Ser. No clarified. #25956
- Thread starter Sbmlaw
- Start date
Greetings all, I am new to this forum and have a serial no. question on a canoe I am about to begin restoration on. Pretty sure it's an Old Town with serial no's on the fore and aft stems, 47545 15, it is a double end 15' with a removable slat floor. Guessing it was built as a lightweight model as it is quite light with planking that measures approx. 1/8" thickness. Have been building and restoring wooden boats for about 10 years now but this is my first full canoe restoration project. Greatly appreciate any information that is available on this serial no., thanks.
Don
Don
The Old Town canoe with serial number 47545 is 17 feet long and shipped to Newark, New Jersey on February 19th, 1917. The ones with numbers 147545, 141545, and 41545 don't show a 15 foot long canoe either. Which digit is the least clear and some of the techniques described at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?791 may help. Can you provide some pictures, especially ones showing the serial numbers and surrounding areas from each end, the entire decks, and some a good overall perspectives including a side view? Thanks,
Benson
Benson
The pictures you sent look like serial number 47546 as shown below. This is a 15 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, fifty pound model with red western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts ash seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between January, 1917 and May, 1918. The original exterior paint color was royal blue with a half inch gold stripe and the name Samoset in gold on the right bow and left stern. It shipped on May, 16th 1918 to Portland, Maine. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.
This scan and several hundred thousand more 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 join or 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://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that they could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The images at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=3968 show a similar canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
This scan and several hundred thousand more 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 join or 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://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that they could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The images at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=3968 show a similar canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
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Benson, I can't thank you enough for your efforts, the link to the gunwale assy. dimensions with the detail pictures has answered some of my questions. I notice your beautiful 1914 50 pound model has just one thwart, my 1918 has three, is that correct for the 1918? And one other question, do you know of any examples of how the 1/2" gold stripe was applied. My intent is to do the restoration as close to original as possible. And thanks again for the great information.
Don
Don
You are most welcome. The catalogs always showed this model with only one center thwart as shown below from the 1918 catalog. More information like this is available from http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html if you want additional details. Any changes from the standard build were usually mentioned on the build record and the one for your canoe has no comment about extra thwarts. An extra bow thwart was added in a repair to the one I had from 1914 had as shown at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6375&d=1225838462 so my guess is that yours left the factory with a single center thwart.
The stripe probably looked like the one shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design40.gif although the one at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design25.gif shows that these stripes were also occasionally outlined as well. The gold stripe might have been made with gold leaf, a paint with gold leaf flakes, or ordinary gold colored paint. The page at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/thumbnal.html shows a variety of Old Town paint designs.
Good luck with your restoration,
Benson
The stripe probably looked like the one shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design40.gif although the one at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/design25.gif shows that these stripes were also occasionally outlined as well. The gold stripe might have been made with gold leaf, a paint with gold leaf flakes, or ordinary gold colored paint. The page at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/designs/thumbnal.html shows a variety of Old Town paint designs.
Good luck with your restoration,
Benson
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