Hi to all. My wife and I are previous members of WCHA back in the late 1980's. We attended a gathering in upstate New York. Now we are back and the proud owners of an Old Town Canoe, 17 feet long s/n 1389 52. We are interested in learning more about the history of the canoe. I bought it from the heirs of the original owners, and according to the person that I bought it from, it has been in the family for over 60 years. I will start the restoration process this winter. Any help would be appreciated
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Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Welcome back to the WCHA! I should mention that those who are former members can ask to have their old number reinstated, if you'd like to do so.
Old Town 138952 is a 17 foot CS (common sense or middle) grade Otca model canoe that was completed December 1943-March 1944 with open spruce gunwales, ash decks/thwarts/seat frames, and a keel. Original color was dark green. It was shipped to the Redwood Perfume and Chemical Company of Eureka, California, on April 7, 1944.
As a war era canoe, your canoe may still have the slat seats that were used when cane was no longer available, or the seats could have been replaced at a later time. There are other aspects of war era construction that might interest you, which you might find by using the "search" function above and to the right. Image of the scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image.
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/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php 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.
More information on the Old Town Company can be found in Sue Audette's book, Old Town, Our First Hundred Years, which is available through the WCHA store and most booksellers, eBay, Amazon, and public libraries.
Questions-- and pictures-- are most welcome!
Kathy
Old Town 138952 is a 17 foot CS (common sense or middle) grade Otca model canoe that was completed December 1943-March 1944 with open spruce gunwales, ash decks/thwarts/seat frames, and a keel. Original color was dark green. It was shipped to the Redwood Perfume and Chemical Company of Eureka, California, on April 7, 1944.
As a war era canoe, your canoe may still have the slat seats that were used when cane was no longer available, or the seats could have been replaced at a later time. There are other aspects of war era construction that might interest you, which you might find by using the "search" function above and to the right. Image of the scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image.
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/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php 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.
More information on the Old Town Company can be found in Sue Audette's book, Old Town, Our First Hundred Years, which is available through the WCHA store and most booksellers, eBay, Amazon, and public libraries.
Questions-- and pictures-- are most welcome!
Kathy
Attachments
Contact Annie Burke at P.O. Box 117, Tamworth, NH 03886, 603-323-8992, or anniegburke@gmail.com and she may be able to find it on an old list.
Benson
