placement of length ID

[NH Flyfisher]

Hello, I have recently acquired my first wood canvas canoe. The original canvas is long gone, but the wood is okay aside from one gunnel and 5 or 6 rib tips. I have located the serial number, however it seems to be out of sequence from old town or carlton system. The 17' (simply marked 17) appears before the 5 digit serial number (17 57101). The person I got the boat from said "Old Town" but she may have assumed this based on that being the most common and recognized name. If anyone has any insight on this your comments would be appreciated.

 

[Benson Gray]

It would really help if you can attach some pictures of the complete serial numbers from each end along with some overall pictures showing the decks, seats, interior, stems and other angles. My guess is that you may have a 1957 canoe from the White Canoe Company in Old Town, Maine. They briefly used a serial number format which included a two digit date after the length and before the serial number as described at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?10054 and in other messages here. Good luck,

Benson

 

[NH Flyfisher]

Thanks, Benson. I have some photos from when I first brought it home, however I will have to pull her down from my shop ceiling in the next few days for some detailed pictures. The serial number will be tough to capture on camera as the stamping / carving is quite faint. I have loaded the older pictures into an album in my profile.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

I have loaded the older pictures into an album in my profile.

Sure looks like an early closed-gunwale Old Town - decks, ribs, thwarts all appear correct.

 

[Benson Gray]

I agree with H.E. Pennypacker so will revise my guess to the Old Town canoe with serial number 57101. The build record for this one shows a 17 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, HW (heavy water) model with red western cedar planking, closed spruce rails, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, and a keel. It was built between November and December, 1919. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on March 15th, 1920 to Manchester, New Hampshire. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the attached thumbnail image below.

These scans were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. Additional information about 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 contribute 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 the canoe. The information at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?791 may help you confirm the serial number. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson