Yale blue shown on the 1960s color chart. It is just a bit lighter, but I guess that wouldn't be unusual for fading. I've been taking pictures as I work. I may try to post a few when the time comes.