Old Town serial number 72480, maybe 72490

[keikobad]

The serial number of an Old Town canoe I recently saw for sale is either 72480 or 72490 (difficult to see). The canoe is 16 ft. long, approx. 33 inches wide, and 12 inches deep. It has been restored, but I don't know when. It looks to be in pretty good shape.
I am only beginning to learn about the history of wooden/canvas canoes, so please pardon my ignorance/inexperience. Any information relating to the manufacturer's description of Old Town 72480 or Old Town 72490 would be much appreciated. I am a new member of WCHA.

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome to the WCHA and I'm sorry for the delay in responding. The original scans of these records were very dark so it took a while to get better copies from the original paper records. The Old Town canoe with serial number 72480 is 18 feet long so that doesn't match. The one with number 72490 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, Yankee model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, and a keel. It was built between June and July, 1922. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It was shipped on July 14th, 1922 to North Creek, New York. Scans showing all of these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below.

These scans 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 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 renew.

It is also possible that they could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The 1949 catalog page at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4347&d=1206840028 describes this model. More information like this is available at http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html from the catalog collection. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[keikobad]

Thank you, Benson, for taking the time to find the clearer copies of the Old Town documents. And many thanks also for the links to the descriptions.

Linda

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Hi Linda--

The Yankee model has an interesting history, which you may be able to pull out of these Forums by using the "search" function on the upper right. More information on the Old Town Company can be found in Sue Audette's book, "Old Town, Our First Hundred Years", which is available through the WCHA store and most booksellers, eBay, Amazon, and public libraries.

Welcome to the WCHA!
Kathy

 

[keikobad]

Thanks, Kathy! The intricacies of wooden-canoe research are fascinating. I am really going to enjoy my membership in the WCHA.

Linda