Old Town ID
- Thread starter eldo
- Start date
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Hi Eldo,
Old Town 133951 has an interesting past, for a couple reasons. It is a 17 foot CS (common sense, or middle) grade Charles River model canoe that was completed November 1941 to January '42. I like looking back on dates like that, knowing this canoe was completed at the very start of WWII. Don't be concerned that this canoe suffered from any "war shortages", as it was finished at the very beginning!
The canoe has open spruce gunwales and oak decks, oak seat frames and oak thwarts. It was fitted with a keel and painted dark green-- the name Jendalyn (?) in gold was placed on the right and left bow. It was hipped to Sanbornville, NH, on June 15, 1942.
Now for the second interesting thing: the canoe was returned to the factory on July 17, 1942 due to damage that happened in transit. The reverse of the build card describes the damage... seems it was attributed to hail (?) although hail is spelled "hale"... I may be misinterpreting that... but the canoe had a hole in the canvas and had broken planking and some scrapes, so Old Town accepted it back at the factory and sent the buyer a new canoe. One might wonder why it took a month for the original buyer to refuse the damaged canoe... but at any rate the canoe was repaired and re-sold, and was shipped March 31, 1943 to Concord, MA. Copies of these scans are attached below-- click to get a larger image.
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/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php 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.
Kathy
Old Town 133951 has an interesting past, for a couple reasons. It is a 17 foot CS (common sense, or middle) grade Charles River model canoe that was completed November 1941 to January '42. I like looking back on dates like that, knowing this canoe was completed at the very start of WWII. Don't be concerned that this canoe suffered from any "war shortages", as it was finished at the very beginning!
The canoe has open spruce gunwales and oak decks, oak seat frames and oak thwarts. It was fitted with a keel and painted dark green-- the name Jendalyn (?) in gold was placed on the right and left bow. It was hipped to Sanbornville, NH, on June 15, 1942.
Now for the second interesting thing: the canoe was returned to the factory on July 17, 1942 due to damage that happened in transit. The reverse of the build card describes the damage... seems it was attributed to hail (?) although hail is spelled "hale"... I may be misinterpreting that... but the canoe had a hole in the canvas and had broken planking and some scrapes, so Old Town accepted it back at the factory and sent the buyer a new canoe. One might wonder why it took a month for the original buyer to refuse the damaged canoe... but at any rate the canoe was repaired and re-sold, and was shipped March 31, 1943 to Concord, MA. Copies of these scans are attached below-- click to get a larger image.
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/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php 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.
Kathy
Attachments
Thanks for history Kathy, unbelievable how fast you get these. I bought this from some nice folks in NH who bought it at some type of show also in NH,I think they said Concord I'll have to check back with them, where it was being displayed in the hotel lobby. I was told that before the show the canoe underwent a restoration. The canoe is now white and in great condition with just a little peeling paint. The varnish is ok but I plan to do it over so it looks nice. I hope to have ready for the water soon. Thanks again.
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Glad she's ready for the water-- it's time to paddle!
