mikekeeshen
Curious about Wooden Canoes
Please post build information for this canoe. Serial number is hard to read, but this is my best guess. THANKS
Serial # 135832 15
- Thread starter mikekeeshen
- Start date
Can you confirm the length of the canoe and indicate which digit is the least clear? It may help to review the information at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?791 and check the numbers in each end. The last two digits show that you have a 15 foot long canoe but the build record for serial number 135832 is for an 18 foot long canoe. None of the records for 135882, 185832, or 185882 show a 15 foot long canoe. Pictures of the canoe and serial numbers may also help. Thanks,
Benson
Benson
mikekeeshen
Curious about Wooden Canoes
It is about 15'-8" by 33" x 12". Based on the low deck with a handle hold, it is an Ojibway. the "5" is the hardest number to read, as it has a screw through it. I am guessing it went to the boy scout camp in New Milford, ct
The nearest match in the 13x832 range is the Old Town canoe with serial number 133832. This is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, low end HW (Heavy Water) model with open spruce inside gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts in place of seats, ash outside rails, and a keel. It was built between October and December, 1941. The original exterior paint color was aluminum. It shipped on February 15th, 1943 to Safety Harbor, Florida. 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 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/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/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Is there a screw through the first five of the serial number in each end? Pictutres would help with this. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
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/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/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Is there a screw through the first five of the serial number in each end? Pictutres would help with this. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
Attachments
mikekeeshen
Curious about Wooden Canoes
Benson, This is most probably correct. the width and depth indicate an HW. The other serial number had the three middle numbers destroyed. It does had gray paint on the bottom of the gunwales. The no seats and low deck with a hand hold threw me. I did not know the HW came with the low ends option. Did that happen a lot? thanks for your help.
mikekeeshen
Curious about Wooden Canoes
Hello Macky,
Actually we purchased this canoe from a scout in Danbury CT in the 60s. I have just started a restoration and have it with me in SC. This one have traveled. Fiberglass had been added at some time and i have removed it and am ready to start repairing some planks.
Actually we purchased this canoe from a scout in Danbury CT in the 60s. I have just started a restoration and have it with me in SC. This one have traveled. Fiberglass had been added at some time and i have removed it and am ready to start repairing some planks.
There are eight examples of low end HWs from 1937 to 1954 in the Old Town database subset. This sample size is a bit small to make an accurate estimate of the total but indicates that several hundred may have been built. This is the first example that I have seen with the hand hold deck like the 15 foot long Ojibway model. They even made at least one four foot long model of this canoe. It appears that the demand for a canoe like this is what led to the introduction of the 16 foot version of the Guide's model in 1954. The Boy Scouts were a big market for Old Town, White, and other wooden canoe builders.
Benson
mikekeeshen
Curious about Wooden Canoes
Thanks very much. That may explain why it sat in the warehouse so long. I want to restore it back to original. Do you have the correct color for OT "aluminum"?
Mike
Mike
I don't but the "gray paint on the bottom of the gunwales" would probably be a good place to start. My usual advice in cases like this is to just pick a shade that you like. Good luck,
Benson
mikekeeshen
Curious about Wooden Canoes
Build number clarification
Hello Benson,
I think the actual number may be 135632 15. Please review and advise. This seems to be an ojibway and delivered to CT where i bought the canoe.
Sorry for being so obtuse and thanks for your help. Skin is off, ribs are repaired, ready to strip the varnish.
Mike
Hello Benson,
I think the actual number may be 135632 15. Please review and advise. This seems to be an ojibway and delivered to CT where i bought the canoe.
Sorry for being so obtuse and thanks for your help. Skin is off, ribs are repaired, ready to strip the varnish.
Mike
Greg Nolan
enthusiast
The Old Town canoe with serial number 135632 is 15 feet long, CS (common sense) grade, Ojibway model with open spruce gunwales, no seats, mahogany decks and thwarts, and was equipped with a keel. Construction began in 1942; the keel was installed on January 18, 1944 and finishing was completed on January 21, 1944. The original exterior paint color was aluminum. (Grumman apparently began manufacturing aluminum canoes in 1944 – perhaps this was the impetus for this canoe’s paint job.) It was shipped to a freight agent in New Milford, Connecticut on February 7, 1944 with instructions to contact Albert W. Meserve in Danbury, CT. Canoes sold to camps and scout troops frequently did not have seats. 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/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/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.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.
Greg
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/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/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.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.
Greg
H.E. Pennypacker
LOVES Wooden Canoes
The "aluminum" color was used by O.T. at least since the late 1930s. But other boat companies were building hulls of aluminum before Grumman came along, and aluminum was used for lots of other things. Hideous color for a wooden canoe, though, IMHO. Just curious - what in nature is silver? I can think of only a couple of things.
