Oldtown I.D.?

ken mueller

Canton, Ohio
Could you tell me anything about this 17 ft , s/n 137876? Stem bands appear to be galvanized. Has a mast, but no indication of fittings for the rudder. Thanks!
 
Ken: The Old Town canoe with serial number 137876 is a 17 foot long, CS grade, HW model with open spruce gunwales, ash decks, sponsons and a keel. It was built between June and October, 1943. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It was shipped on November 3rd, 1943 to Cleveland, Ohio. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.

These scans were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. 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 renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.html 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.

- Al
 

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Ken, It is possible that the galvanized stem bands are due to the canoe being built during WWII, when brass was in short supply everywhere except the ground in Europe, Northern Africa and the Pacific Islands. Or it may have been a replacement in later years.

You might want to take a look at the planking tacks - they may also be steel and possibly corroded to the point where you could consider replaceing them with brass.
 
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