Thompson ranger serial number

[Gil Cramer]

Any info on approx. date of manuf. of this Thompson Bros. canoe would be appreciated. serial number stamped into the aluminum tag is 19076. The stem bands are u-shaped in cross-section and aluminum. The seats appear to be original and are planked Philipine mahogany.

 

[Benson Gray]

There are no known serial number records available for Thompson canoes. Dave Osborn put together a table for dating the Thompson Hiawatha which may help. It didn't transfer well from the old knowledgebase there is a new one at http://www.wcha.org/content/thompson-brothers-boat-manufacturing-company now. The aluminum stem bend indicates that it is probably a late one and they stopped building wooden canoes in 1962. Please reply here if anyone has a more accurate way to date it. Thanks,

Benson

 

[Gil Cramer]

Thanks Benson. I was able to find a similar serial # on the Thompson website which indicated that the canoe was shipped in 1960. Interesting canoe in that the heavy planked seat was fastened with four round head machine screws and flat washers and two countersunk and plugged machine screws.There is no indication that it was ever changed.
This is the first Thompson Bros. that I have seen with the serial # stamped into the tag and the U shaped al. stem bands.

 

[Dave Osborn]

A search of the forum for Thompson serial numbers will add more info.
I've seen a couple of late model Rangers with plank seats and aluminum tags that include serial numbers.
I suspect that this model was made for scouts and kids camps. The plank seats could take mor abuse than caned seats.....