Old Town Serial number 128888
- Thread starter Henry
- Start date
Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 128888 is a 16 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, Yankee model with open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between January and April, 1940. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It was shipped on May 14th, 1940 to West Cornwall, Connecticut. 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. 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. The initials on the stem were added after it left the factory. Canoes with a family connection are always extra special. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
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. The initials on the stem were added after it left the factory. Canoes with a family connection are always extra special. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
Thank you Benson! This is great. I never knew Old Town kept such records and thank you for maintaining this bit of history. My grandfather bought this canoe when he lived on the Housatonic River by the West Cornwall covered bridge, where he was station master for the New Haven Railroad. I would love to find a new home for this boat, if you know who would like it. New canvas and varnish and she will be good as new.
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Scrapmaker
Hello Henry,
You have several options for selling your canoe. The starting point should be to understand what it is worth in unrestored condition. The next thing is to have some feel for the cost of such restoration.
You can get a rough idea of value from this thread:
forums.wcha.org
Restoration costs a hobbyist about $600 in materials and about 100 hours of time.
If you pay a shop or restoration service, expect to pay a minimum of $250 and up to $500 per foot depending upon the extent of work required. The cost of restoration does not factor into the final sellable price. For most common models, the cost to restore will generally exceed the saleable value.
There are classified ads on this website. For $35 a non-member can list a canoe here. You might want to browse there to see what sort of asking prices people are listing.
Canoes are also sold on Craigslist and Facebook market place. Frankly, I have had better success with Facebook Market place than anywhere else. I'm not sure why.
Good luck.
You have several options for selling your canoe. The starting point should be to understand what it is worth in unrestored condition. The next thing is to have some feel for the cost of such restoration.
You can get a rough idea of value from this thread:
How much is my old wooden canoe worth?
How much is my old canoe worth? One of the most common questions that gets sent to the WCHA webmasters is "how much is my old canoe worth?" Tim Hewitt's responses over the years have included the following comments: Any wooden or wood/canvas canoe in usable condition is worth $1000 - $1500. A...
Restoration costs a hobbyist about $600 in materials and about 100 hours of time.
If you pay a shop or restoration service, expect to pay a minimum of $250 and up to $500 per foot depending upon the extent of work required. The cost of restoration does not factor into the final sellable price. For most common models, the cost to restore will generally exceed the saleable value.
There are classified ads on this website. For $35 a non-member can list a canoe here. You might want to browse there to see what sort of asking prices people are listing.
Canoes are also sold on Craigslist and Facebook market place. Frankly, I have had better success with Facebook Market place than anywhere else. I'm not sure why.
Good luck.
