Old town serial numer
- Thread starter dannyS
- Start date
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Greetings Danny,
Old Town 141879 is a 16 foot AA (top) grade HW (heavy water) model canoe that was completed March-June of 1945, with red Western cedar planking, open ash gunwales and ash decks, ash thwarts, and ash seats.
(Of note, this canoe was built during WWII, which may explain why trim that would have been mahogany pre-and-post-war has been substituted with ash. There are those who appreciate the uniqueness of these war-era canoes, who restore them to original-- while others choose to replace hardware made of steel with copper and brass. It's always the choice of the owner!)
This canoe was fitted with a keel, floor rack, and sponsons. If the sponsons are missing, the canoe may still have tell-tale carry thwarts at each end and indications of screws on the sides, where the sponsons were placed. Sponsons serve the purpose of helping to stabilize a canoe, making it safer for non-swimmers and, for some, more useful as a sailing canoe.
This canoe was originally painted with Old Town design #45, with guide special green on the bottom and was fitted with rub rails. It was shipped to Macks Inn, Idaho, on June 21, 1945. The date may be significant, in that if we let our imaginations take-hold, we might imagine this tricked-out, top-grade canoe was purchased for a soldier returning from the European front.
Does this appear to match your canoe? If not, we can try again.
Image of the scan of this record is attached below-- click on it 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 athttp://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.
Old Town 141879 is a 16 foot AA (top) grade HW (heavy water) model canoe that was completed March-June of 1945, with red Western cedar planking, open ash gunwales and ash decks, ash thwarts, and ash seats.
(Of note, this canoe was built during WWII, which may explain why trim that would have been mahogany pre-and-post-war has been substituted with ash. There are those who appreciate the uniqueness of these war-era canoes, who restore them to original-- while others choose to replace hardware made of steel with copper and brass. It's always the choice of the owner!)
This canoe was fitted with a keel, floor rack, and sponsons. If the sponsons are missing, the canoe may still have tell-tale carry thwarts at each end and indications of screws on the sides, where the sponsons were placed. Sponsons serve the purpose of helping to stabilize a canoe, making it safer for non-swimmers and, for some, more useful as a sailing canoe.
This canoe was originally painted with Old Town design #45, with guide special green on the bottom and was fitted with rub rails. It was shipped to Macks Inn, Idaho, on June 21, 1945. The date may be significant, in that if we let our imaginations take-hold, we might imagine this tricked-out, top-grade canoe was purchased for a soldier returning from the European front.
Does this appear to match your canoe? If not, we can try again.
Image of the scan of this record is attached below-- click on it 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 athttp://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.
