Old Town build record please

patrick corry

solo canoeist
Serial # 166105: Interestingly it's only 104 digits older than the 166299 50 pounder adjacent in the photo below. The canoe has no seats, rather wide kneeling thwarts bow and stern, and a D-shaped outwale which appears to be non-rabbeted, so the canvas top edge shows in the joint between outwale and rib. Thanks in advance.
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Beam measured inside inwale to inside inwale: 35.5"
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Congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 166105 is a 15 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, fifty pound model with a keel. It was built between March and September, 1957. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on November 22nd, 1957 to Aurora, Illinois. A scan of this build record can be found below.

This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. 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 join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson



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Thank you Benson! I'm quite surprised that this canoe is recorded as a 50#. It's quite different than the other canoe in the picture for which you earlier provided the build sheet as a 50#. The subject canoe is also different than the two 50#'ers I'm currently working on! The most obvious differences are the beam width compared to the others, and the outwale profile. It also seems to be more "full" in the cheeks than the other three which may be apparent in the picture. I'm going to acquire these canoes and once in my possession I'll be able to investigate in more detail. The subject canoe doesn't need much more than a diligent cleaning, new varnish, and then canvas/paint. The only real damage I have seen so far is a rodent-chewed stern deck!
 
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