140545 17 old town

The Old Town canoe with serial number 140545 is a 17 foot long, AA (top or premium) grade HW (heavy water) model with red western cedar planking, open ash gunwales and ash seats, decks and thwarts, equipped with a keel, outside stems, and a floor rack. AA grade canoes were typically fitted out in mahogany, which was perhaps not available because of WWII. It was built in 1944, being finished in October 1944. The original exterior paint color was dark green, with a bottom that was painted g.s. -- guide special green, perhaps. It was shipped to Potterville, Eaton Co., Michigan on June 1, 1945. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image attached below.

140545 - OT20423A.jpg

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.

Because this canoe was built during WWII, when there was a shortage of various materials for consumer use, it is likely that some or all of the metal parts of your canoe, such as tacks, screws, bolts, and bang plates, are not the usual brass, but some other metal, usually steel.

Greg Nolan
 
Thanks for the info...is there a name for this canoe?
I just bought this in Michigan, it looks ready to float,would like a 2nd opinion,can i send you photos/video ?
thanks
Tom
 
For better or worse, the “name” of your canoe model is “H.W.” -- nothing so nice as “Yankee,” “Trapper,” “Otca,” “Guide,” or “Ideal.”

The initials H.W. are generally understood to mean “heavy water.” The 1935 Old Town catalogue describes the model’s characteristics:

"Instead of having a perfectly flat floor the H.W. Model tends toward the shape of the well-known salt water yawl boat below the water line. This shape gives more draft and hence greater steadiness in windy waters. It is a general utility model, somewhat faster under the paddle than the Otca Model, sturdy and handsome in appearance -- the kind of canoe that is always ready for any use.

"Extra fullness at bow and stern enables this model to ride over large waves instead of cutting through them as in the case of a canoe with sharp ends. For cruising, carrying heavy leads, for use on large rivers, lakes, ponds and salt water, this is an excellent canoe. The lines are speedy and graceful and the ends curve with that nicety given by the Indians to their bark canoes. It's a good sailer."

There are various other theories about the meaning of H.W., but as Benson Gray has written: “there is virtually no documentation for any of the various theories. Dan Miller's message at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=1806 has a good summary of this. The oral tradition was that Henry Wickett was one of the first Old Town employees and the HW model was named for him as reported in Rollin [Thurlow] and Jerry [Stellmok]'s book.. Sue Audette's research for her book which came out later indicated that Henry Wickett never worked there and that his son Alfred Wickett was the first employee of the Old Town Canoe Company. Roger MacGregor's book came out even later and suggested that HW might have been for a Canadian designer named Henry Wicksteed who was a friend of J. R. Robertson. This last theory seems the least likely since the HW model was listed in the Indian Old Town Canoe Company catalog from 1901 before Robertson became involved in 1902. It is very popular with many Canadians though. The Old Town catalogs consistently described the HW model as being good for heavy water in the same way that the IF or Guide's model was described as being an ideal fishing canoe.”

You can post photos here (using the third icon from the right on the tool bar that appears when posting a reply) -- I and others will certainly offer opinions. And we just love to see pictures of other WCHA members' canoes.

Or send me an email at gregnolan272@gmail.com, if you have trouble posting pictures here.

Greg
 
There are various other theories about the meaning of H.W., but as Benson Gray has written...

I have done some more research since I wrote those comments at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?6865 in 2010 so let me offer an update and some clarifications. Most of the canoes listed in the 1901 Indian Old Town Canoe Company catalog were named with two letter model codes that echoed some of the significant words or concepts from their descriptions as shown below. The H. W. model was "very buoyant in heavy seas" and the I. F. model was "a special Indian model" that was "to meet the requirements of professional guides and of sportsman" (i.e. fishing). The F. B. model seems the most explicit as being "flatter upon the bottom" and the G. G. is "well adapted for all around work" (i.e. general) and "For sporting work this is a good shape."

It is also interesting to note that this two letter model name tradition was continued in 1965 when Old Town introduced their first fiberglass canoe as the F. G. model.

There are also indications that Alfred Wickett's older brother Humphrey Wickett was one of the very early employees of the Old Town Canoe Company so the there is yet another person whose initials could be the source of the H. W. model name. I haven't yet been able to find any documentary support for this theory either.

This is all probably more than anyone wanted to know but hopefully it has answered the question. Please reply here if this is not the case.

Benson
 

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