Old Town SN Search

Kman

New Member
I just found this web site and it is awesome. We have an Old Town canoe that has been in our family since purchased new in the 1940's. It has been three different colors in my lifetime and is about at the point to need some TLC. We'd love to know more about it's history. The SN is 135914. There is also the # 17 stamped a few inches after the SN. I assume that means it is a 17 footer???
Thank you in advance for any help.
 
The Old Town canoe with serial number 135914 is a 17 foot long, AA (or top) grade, Otca model with open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, a keel, outside stems, a floor rack, and a painter ring. It was built between July and December, 1942. The original exterior paint was dark green. It shipped on April 19th, 1943 to Ticonderoga, New York. A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.

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 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 you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Yes, the 17 on the end is the length in feet. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions,

Benson
 

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Thanks so much for the quick reply. That is definately the canoe and it still resides in Ticonderoga, NY. It was purchased by my grandfather. I assume the person on the delivery ticket was a local dealer, located right up the street from my grandfathers house. It is light blue right now, but the dark green is evident. It needs a little TCL, so we are looking to get it restored. The seats are broken and the keel is very worn, but she still floats. We also have the original paddles that came with it.
 
I assume the person on the delivery ticket was a local dealer, located right up the street from my grandfathers house.

These were usually shipped to dealers but occasionally someone would special order a canoe and their name would appear in that space. William Thibault is described at http://nantibo.philgay.qc.ca/fel/pafn50.htm#81190 as running "a concession for many years on Lake George in which he rented canoes to summer visitors" so my guess is that he was also a dealer for Old Town. It is always great to have a canoe with some family history in it. The list at http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply/ny.php may be useful if you want help getting it restored. Good luck,

Benson
 
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