Old Town #4754
- Thread starter drp79
- Start date
Michael Grace
Lifetime Member
This doesn't look like an Old Town number - the font is different and there is no length number, plus four-digit Old Towns are extraordinarily uncommon. It would be good to post some photos of the who canoe, its profile, the decks, and the seats and thwarts. With these photos, you'll likely get an accurate identification here. Your numbers look hand-carved. Notice the differences between the two "4"s, for example.
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Welcome, the Old Town canoe with serial number 4754 is a 16 foot long, AA (or top) grade, Charles River model with red western cedar planking, a keel, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, open double mahogany gunwales, a painter ring, and a lowered bow seat. It was built between May, 1905 and June, 1906. The original exterior paint color was N. H. (New Haven railroad) green. It shipped on June 11th, 1906 to Elmira, New York. A scan of this build record can be found 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/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/shop to donate or renew.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. This seems likely since the font doesn't match the one used by the factory at that time. The numbers from a confirmed Old Town are attached below for comparison. Can you provide some more pictures of the interior of the canoe and confirm the extreme length in a straight line? Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
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/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/shop to donate or renew.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. This seems likely since the font doesn't match the one used by the factory at that time. The numbers from a confirmed Old Town are attached below for comparison. Can you provide some more pictures of the interior of the canoe and confirm the extreme length in a straight line? Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
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Michael Grace
Lifetime Member
This might be a tough one. The serial numbers don't have a font at all (and thus not from any period in Old Town's history); they look like they were carved by hand at some point, and the canoe has had a variety of other modifications. The seats appear to be reproductions (their components have a plainer shape than was used by Old Town in the early days and they are joined with screws that are capped with bungs - not an Old Town method). The seat bolts are not what you'd find on Old Town, and I suspect even the gunwales might be replacements - the inwales look like they may be maple. The thwarts may be replacements too. The brass Old Town nameplate is from much later in the company's history.This build record doesn't show half ribs, but they look original.
I think you could have a fairly early Old Town given what look like un-tapered ribs. I'll be that with all the other work done, the stems were replaced, and the person who worked on the canoe carved the numbers into the stems by hand. Again, the two "4"s are very different from each other. The "7" has rounded points - this and together with other digits having good points would be very odd in a stamped canoe serial number. The "5" looks like its bottom was corrected after an initial try. This is simply not a font of any kind - there is no cohesive style among the digits. And overall, the stems and serial numbers look way too "clean" for a canoe that has been well used (compare to the ribs and planking... note all that some ribs appear to have been replaced but most are old and well-worn). About the number itself, very often serial numbers on old canoes are read incorrectly so these could have been transcribed incorrectly by the previous restorer when putting new stems in the canoe.
All this said, it looks like you have a solid, useable wooden canoe. If I were you, I'd happily use it. This appears to be a mystery canoe. Maybe there is additional information out there from the person who owned it before you?
I think you could have a fairly early Old Town given what look like un-tapered ribs. I'll be that with all the other work done, the stems were replaced, and the person who worked on the canoe carved the numbers into the stems by hand. Again, the two "4"s are very different from each other. The "7" has rounded points - this and together with other digits having good points would be very odd in a stamped canoe serial number. The "5" looks like its bottom was corrected after an initial try. This is simply not a font of any kind - there is no cohesive style among the digits. And overall, the stems and serial numbers look way too "clean" for a canoe that has been well used (compare to the ribs and planking... note all that some ribs appear to have been replaced but most are old and well-worn). About the number itself, very often serial numbers on old canoes are read incorrectly so these could have been transcribed incorrectly by the previous restorer when putting new stems in the canoe.
All this said, it looks like you have a solid, useable wooden canoe. If I were you, I'd happily use it. This appears to be a mystery canoe. Maybe there is additional information out there from the person who owned it before you?
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I agree with Michael, this is a mystery canoe that doesn't look much like an Old Town Charles River model in AA grade from 1906. The two links below show confirmed Old Town Charles River model canoes in AA grade from this era which look much different from this one.
Benson
Benson
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