Welcome, the Old Town canoe with serial number 128797 is a 17 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, Otca model with open spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, half ribs, a keel, and outside stems. It was built between January and June, 1940. The original exterior paint color was brilliant green. It shipped on June 13th, 1940 to Camden, New Jersey. A scan showing this build record is attached 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/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 your canoe. Serial numbers were stamped one digit at a time by hand so mistakes happened. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck with the purchase,
Benson
