Old Town XX model from 1909

[kmartin]

Hi Hoping Benson can help with any additional info on an Old Town XX model serial #11634. The owner did get a build sheet from Old Town and it was described as an experimental model only built a short period of time. Similar to the inboard motor canoes but without the sponsons. See photos


Can you add anything as to how many were built and what the time period was.
Also have a 15' trapper restored for my own use. Can you show the build sheet for 179454.
Thanks, Kevin

 

[Greg Nolan]

Kevin -- I have nothing to add about your XX model, but as to 179454:

The Old Town canoe with serial number 179454 is shown as 15 feet long, a Light Weight model equiped with a keel. It was built in 1967-68, being finished on March 3, 1968. The exterior was originally painted dark green. It was shipped on March 29, 1968 to Framingham, Massachusetts . A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image attached 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/catalogs/old-town/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-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Greg

 

[Benson Gray]

The XX model has always been a bit of a mystery. I'm not aware of any description or other indication of what the letters might have stood for. The page attached previously from 1905 is the only known catalog reference. See http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/5449/ for a previous discussion on this model. My guess is that XX was the original name for what eventually became the Otca model. This would be similar to the IF model which became known as the Guide model. The estimates at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/models.html indicate that nearly 1500 XX models in various lengths were made between 1906 and 1910. The display on the green this summer at the Assembly included a restored XX model with original twenty inch decks and a slightly later unrestored Otca. Dan Miller and I put them side by side for some pictures as shown below. They both appear to have come off the same form. I neglected to record the serial numbers of each canoe at the time. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question or if you want more details. Thanks,

Benson