Old Town Canoe S/N 85747

[bblpaddler]

I'm looking for information the Old Town canoe with serial number 85747.

Oral history has this canoe being purchaced by the Minneapolis Parks Department from a resort in Lake Geneva Wisconsin, but the resort name is unknown, and it is unknown how that resort acquired it. My father purchased this canoe from a co-worker in about 1970. It is in need of some TLC.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 85747 is a 17 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, HW (heavy water) model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between October, 1924 and February, 1926. The original exterior paint color was brilliant green. It shipped on March 19th, 1926 to Wheeling, West Virginia. A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.

This scan 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/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. Can you provide a picture of the serial numbers from each end? Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions,

Benson

 

[bblpaddler]

Thanks, Benson

The description does not seem to match the canoe. It is a 16' canoe and does not appear to have had a floor rack at any point in time. Upon further inspection, the numbers at the bow and stern do *not* match. After discussing the confusion with my father, he says that he does not recall ever seeing the number at the bow, and he thought that (at one time) the stern stem appeared to have been replaced. It is hard to tell now, but I can imagine how someone may have stamped an incorrect serial number when replacing the stern stem.

I've attached images of the two serial numbers. The bow appears to be 65747.

Thanks again.

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 65747 is a 16 foot long Yankee model in CS (Common Sense or the middle) grade with red western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, a keel, a floor rack, and sponsons. It was built between April and May, 1921. The original exterior paint color was white. It was shipped on May 13th, 1921 to Minneapolis, Minnesota. A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.

It is also possible that they could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. This seems like a more likely candidate. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[bblpaddler]

Thanks! This looks correct. Do you know if what was a standard color, or if it was a special order?

 

[Benson Gray]

Do you know if what was a standard color, or if it was a special order?

Dark green was the standard color but white could be ordered for an extra charge. The hull needs to be especially smooth since white shows any imperfections more clearly than the darker colors. The 1921 catalog pages below have additional details. More information like this is available from http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html in the catalog collection.

Benson