I recently obtained a 1914 Old Town Charles River No. 32500. The build record has no indication as to paint color or any other instruction relating. Any guess as to the original color? -Chuck
I would guess dark green since the chart at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/colors.jpg showns that nearly half of the Old Town canoes were dark green. All of the other canoes from serial number 32494 to 32501 were shades of green and most of them were dark green. However, you could paint it any color you like because no one is likely to ever be able to prove that your choice was not original.
Benson, Thanks for your help. It is fun to keep restoration original but having a couple of green canoes I think I will try something else. Your two tone looks good. -Chuck