Possible Old Town, 4-digit serial number

[Jonas B.]

Hey folks.
Was given this old boat from family friends.
I'm pretty sure it's an Old Town.
The only numbers I can make out on the stem are 74 and 16.
They are very illegible but these are on both the stern and bow stems. Couldn't find any other numbers.

I've included this photo of the deck, and the stem.
Any help would be amazing!
Thanks!
jonas

 

[Benson Gray]

This doesn't look like an Old Town deck to me and there aren't any build records available for Old Towns with two digit serial numbers (assuming that this is a 16 foot long canoe). This deck looks most similar to the one at http://dragonflycanoe.com/wood-canoe-identification-guide/features-decks/ identified as a Ditchburn. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Jonas B.]

Hey thanks Benson!
Hard to find info on a Ditchburn thus far...
Here are a few more photos:




Thanks everyone...

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Hi Jonas,
per our conversation, sure looks like the Hamilton Canoe Company I had , right down to the seat hanger bolts with the oversized heads. Like I said, Ditchburn relabelled others' canoes for livery use or resale, you wont find any info on any since they were busy building large mahogany launches. If you get up to the Grace and Speed Museum in Gravenhurst on the wharf, you can see a boat just like yours that was part of a larger order supplied buy Ditchburn to I think Eatons, buy my memory is hazy. Same as this one, supplied by the HCC right down to the keyhole deck.
Andre

 

[MGC]

sure looks like the Hamilton Canoe Company I had ,
Andre

Is this one of those Cardiff canoes you told me you built and buried in your back yard.
I was in doubt until now. That really works. The patina looks real genuine.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Is this one of those Cardiff canoes you told me you built and buried in your back yard.
I was in doubt until now. That really works. The patina looks real genuine.

No, but i can make you one if you like - all the snows gone and the ground is soft.. Patina ( or pigeon and raccoon sh*t as i usually refer to it when taking a newly discovered old canoe out of a barn) takes on average 3-6 months if you dont bury em too deep. Maybe we could trade for that Gerrish
Hamilton Canoe Company cherry keyhole deck amongst others..

 

[MGC]

No, but i can make you one if you like - all the snows gone and the ground is soft.. Patina ( or pigeon and raccoon sh*t as i usually refer to it when taking a newly discovered old canoe out of a barn) takes on average 3-6 months if you dont bury em too deep. Maybe we could trade for that Gerrish
Hamilton Canoe Company cherry keyhole deck amongst others..

Good stuff (the decks, not the patina materials).
You gave your secret away. Until now a select few knew how long to keep em in the ground....

 

[Jonas B.]

Thanks a lot folks. Any way of looking up serial numbers for HCC or know if they were just 4 digits? That's all I can find. Would love to know a date, or any other history. Here's an old photo of the boat on the water, doing what I imagine it does best...:
http://eveninghymns.tumblr.com/

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Thanks a lot folks. Any way of looking up serial numbers for HCC or know if they were just 4 digits? That's all I can find. Would love to know a date, or any other history. Here's an old photo of the boat on the water, doing what I imagine it does best...:
http://eveninghymns.tumblr.com/[/QUOTE

only a select few manufacturers have information that survived as pertains to serial numbers; the rest benefit from speculation, educated guesses and select bits of information. Old Town and a few others are among the best, the overwhelming majority did not survive the demise of the company, if they kept records at all. you have a canoe by one of the more obscure canadian manufacturers from the early part of the last century, likely they were around for not much more than a few years and certainly no information regarding their production exists. A few advertisements can be found in archives and such, but that would be about it.